When MAE WEST left Welfare Island, Warden Henry O. Schleth called newspaper reporters aside and said: “She’s a fine woman, boys. A great character.” He explained: "No exceptions whatever were made in her case and she didn't ask for any special favors — — outside of the underwear."
• • You've already read Mae's prison diary [which the Mae West Blog began on Monday, May 25, 2020 with “Mae West: Prison Diary #1”].
• • You've already read Mae's poem to Warden Schleth, which we titled “Panty Lines” [posted on Tuesday, 28 April 2015, etc.]. Now meet the jailer himself, who was born on this date, on Sunday, 21 September 1879.
• • Henry O. Schleth [21 September 1879 — 25 September 1963] • •
• • Like Mae West, Warden Schleth was born in New York City and had German ancestry. During his late twenties, he had taken a bride, the former Julia M. Arnold, and they had started a family.
• • Drawn to a career in the city's correctional system, by age 34 he had risen to the level of Warden in the Queens County Jail. By the Spring of 1913, they were are living together in the jail's family quarters with their young son Henry Charles Schleth.
• • One night, right inside the jailhouse, two crimes were committed: a murder, a suicide.
• • KILLS BOY AND SELF TO END JAIL LIFE; Wife of Warden Henry O. Schleth ...
• • Source: N.Y. Times on October 10, 1913, Page 5
• • The New York Times wrote: Unable to endure the isolation of her life in
the Queens County Jail, where she went to live five months ago, Mrs. Julia M. Schleth, wife of Warden Henry O. Schleth of the jail, killed their son, Henry Charles Schleth, 4 years old, some time on Wednesday night and then killed herself by firing a bullet into her right temple. ...
• • Scarred by this domestic tragedy, Henry Schleth never remarried, even when he rose to the level of Commissioner in NYC's Department of Corrections.
• • When he died in 1963, at age 84, he was buried in the New York City borough of Queens at Mount Saint Mary Cemetery, 172-00 Booth Memorial Ave, Flushing, NY 11365.
• • On our next post, Mae West will describe Warden Henry O. Schleth in her own words.
• • On Friday, 21 September 1934 in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette • •
• • On Friday, 21 September 1934, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published this tidbit under "Hollywood Gossip": Mae West is planning to back a stock company on the coast. Her sister, Beverly, and her manager, James Timony, will head the enterprise.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was busy promoting her latest Hollywood motion picture release: "Belle of the Nineties" around 21 September 1934.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it. There's nothing better in life than diamonds."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The N.Y. Daily News mentioned Mae West.
• • Good-By, Don’t Call Again! • •
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: Back in her silks and curls, with a colored maid in tow, Mae West, author and star of "Sex," left the workhouse yesterday afternoon at expiration of her ten day [sic] sentence.
• • The famous newspaper photo showed her saying goodbye to Warden Henry O. Schleth at the door of the prison." ...
• • Source: N.Y. Daily News (New York, NY); published on Thursday, 28 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 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 4,565th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • news clip of the suicide in 1913 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
Mae West underwrote countless "business enterprises" for her sister, Beverly, which invariably were shorted lived, and doomed to failure.
ReplyDelete