Mae West: Forever Hooked

Was the heavily air-brushed memoir that MAE WEST published in 1959 “scandalous”? Vanity Fair seems to think so. See if you agree. This is Part 4 of 14 segments.
• • “When I’m Bad, I’m Better” — — Mae West’s Sensational Life in Her Own Words • •
• • PBS’s Mae West: Dirty Blonde delves into the life of a savvy sexpot—but even it is not half as scandalous as West’s 1959 autobiography.
• • Mae West: I demanded my light • •
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: Baby Mae West said: “‘Where is my spotlight!’ I stamped it again and the spotlight moved across stage onto me and caught me in the act of demanding my light. The audience saw me and laughed and applauded.”
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: “Baby Mae” was a hit, and the child was forever hooked on showbiz. “The rest of America could ask for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she writes. “I’d take the spotlight.”
• • Mae West: "Sex" • •

• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote:  After years on the vaudeville circuit, West became the toast of Broadway with her original play Sex in 1926.
• • Mae West: I became a writer by accident • •  ..
• • This 14-part article will be continued tomorrow.
• • Source: Vanity Fair; published on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.  
• • On Friday, 27 August 1976 • •
• • The Times Sunday Review interviewed people who knew Mae West. The actress had attended the theatre with friends and after the show they asked what she thought of it. And Mae had replied: "I kept concentrating on making my mind wander. It [the play] made me realize there's less to life than sex."
• • Source: The Times Sunday Review [U.K.]; published  on Friday, 27 August 1976.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "I always have somebody with me during interviews," Mae West explained to Mike Connolly, "ever since that Mickey Hargitay mess. He and that Jayne Mansfield were getting all the good publicity.  I was getting roughed up. No more of that for Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I had to stay in command of my career.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • "Mae West Plays Santa Claus'' • •
• • Film Daily wrote: About $15,000 in presents was passed around by Mae West to those who helped in the retakes of her new Paramount picture, "Belle of the Nineties." ...
• • Source: Film Daily; published on Monday, 27 August 1934
• • 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 16th 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 4,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,549th 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 • • "Sex" poster in 1926 • •
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