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 37 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: Decided against tempting fate • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: The play opened in Paterson, New Jersey, and people came from New York, Boston and Philadelphia, paying as much as $50 a seat during its two-week run, but Mae and Timony, who produced "The Drag," decided against tempting fate and the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and closed it without bringing it into New York.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: A later play of hers, “Pleasure Man,” did open in New York [on 1 October 1928] but closed the same night, when police marched onstage and arrested the whole cast.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: The court decided that it was not basically an immoral performance, but Mae had refunded the ticket money and did not reopen it.
• • [Editor: the court did not make a decision about “Pleasure Man” until April 1930.]
• • Mae West: Editorials Denounced Her • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • Wednesday, 1 December 1976 in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West starred in "Sextette" [1978], and the cinematography was done by James Crabe.
• • Shooting began in December — — on 1 December 1976 — — and was wrapped up during March 1977. James Crabe captured his leading lady in medium shots. There would be no close-ups in "Sextette" of Mae West.
• • James Crabe missed this little goof and so did the film editor. The boom microphone is visible when Mae West and Dom DeLuise are leaving the hotel gymnasium. Did you spot this?
• • In 1994, Christie's auctioned off a most intriguing bit of memorabilia: a bound copy of the stage play "Sextette" [1927] by the actress and dramatist Charlotte Francis.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • William LeBaron is credited with having sponsored the stardom of both Mae West and Bing Crosby.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article was dedicated to Mae West.
• • “Mae West, Hollywood's Sex Symbol, Dies” • •
• • When asked after the divorce whether she would remarry, Miss West answered in the style and spirit expected of her. No, she said, it would interfere with her hobby.
• • And what hobby was that?
• • "Men," said Miss West, as succinct as she was often suggestive. ...
• • 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 4,616th 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 • • coverage of the raids in 1927 • •
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