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 1 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.
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: Born in Brooklyn in 1893, Mae West always knew she was destined for more than life as a staid Victorian housewife. “I was a child of the new century just around the corner,” she writes in her 1959 autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, “and I ran towards it boldly.”
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: For the entirety of her long life, West would take a sledgehammer to outdated views about what it meant to be a woman. In her plays, movies, and stage shows, she celebrated female sexuality, the male body, and the thrill of “sin” with doses of campy humor and exaggerated glamour. In her autobiography and the new Bette Midler-produced documentary Mae West: Dirty Blonde (premiering on Tuesday, June 16 on PBS), West is revealed as an important cultural agitator—an unashamed “sexual gangster,” in the words of burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese.
• • Underneath the diamonds, Mae West had a message • • ...
• • This 14-part article will be continued tomorrow.
• • Source: Vanity Fair; published on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.
• • On Wednesday, 24 August 1921 • •
• • Mae West wore a daring black velvet dress onstage, "cut at either side to display her bare hips," wrote Women's Wear [Wednesday, 24 August 1921], quaking under such a sartorial shock. Jack Dempsey must have liked what he saw because he went to Mae's dressing room on opening night — — and the two hit it off big-time.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West carnival statues are becoming more popular. Occasionally, these are available at a local sale.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Woman is capable of more trickery than man ever dreamed of. I am not defending the tricky woman, but if she is forced to battle for the place due to her, she cannot be condemned for using any ruse she can."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Australian paper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Becomes a Convert!" • •
• • Mae West is all for moral rearmament and is ready to join the Oxford Group. It would be a good thing for W. C. Fields, she told Dr. Frank Buchman, leader of the Moral Rearmament Movement, today.
• • Miss West and Dr. Buchman had quite a tete-a-tete in her apartment. "It's a wonderful work," she said of the movement. ...
• • Source: The Mail (Adelaide); published on Saturday, 19 August 1939
• • 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 4,546th 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 1921 • •
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Having been privileged to view a corrected final raft of Mae West's autobiography, "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It," I feel I can make relevant comment. The memoir was released in 1959, and one must keep in mind that from 1954 to 1959, Mae crisscrossed the U.S. in her Muscle Man Review. She graciously gives credit to her long time assistant Larry Lee, who from 1929 onwards, helped shape all her books. Stephen Longstreet is also mentioned prominently and thanked for this "editorial assistance." Longstreet was an accomplished author and ghost writer for other star memoirs. I personally saw the corrected draft that had the original mailing wrapper with his hone address, sent to Miss West at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas where she was performing her last show there in 1959. She had crossed out several very revealing paragraphs that perhaps gave much more insight into her self doubts than she wished to expose. In my forthcoming manuscript, "In Search of Mae West," I shall share these amazing insights, which Mae may have wanted to conceal, but in my estimation, provide a truly unique peek into just how human and vulnerable she was. Mae West lived a truly remarkable life and had a long career stretching over every facet of entertainment. She can be easily forgiven for having a lot of help in committing this to paper.
ReplyDelete• • Mark wrote: [Mae West] had crossed out several very revealing paragraphs that perhaps gave much more insight into her self doubts than she wished to expose.
ReplyDelete• • Very interesting, Mark. We await the publication of your forthcoming book "In Search of Mae West."
• • Mae-mavens — stay tuned for the announcement,cover reveal, and the chance to win one autographed copy!