Mae West: Her Lean Years

At last, MAE WEST gets an outstanding, intimate biography by a family member, her step-son, whose education she financed. This is Part 1 of 7.
• • “Mae West and the Count — — Love and Loss on the Vaudeville Stage” by Guido Roberto Deiro
• • Reviewed exclusively for The Mae West Blog by R. Mark Desjardins
• • This new book goes a long way toward filling in some missing chapters in Mae West’s early personal and performing history. Her memoir “Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It,” published in 1959, glosses over the lean years when West was struggling in vaudeville and does not mention, for instance, her being blacklisted from theatres in 1913 for creating a disturbance on stage.
• • Faced with an otherwise limited booking potential, she worked as a chorus girl. She avoided mentioning her first marriage to fellow performer Frank Wallace in 1911, and only years later, after attaining fame as a movie star, did she admit to their nuptials. 

• • A subsequent marriage in 1914 to Count Guido Deiro, a suave, musical headliner who attained popularity introducing the then unknown piano-accordion, was deliberately not mentioned either.
• • Mae meets Mr. “D.” in Detroit • • . . .
• • Mr. Desjardins’ book review will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “Mae West and the Count” — — a biography by Guido Roberto Deiro. [Outskirts Press; published on 20 March 2019; 331 pages.]
• • On Tuesday, 6 August 1912 • •
• • In 1912 a teenage Mae West was invited to perform again at Hammerstein's Victoria. The singing comedienne was booked for a week-long engagement that began on Tuesday, 6 August 1912.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • A poll of American school children has revealed that “Mae West, Joe Penner, and Mickie [sic] Mouse are the three most popular American citizens today,” according to Key West Citizen [12 May 1934].
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "What I mean is I was coming to the conclusion that boys made much better playmates than girls."
• • Mae West said: "I used to like to play Post Office. Mamma didn't object. But she got mad if I started giving special deliveries to one boy all the time. She wanted me to play with them all."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Motion Picture Herald mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West, en route to New York City, stopped over for a day to confer with Emmanuel Cohen and Ben Piazza. As a result of the conference, and several telephone calls from William LeBaron, Paramount production head in Hollywood, Mae changed her plans and took the Santa Fe Chief back to Hollywood to discuss a new contract with Paramount.
• • It is understood, however, that if the Paramount deal fails, Miss West will form a Mae West Productions company with Mr. Cohen and make her own pictures with probable release through either Columbia or Paramount. ...
• • Source: Motion Picture Herald; published on Saturday, 29 February 1936
• • 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 15th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,200 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4272nd 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml   
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • book cover in 2019 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West