Mae West: Sex Before Mae

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.
• • Newsman Stanley Walker came up to see Mae West often. He saw her productions onstage on The Great White Way, he visited several times backstage, and sat at her table when she relaxed at a favorite night spot.
• • As a writer for the old New York Herald Tribune in the 1920s and 1930s, Stanley Walker chronicled the city with a pen the way Weegee did with a Graflex.
• • A section in Stanley Walker’s 1935 memoir discussed Mae West. This is Part 1 of 19 segments.
• • “Sex Comes to America” • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Before the rise of the lush Mae West, sex in the United States was treated either with extreme seriousness, even to the point of dolor, or it was laughed at and razzed.
• • Mae added a slightly burlesque overtone • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Mae West, by adding a slightly burlesque overtone to the by-play between the sexes, made everybody feel more comfortable except the censors, who felt rather vaguely that there was something wrong in her technique, though for the life of them they never made it clear whether it was because they took her acting seriously or as something amusing.
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Miss West can invest the simple phrase, “How do you do?” with a sexy quality which is the distilled essence of all the bordellos of all time.
• • Mae West put a laugh in the libido • •  . . .
• • 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].
• • Mildred Katherine West [8 December 1898 — 12 March 1982] • •
• • In the month of March, we pay tribute to Mae's younger sister Beverly.

• • In March 1924, Variety noted a new act listed on Manhattan's stagebill: "Beverly West and Co., Piano and Singing." While not mentioning that she was Mae West's sister, Variety's reviewer admitted that "she puts over her numbers acceptably." Proctor's East 58th Street location had engaged Beverly and her musicians in 1924.
• • During the same interval (mid-March 1924), Mae West was trouping in vaudeville in Texas.
• • Born in Brooklyn on 8 December 1898, Beverly changed her stage name a few times. She was Beverly Osborne, then it was Beverly Arden. Afflicted with polio and a limp, Beverly favored long dresses that covered her imperfect legs. Beverly died two years after her older sister on Friday, 12 March 1982. She was 83.
• • On Friday, 12 March 2004 • •
• • ContactMusic.com wrote: Raquel Welch [born in 1940] discussed the rift on the movie's DVD. She said, "Mae West didn't really work until after 5 pm. Those were her hours, and it was even stipulated in her contract. I only had one scene with her in "Myra Breckinridge," and she was quite apprehensive about working with me. She hadn't done a movie in a long time. In all her previous films, she had been the only star and the only woman, and she was not very inclined to share the screen. So there were a few shenanigans." 
• • Note: during filming, Raquel was 30 and Mae was 77 years old.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The title of Mae West's novel of interracial sex is "The Constant Sinner."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Personally, I like two types of men, domestic and foreign."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Reporter George Lait interviewed Mae West for a four-part series in 1933.
• • George Lait wrote: Although not particularly superstitious, Mae claims seven and eight as her lucky numbers. She points out her birthdate — August 17 — shows one of her lucky numbers and totals the other.
• • George Lait wrote: Astrologically speaking, the Zodiacal sign of Venus was in the ascendancy when Mae West was born, and throughout her career, Venus, the goddess of love, has guided her destiny, theatrically. …
• • Source: Winona Republican Herald [Minnesota]; Monday, 11 December 1933
• • 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 4,429th 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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