Mae West: An Icon at Rest

At age 87, MAE WEST suffered a series of strokes which finally resulted in her death on Saturday, 22 November 1980 in Hollywood, California.
• • The actress took her final breaths quietly in her Hollywood apartment (Ravenswood). Private services [conducted by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie and attended by about 100 close friends and family] were held in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.

• • Her eulogy, written by Kevin Thomas and delivered by producer Ross Hunter, concluded: “Mae West always said that no one was ever to feel sorry for her, and she would not want anyone to start now. Mae West figured that in one way or another she would live forever. And she probably will.”
• • Entombment was in the West family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Abbey in Brooklyn, New York.
• • Cause of death: Complications from stroke
• • Burial: Cypress Hills Cemetery
• • Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
• • Photo: Mae West, 1935
• • On Friday, 22 November 2013 in NYC • •
• • Mae West's most successful play "Diamond Lil" was performed in Jefferson Market Library on Friday, 22 November 2013 in the evening. The performance was dedicated to the Brooklyn bombshell, whose career soared after her successful run as the Queen of the Bowery onstage at the Royale Theatre.
• • And Mae West's legal woes have also inspired the stage play "Courting Mae West." Folks came to see it on Saturday, 23 November 2013 in the very same room where Mae faced off with Judge George Donnellan and 12 jurors.
• • Darlene Violette, starring as Mae West, appeared with Joanna Bonaro, Jim Gallagher, Sidney Myer, Dena Tyler, Melvin Lima, Kimmy Foskett, Jeffrey Johns, and Jane Aquilina. The popular Mae West raffle followed.
• • The play, based on true events, is set during the Prohibition Era when Mae's plays were padlocked and she was sent to jail. Talk about a woman who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West wore the famous West diamonds, and made a late entrance very impressively.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "This is the greatest age for women. They no longer have to sit primly on a straight-backed chair with hands folded, waiting for some guy to come and make a pass at them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • All Mae West biographies discuss the icon at the very end of her long life.
• • Somber moments are described by her biographer Jill Watts:
• • Jill Watts wrote: Soon [Mae West's] personal physician arrived. He announced that nothing more could be done. [Paul] Novak summoned a priest from the church just down the block, who gave Mae a blessing. Only a few minutes later, at 10:30 A.M., Mae West passed away [at the age of 87 years old].
• • Jill Watts wrote: ... At [Stanley] Musgrove's urging, Paul Novak organized a private service. On the afternoon of November 25, 1980, one hundred of Mae's family, friends, and acquaintance gathered at Forest Lawn's Old North Church to memorialize Mae West.
• • Jill Watts wrote: ... That night Mae's body was flown home to Brooklyn, New York and the following morning Paul Novak and Dolly Dempsey arrived at Cypress Hills for the interment. Two priests and a bishop offered short prayers and blessed the casket. …
 • • Source: “Mae West: An Icon in Black and White” by Jill Watts; published by Oxford University Press, 2001
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,870th 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 1935 • •
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