Mae West: Street Fights

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.
• • Enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 22 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: Admirers had fought over her • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: It was not the first time admirers had fought over her.  
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: At fifteen, when she was going with a prizefighter, she was the cause of a bloody street fight between two Brooklyn gangs, and throughout the years there were other battles in hotel rooms and nightclubs, including a spectacular bout in a Norfolk, Virginia, Italian restaurant, where the two combatants flung chairs, tables, dishes, and spaghetti-with-tomato-sauce.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: While reticence is not a salient characteristic of her written memoirs, in personal interviews she ranges from raffish to demure.  
• • Mae West: I am very conservative • • . . .  
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Saturday, 10 November 1928 • •

• • The New Yorker published a lengthy Mae West interview titled "Diamond Mae" illustrated with a cheeky illustration on page 26. This profile appeared in the issue dated for the week of 10 November 1928.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mr. Will Hays communicated again with Adolph Zukor, insisting that his plans for a movie version of "Diamond Lil" starring actress Mae West must be scrapped. It was too filthy for Will Hays.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm my own original creation."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The New Yorker profiled Mae West.
• • Thyra Samter Winslow wrote: Mae West says that people want dirt in plays, so I give 'em dirt. Miss West is secretive, especially about her past and family. When "Diamond Lil" closes, Mae will star in another of her plays, "Men."  ...
• • Source: Article:  "Diamond Mae" written by Thyra Samter Winslow for The New Yorker; published on Saturday, 10 November 1928
• • 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 4,600 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,600th 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 1928 • •
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