Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Mae West: Prison Diary #7

There are many myths about MAE WEST as a prisoner — — silliness such as she drove there “in a limousine” or she arrived “carrying roses” and “accompanied by her maid.” What better way to banish the B.S. than invite the Brooklyn bombshell to describe this experience in her own words. This is Part 7 of 7 segments, the final excerpt.
• • Mae West, Sunbeam, Trips from Prison • •     
• • Island's Lady Bountiful Plans a Prison Library • • 
• • Mae West’s Plans • •
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: "You know, I was supposed to open in Chicago May 1 — — yes, in 'Sex’ — — it's all right to give ‘Sex’ out there,” Mae West explained. “We had a contract with A. H. Woods for his theatre, but of course he won't keep his theatre dark until we can get ready. And it would take about two weeks to get things in shape.”
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: "But in a couple of weeks, we’ll start rehearsals of 'The Hussy.' That's a musical play,” added Mae West, “a play a la Banton, all sweet and pure and everything.”
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: Mae West said, “And ‘The Drag' is going to be made into pictures. I won't say I’ll give all my profits, but I'll take 60 per cent, and start an institution or a scientific study or something for these prisoners. I thought it was all right to produce a play on that subject. These unfortunates are to be pitied. They're not understood, and the medical profession has done absolutely nothing for them."
• • Note: Stage play “Courting Mae West” covers her two Prohibition Era trials in NYC. Producers can request a copy.
• • Source: N.Y. Daily News (New York, NY); published on Thursday, 28 April 1927.
• • On Friday, 2 June 1916 in Variety • •
• • On 2 June 1916, Variety printed a list of names who had volunteered to go to jail — — as guests of the Mutual Welfare League — — to entertain the inmates of Sing-Sing on Decoration Day. Mae West, age 22, was in that number.
• • Sources have said this is the occasion when she met Owney Madden, the bootlegger who quietly financed her Broadway plays.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West bought a hunk of a San Francisco chop suey parlor.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Listen, there’s some bad in all women. I work off my energies — — and I’ve got plenty of energy — — by being that sort of woman on the stage and screen. If I didn’t have that outlet, I might have been one of ’em myself. I couldn’t make any prophesies. I’ve always been interested in women like that. Maybe it was the theatre that saved me.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Brooklyn Daily Eagle discussed Mae West and her ride to the Workhouse in a “Prison Van.”
• • Mae West Goes to Workhouse in Van With Two Negresses • •
• • Mae West, star and co-author of "Sex," with two negresses and three white women as fellow-passengers, left Jefferson Market Women's Prison this morning in a prison van for the workhouse on Welfare Island, where she will serve out nine days of the 10-day-sentence imposed yesterday by General Sessions Judge George L. Donnellan imposed upon her for giving an obscene play. …
• • Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (on page 1); published on Wednesday, 20 April 1927 
• • 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 4,487th 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 • • onstage in 1927 • •
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