Mae West: Fond of Fighters

Reporters who met MAE WEST during the 1920s and early 1930s — — before stardom cloaked her utterly — — have a refreshingly different take than those who met her as a bonafide movie queen.
• • New York Herald Tribune reporter Stanley Walker came up to see Mae West often in New York.
• • A section in Stanley Walker’s 1935 memoir discussed Mae West. This is Part 9 of 19 segments.
• • “Sex Comes to America” • •
• • Miss West is fond of fighters • •
• • Mae’s mother, Matilda Delker • •

• • Stanley Walker wrote: Miss West's mother was Matilda Delker West, a French actress [sic] reputedly of Jewish blood, who died in 1930. Battling Jack, who became a chiropractor [sic], died in Hollywood in 1934. Miss West is fond of fighters, and tries to give as many of them as possible parts in her productions.
• • Editor’s note: Notice there is no mention here of the later added name: “Doelger.”
• • Stanley Walker wrote: At the prize-fights, Miss West is usually accompanied by James Timony, a large red-faced man who has been associated with her since 1926.
• • the principal financial backer of “Sex” was Owney Madden • • . . .
• • This long chapter by Stanley Walker will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Chapter “Sex Comes to America” from "Mrs. Astor's Horse" written by Stanley Walker [NY: Frederick A. Stokes, 28 October 1935, 320 pages].
• • On Tuesday, 24 March 1970 in Look Magazine • •
• • "Raquel Welch, Mae West Talk about Men, Morals and Myra Breckinridge," on page 45 in Look Magazine's weekly issue dated for Tuesday, 24 March 1970.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It takes more than merely acting to become a national figure — an emblem — which, strange and contradictory as it may seem, is exactly what Mae West is.
• • Describing her attraction to fellows in uniform, Mae West told a Hollywood newsman this: "I even choke up when I see The Good Humor Man."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I like restraint if it doesn't go too far."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A London newspaper discussed Diane Arbus and Mae West.
• • Mae West’s monkeys were Toughie and Pretty Boy • •
• • Nicholas Haslam wrote: While I was the Art Editor of Show Magazine in New York during the 1960s, I commissioned the great Diane Arbus to photograph the (by then) forgotten Mae West (Books, 16 March) at her home in Los Angeles.
• • Nicholas Haslam wrote: The results revealed that Miss West had a fearsome fetish for symmetry — matching grubby white grand pianos bearing vast identical plaster statues of her naked self, duplicate papier-maiché urns of dusty mock camellias, place settings mirrored either side of the plates, etc. 
• • Nicholas Haslam wrote: Mae West also slept between two (real) apes called Toughie and Pretty Boy. . . .
• • Source: Letter (page 29) in London's Spectator; published on Saturday, 23 March 1996 
• • 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,437th 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 • • with Matilda West in 1927 • •
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