Mae West: Can't Be Improved

In September 1934, MAE WEST sat down for a series of "Me and My Past" talks with the United Press syndicated reporter Leicester Wagner.  We will post excerpts from Chapter #4 in several installments.  This is Chapter 4, excerpt e-e.
• • "Me and My Past" by Mae West • •
• • As Told to Leicester Wagner, United Press Staff Correspondent • •
• • Ready for Broadway • •
• • By the time I was 13, I was ready for Broadway. I had been able to sing all along. I had no trouble convincing New York theater managers that I was worth $150 a week on any bill — — my first "big time" salary and I earned every dime of it. I carried an act myself, singing (coon-shouting) songs, wisecracking and dancing.
• • There's nothing in the world that can't be improved — — even a man — — and that's the way I felt about dancing. All of the entertainers were merely dancing with their feet. Like they had been taught.
• • Hence the Shimmy • •   . . .
• • This has been excerpt e-e.  The next post will be f-f — —  the continuation of Chapter #4.
• • NOTE: This is the 4th chapter of Mae West's life story as told to Leicester Wagner, United Press.  This syndicated series was reprinted in American newspapers during September 1934.
• • On Sunday, 21 November 1948 • •

• • It was on 30 October 1948 that Mae West signed an Actor's Equity Association Stock Jobbing Contract on Equity's letterhead in New York. The Broadway star of "Diamond Lil" was agreeing to a weekly salary of $2,500, and the play would be opening in Montclair, New Jersey in the month of November — — on Sunday, 21 November 1948.
• • Saturday, 21 November 2009 in Chicago • •
• • Mae West's play "Sex" was shown in Chicago until Saturday, 21 November 2009. The production was staged by the Prologue Theatre Company and performed at the North Lakeside Cultural Center [6219 N. Sheridan Avenue in Chicago].
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The dolls introduced for the 1933 Christmas season had a more rounded silhouette than those of the previous few years. The design of the dolls followed the "Mae West" profile, abandoning the sleek bob and tailored style that had been popular for more generous curves and dimples, and dresses based on the latest Paris creations.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "In the gay nineties, when there were just two kinds of women — — fast women and good women — — they knew how to dig better than they do now."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A New York campus paper mentioned Mae West.
• • Sebela Wehe will unleash a "Mae West Dance" at 8:16 o'clock tomorrow eve in the Odd Fellow Temple.  . . .
• • Source: Item in Cornell Daily Sun;  published on Tuesday, 20 November 1934
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3578th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1948 • •
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