Mae West: Julian Eltinge

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 42 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: Her art had a kinship with  Julian Eltinge • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Back in those days "camp" was the real thing, not the vulgarized cliché the intellectuals have made of it today. Her art had a kinship with that of Julian Eltinge, the great female impersonator of Mae’s earlier days. (London’s Danny La Rue is today’s nearest counterpart, the professional artist as opposed to any old fag in drag in, say, a sleazy Berlin nightclub.)

• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: The novelist, George Davis, writing in Vanity Fair magazine back in 1934, pinpointed the essence of Mae’s act in an article which ended with the words: “I love you, Miss West, because YOU are the greatest female impersonator of all time.”
• • Mae West: A gift for parody • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • Beverly West [8 December 1898 — 12 March 1982] • •
• • Born in Brooklyn, NY on December 8th was an infant named Mildred Katherine West.
• • Mae's kid sister never liked her birthname and so, upon launching a professional career, she became "Beverly Osborne." A talented performer in her own right, she is commemorated with great affection on her birthday.
• • On Friday, 8 December 1933 • •
• • "Mae West in Court" • •
• • On Friday, 8 December 1933, Associated Press wrote: "Mae West of the stage and screen appeared before the Los Angeles county jury investigating a year-old robbery in which she lost money and jewels valued at $20,000. ..."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, the Hollywood movie queen, is expected to visit Australia early next year.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Saving love doesn't bring any interest."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article was dedicated to Mae West.
• • “Mae West, Hollywood's Sex Symbol, Dies” • •
• • Her play was called "Sex."
• • Weeks later she opened in a new show, this time in New Jersey, and in 1928 came the celebrated "Diamond Lil" of whose title character Miss West once said, with what seemed a fair degree of accuracy, "I'm her and she's me."
• • "Diamond Lil," in which a dazzling Miss West regally descended a dance hall staircase and in which she lay abed perusing the Police Gazette, was the show in which audiences first heard the immortal "Come up and see me sometime . . ." that was ever after identified with Miss West. ...
• • Source: Washington Post; published on Sunday, 23 November 1980
• • 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 4,621st 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 • • at home in 1934 • •
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