Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Mae West: It's Unprintable

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 19 of 19 segments, the final segment of his chapter on Mae West.
• • “Sex Comes to America” • •
• • When making a movie, Mae West says she thinks of what kids will like • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Miss West says that in making her pictures she "always thinks of the kiddies" by putting in a scene they will like, such as the time she lassoed a man and shot through his hat.
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Mae West will say: "I know now what they want and what they don't want. I’ve found out that the things that the censors think are bad, I think are all right, and I’ve learned that there are a number of things that I shy at that they see nothing wrong in. I’m supposed to be a good woman and my fans don't like to see me in those kinds of pictures."
• • Miss West's fan mail is unprintable • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Miss West's fan mail is tremendous. A large part of it is unprintable. The rest comes largely from the lovelorn and from women and girls who want to develop sex appeal.
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Sometimes Miss West defines sex appeal as "the radiation of an attractive personality."
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Usually Miss West replies to the seekers after wisdom with the simple advice: "The best way to hold a man is in your arms." Which would seem to settle that.
• • This long chapter by Stanley Walker has now been concluded with this segment, Part 19. We hope you enjoyed it a lot.
• • 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 Wednesday, 7 April 1954 • •
• • The death of James Timony [on Monday, 5 April 1954] was announced in The L.A. Times on April 6th and in Variety on the 7th. Mae was prostrated by grief at the death of her long-term companion.
• • She was unable to receive callers and dealt with his funeral arrangements. Timony's body was sent back to Brooklyn and buried in a family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Hollywood columnist Dorothy Manners wrote:  As usual when she appears, Mae West, in virginal white, her long blonde hair hanging shoulder length, stopped the action at the cocktail party hosted by producer Ross Hunter and Jacque Mapes at Ross's home. 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “When women go wrong, men go right after them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Central Press reporter interviewed Mae West.
• • George Lait wrote: Park Avenue battled with Tenth Avenue to see Mae West as the heartless, two-timing blonde bejeweled Diamond Lil who sang “Frankie and Johnny,” and other bawdy ballads in Gus Jordan's Suicide Hall on the Bowery. It was as Diamond Lil that Mae first built up the now well-known Mae West “curves.”
• • George Lait wrote: For the characterization of the wicked belle of the Bowery, Mae had to take on weight and build up her height. …
• • Source: Winona Republican Herald (Minnesota); published on Tuesday, 12 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 4,447th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • dining with her brother John and Jim Timony [1940s] • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

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