Mae West: Cracked Mirror

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 1 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • “Mae West is ageless. She hasn’t changed in 30 years. She looks as if she invented sex yesterday, not in the twenties." — — James Bacon, syndicated Hollywood columnist, 1972.

"Image from a Cracked Mirror" by Jacoba Atlas [1974]

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Mae West isn’t ageless, but then no one really is. The legend that’s grown up around the woman writer Richard Schickel calls “the biggest blonde of them all” is formidable, perhaps a more potent fantasy than any other living star possesses, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo notwithstanding.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Carefully shielded from daylight, ensconced in a perpetual perfect setting, Mae West is a phenomenon who keeps on going. She will be 82 this August, and no doubt a spate of articles extolling her youth and vigor will greet the birthday celebrations. But what will they tell us of the woman behind the facade?
• • I had been in awe of Mae West • • . . . 
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Sunday, 22 April 1928 • •
• • On Sunday, 22 April 1928, The New York Times was purring about Mae West. On the theatre page was an announcement that "Diamond Lil" was the most prosperous of all the recent stage productions. Broadway backers paid attention, noticing that Mae had given the Royale Theatre its first hit — — a non-musical, no less.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is doing very well for herself as the writer and star of a picture to be called "Klondike Lou." Naturally, too, she is pretty good.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A guy in Iowa wanted me to send him $500 to start a barber shop. Says he has invented a special Mae West haircut. I told him I'm sorry, but $500 is too much to pay for a haircut."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The New York Times discussed the Mae West trial.
• • The "Pleasure Man" trial, and the fear of being remanded to jail, took its toll on Mae West.
• • The jury's letter emphasized this point: "The failure to agree tends to demonstrate that censorship of plays by criminal litigation is not the most effective and reliable means of assuring to the play-going public of New York that no play will be presented that tends to corrupt the morals of the young. Our disagreement tends to demonstrate the unreliability, if not the futility of criminal litigation as a means of censoring plays." . . .
• • Note: These suspenseful events are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets."
• • Source: "Jury Sends Letter to the Governor" in The N.Y. Times; published on Wednesday, 16 April 1930
• • 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 4,458th 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 1974 • •
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