Mae West: Protected Splendor

“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 9 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • “The Drag” by Mae West starred a bevy of female impersonators • • 
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Her second play, produced after Sex, was The Drag and starred a bevy of female impersonators. A British critic cites the following description of female impersonators as the perfect description of Mae herself, “A good drag act should express the assumption that a man makes a better woman than a woman. There are two ways in which this can be achieved: by a display of extravagant glamour or by caricaturing female characteristics, making them appear ridiculous or even faintly disgusting.”

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Mae West does all that. She lives in well-protected splendor in Ravenswood, an elaborate old apartment complex on Rossmore, which until very recently she owned [sic].
• • the omnipresence of the past in Mae’s apartment • • …
• • 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 Tuesday, 4 May 1886 • •
• • On Tuesday, 4 May 1886 the black composer Shelton Brooks was born. Mae and Beverly performed his dance novelty "Walking the Dog" when they toured with their act "Mae West and Sister." In her 1928 Bowery melodrama "Diamond Lil," Mae performed his jaunty song "Where Has My Easy Rider Gone?" and the number would be reprised in "She Done Him Wrong" [filmed in 1932].
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By the way, Mae is now working on her new contract by the terms of which she gets $100,000 a picture.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “When women go wrong, men go right after them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The Milwaukee Sentinel in 1941 mentioned John Barrymore and Mae West.
• • Louella Parsons wrote: Mae West got herself a movie job. Yes, indeed! She signed a contract with William Shapiro who brought Bobby Breen to the coast. Shapiro, at one time associated with Sol Lesser, has obtained capital to finance the Mae West movie. Now here's the part that to me should even make the sphinx smile. Shapiro has an option on John Barrymore's services and is trying to get him to play opposite La West. …
• • Source: "Sign Mae West to Appear In Romantic Role and May Be Opposite None Other than Barrymore" by Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons; syndicated content rpt in The Milwaukee Sentinel; printed on Friday, 7 March 1941
• • 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 4,466th 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 • • at home • •
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