Mae West: Made History!

MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 21 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West fan F.E.K. praised her figure in Motion Picture • •

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: The fi­rst letter is from the August 1933 issue of Motion Picture: Reader F.E.K. wrote: [...] And if Mae West never does another worthwhile thing for the screen, she has more than made movie history already and deserves a BIG hand for making those half-starved ingénues self-conscious about their scrawny ­figures. Perhaps we will soon begin to see some healthy specimens in the silver sheet. Curves are really becoming fashionable since the unrestrained and vibrant Mae West personality made an appearance on the screen.
• • Mae West fan Ethel Hitchcock from NYC wrote to Picture Play • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Also in July 1933 issue of Picture Play, there is another letter from Ethel Hitchcock, a woman living in New York City, praising Mae West, especi­ally for her “healthy-looking” body.
• • Mae West fan Ethel Hitchcock praised her “healthy looking” figure • • ...
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Thursday, 16 November 1916 • •
• • On Thursday, 16 November 1916, Mae West announced in Variety that, in her next appearance in vaudeville, she would appear in male drag and her material would be scripted by songwriter Blanche Merrill. She hinted at using a new name, too. Sounds like a cover-up for something, eh?  Maybe Mae was hiding from the actors' union or her husband Guido Deiro.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is surprisingly small despite the famous 43 1/4-inch bust, and soft and feminine. There is nothing Mae would rather talk about than her own incredible career.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I didn't start out to collect diamonds — — but somehow they just kept piling up."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A journalist mentioned Mae West.
• • "New York's Brooklyn: A world away" • •
• • David S Potts lists these people: A roll-call of Brooklynite luminaries will include actresses Mae West, Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth, actors Mickey Rooney, Eli Wallach, Adam Sandler and John Kallen (Cagney and Lacey); writers Norman Mailer, Mickey Spillane and Arthur Miller; comedians Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Eddie Murphy, Phil Silvers and Joan Rivers. Even Bugs Bunny was from Brooklyn. The list goes on and on. ...
• • Source: Yahoo News; posted on Wednesday, 2 November 2011
• • 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 4,866th 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 • • showing off her curves in 1932 • •
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