Mae West: Estes Kefauver

MAE WEST was never the subject of “a gambling investigation” by the U.S. Senate Crime Committee.  This was a mock column written by Robert Sylvester, a drama critic.
• • Note: Before the Kefauver Hearings (which were televised), most Americans had little idea that organized crime was exactly that — organized.
• • Hey, Senator! Let Me Handle The Mae West Investigation • •
• • Memo to Sen. Estes Kefauver, U.S. Senate Crime Committee.
• • Robert Sylvester wrote: Dear Senator: Man, have I got something for your gambling investigation! I got a gal for you it ought to be a pleasure to really investigate. Nothing smalltime, either. A real $1,000,000 deal. The gal's name? Mae West! .  . . .
• • Robert Sylvester playfully wrote: There is a threat to the kiddies.
• • "The Daughter of Diamond Lil" • •
• • Robert Sylvester wrote: There are all sorts of angles. Senator. Miss West's original producer, Jack Linder, last week announced production of a new show called "The Daughter of Diamond Lil." You know what this probably means.
• • Robert Sylvester wrote: It will probably be a kid show which will try and induce kid audiences to break their piggy banks and bet 10 cents on the Dally Double or start neighborhood organizations called Junior Bookmakers or go to special schools which teach them how to read the Future Book.
• • Robert Sylvester wrote: This Mae West has got to be investigated fully. Senator, and just between you and me, I think I'm the man to do a bang-up job.  ...
• • Source: The N.Y. Daily News [NYC]; published on Wednesday, 31 May 1950.
• • N.B.: Robert Sylvester was a drama critic for the News.
• • N.B.: Senator Estes Kefauver was born on July 26, 1903 in Madisonville, TN; he died on August 10, 1963, Bethesda, MD at age 60.
• • On Monday, 1 October 1928 • •
• • Mae West's gay play "Pleasure Man" had a $200,000 box office advance when it premiered at the Biltmore on Monday, 1 October 1928. The police raided the show, however, and shut it down the same night.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • On Friday, 1 October 1937, Paramount Pictures announced that the venerable restaurant and hotel owner George Rector [1878 — 1947] would be co-starring with Mae West in her latest motion picture "Every Day's a Holiday."
• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said: “I always knew that men and women, too, preferred to see us with the natural curves that God gave us. It was all a mistake — — a great, fatal mistake, this giving women's clothes a straight line."
• • Note: Illustration of Mae West, done as a concept drawing for Walt Disney. Myron "Grim" Natwick [16 August 1890 – 7 October 1990] was best known for drawing the cartoon character Betty Boop.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A judge decided in the favor of Mae West.
• • Hollywood (U.P.) — Mae West's profits from the play “Diamond Lil“ apparently were secure today. Superior Judge William S. Baird yesterday granted a defense motion for dismissal of Playwright Mark Linder's $1,000,000 suit against Miss West.
• • He and Miss West had collaborated in writing the play.
• • He had charged that Paramount studio gave the actress $25,000 for the play filmed as “She Done Him Wrong“ but that Miss West and the company had entered a secret agreement under which she was to be paid more money. ...
• • Source: United Press rpt in Fort Madison Evening Democrat; published on Thursday, 22 February 1940
• • 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 4,573rd 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 • • Mae West in 1933 • •
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