Mae West: Making Money

Jill Watts, biographer of MAE WEST, distinguished professor at CSUSM, and talented author of books on Father Divine [1879—1965] and Hattie McDaniel [1895—1952], which has inspired a bio-pic about the Oscar winner, has kindly consented to an exclusive interview with The Mae West Blog. This is Part 11.
• • Julia Neir, heiress • •
• • JILL WATTS: The only real documentation on Neir’s that I have found is a Louis Neir’s will.  It looks like he left what was for the time an large estate to his wife, Julia Neir.  In addition to the bar, which they listed as their home address, they also had extensive real estate holdings.  The total equity that Julia Neir inherited was $117,000. 
• • JW: This seems to indicate that they were making money doing something more than running a working class men’s bar.  It might suggest that they were violating prohibition and perhaps had underworld ties.  But it would take more research to prove that — — and find if there were any ties, somehow, to Mae West.
• • This exciting interview with Prof. Jill Watts will be continued on the next post.
• • Recommended Reading: “Mae West: An Icon in Black and White” by Jill Watts [Oxford University Press; paperback edition, 2003]; 400 pages.
• • "Jill Watts is shrewd in her discussions of much of Mae West's writing, and she performs a service drawing attention to West's debt to African-American culture." — Robert Gottlieb, Book Reviewer, The New York Observer.
• • On Wednesday, 14 August 1935 • •
• • "Banned in Australia — — Miss Mae West's Novel" • •

• • Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday — A novel written by Miss Mae West, the film star, has been banned by the Customs Department, because it is said to contain indecent and obscene passages. The novel, "She Done Him Wrong," is the story of a woman of the underworld, and becomes associated with gangsters in New York.  Another of Miss West's novels, "The Constant Sinner," has not been banned in Australia.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By her success in "She Done Him Wrong," Mae just stuck her diamond-draped neck out for a whole lot of fast and furious work.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Good? I have to look great!" 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Associated Press mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae Never Needs Help • • 
• • Mae West, because of the gay-nineties roles she played, was no client for hip-reducing. Davies "pulled" her waist down, "pushed" her bust up, left her hips as they were.
• • Note: What a fascinating 2-page read. And we’ve only used a brief excerpt.
• • Source: Article by Robbin Coons, Associated Press, rpt by San Bernadino Daily Sun starting on page 16; published on Sunday, 23 July 1939
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/

• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,000 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4023rd 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 • • book promotion in 1930 • •
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