Thursday, July 21, 2022

Mae West: Drug Addict

MAE WEST was a soft touch for a hard luck story. Mae rarely discussed her generosity in an interview, however, which makes this seldom seen piece in Screenland worth reading. This is Part 4 of 18 segments.
• • Mae West’s Secret Self • •
• • Mae West: A visitor from the Women’s Workhouse! • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Strangely enough, during the interview, a young woman came into the dressing-room just then. She was wearing a new dress.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: "It's swell," she said to Mae West, "to be wearing a dress I didn't have to take."
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: It developed that this was one of the girls from Welfare Island, where Miss West was a visitor for ten days at the government's insistence because of a certain play she appeared in.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: The young lady had become addicted to drugs, and the drug habit led to shoplifting. Miss West heard about it, and gave her some money in the hope of building up the girl's morale.
• • Mae West: Tried to cure an inmate of her addiction • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; issue dated for October 1933.   
• • On Friday, 21 July 1933 in Los Angeles • •

• • On Friday, 21 July 1933 a wire service photo from Wide World with an attached paper caption explained that "Mae West Blonde Stage and Screen Star Made a Sensation at the Huge Public Barbecue Given by Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz."
• • Mae is wearing a sweet small hat in the photo, seemingly inspired by the perky paper caps worn in the 1930s by soda jerks.
• • Eugene W. Biscailuz [12 March 1883 — 16 May 1969] was the 27th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California and organized the California Highway Patrol.
• • On Tuesday, 21 July 1936 • •
• • On Tuesday, 21 July 1936 this curious article was printed in The New York Herald.
• • "Mae West Type of Posture Is Hit by Doctor" was a health how-to, informing readers that Mae's posture and the "society slouch" for women, and the military carriage for men, were condemned as menaces to health by Dr. Olive B. Williams of Worcester, Mass.
• • July 2004: Mae West Blog launches • •
• • What are we up to, writing about the Brooklyn-born bombshell for eighteen years now?
• • We’re here to keep Mae mavens up to date, correct errors, celebrate each revival of a play she wrote, post the latest Westian stage and book reviews. And answer our fan mail!
• • The light’s still on. Come up and see Mae every day.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West and Jim Timony are apparently as devoted as when Mae first tackled Hollywood.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Listen, there’s some bad in all women. I work off my energies — — and I’ve got plenty of energy — — by being that sort of woman on the stage and screen. If I didn’t have that outlet, I might have been one of ’em myself. I couldn’t make any prophesies. I’ve always been interested in women like that. Maybe it was the theatre that saved me.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Sextette" • •
• • An article about "Sextette" (the 1961 stage play) mentioned Mae West.
• • After her leading man Alan Marshal died in Chicago, Mae West tried to replace him with Tom Conway, who was no longer working regularly. He auditioned but declined.
• • "Sextette" moved to Detroit first, had an engagement in Ohio, then was staged in Miami Beach. After that Mae closed it.
• • Always unkind and ready with a snarky put-down, Variety wrote: "The Edgewater was unable to sell a single theatre party for the show, and it goes down as the silo's biggest box office flop to date." ...
• • Source: Variety; published on Wednesday, 19 July 1961

• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,042nd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • on 21 July 1933
• •
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