Mae West: Sultan of Johor

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 11 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: Best-known woman in the world • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: In 1949, according to a public-opinion poll of that year, she was the best-known woman in the world, along with Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. (“I was better known than Einstein, Shaw or Picasso.”)  

• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Will Rogers said she was the most interesting woman in Hollywood; Dali designed a red silk sofa from an enlarged photograph of her lips; the Sultan of Johor made a special trip from India to see her; and inclusion in Mme. Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London signaled athanasia of a sort.
• • Note: Sultan of Modern Johor: Ibrahim Iskandar al-Masyhur [1895–1959]
• • In 1938, Time Magazine described Sultan Ibrahim like this: "Wealthy, virile, tiger-hunting . . .  an oriental potentate . . . . His Highness, while making a round-the-world tour in 1934, was photographed in Hollywood with Mae West, and was the guest in Washington of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.”
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: In 1948, when she was fifty-four, she appeared on the stage in London and the provinces in a revival of her most famous play, “Diamond Lil" (which originally opened in New York in 1928 and ran for nine months), and played two performances a night, at six and at nine, six nights a week for eight months.
• • Mae West: Marina, Duchess of Kent gave a party for Mae • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Thursday, 26 October 1995 • •
• • "Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her" [57 minutes] — — the VHS format was released on Thursday, 26 October 1995.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West struts, waddles, and wiggles in the most provocative manner. She insists that this and that is "simply gor-juss."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A book author had more freedom of expression than the stage permitted at that time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article discussed censorship and mentioned Mae West.
• • Miss Cellania wrote: Mae West continued acting in TV and various motion pictures until her death in 1980, at age 87, when The New York Times called her "the epitome of playfully vulgar sex." Mae West had spent her entire life pushing the limits, even as they were pushing back. ...
• • Source: Mental Floss;  published on Wednesday, 2 March 2016
• • 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 4,589th 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 • • with the Sultan of Johor in May 1934 • •
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