Though you don’t usually find MAE WEST linked to actress Judy Garland, it seems they took a mysterious trip together in 1942 to Hawley, Pennsylvania.
• • This episode will not be featured in any bio-pic about Judy’s life.
• • The Hotel Belvidere • •
• • Judy Garland [10 June 1922—22 June 1969] did not work (as expected) on the M-G-M set in Culver City, California, where she was co-starring in “For Me and My Gal” on Tuesday, 10 March 1942. This musical motion picture paired her with a handsome dancer, who was a newcomer to the screen, Gene Kelly [1912 — 1996].
• • Instead, accompanied by Mae West, the 19-year-old actress very discretely visited the Hotel Belvidere.
• • Image: See the photo of their signatures on the hotel's register.
• • LINK https://maewest.blogspot.com/2019/10/mae-west-abortion-outing.html
• • The Hotel Belvidere, 330 Main Avenue, Hawley, Pennsylvania.
• • A landmarked 3-story hotel in Hawley, PA., it has done business at the intersection of Main Avenue and Church Street since 1902. Known as the Falls Port Inn and Steak House in recent years, in the spring of 2014 it returned to its original name, the Hotel Belvidere. The word "Belvidere" is visible on the corner fascia.
• • What was the reason for this curious sojourn to such an out-of-the-way corner in Wayne County (when Judy was due on the set)? It sounds like Judy might have been there to meet an abortionist and Mae was there for moral support and/or to co-sign papers for this minor.
• • During her short-lived marriage to Guido Deiro, Mae West had a back-door abortion in Oregon. There were serious consequences to Mae’s decisions to abort in secret including sterility. Wiser for it, Mae West took charge of a nervous Tinseltown teen during a hush-hush trip to a precinct unpatrolled by newsmen and gossip columnists.
• • In 1946 Judy Garland welcomed her first child. Perhaps Mae sent congratulations by Western Union.
• • In the 15 July 1974 issue of The New Yorker • •
• • Edward Field's poem “Mae West” was published on page 30 in The New Yorker's issue dated for the week of 15 July 1974.
• • 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's performances were powerful for their ability to shock.
• • There was no subject matter considered “off-limits” within Mae West’s work, and her plays and films were marked by her fearless approach to topics that even today are often seen as problematic (substance abuse, abortion, rape, and the idea of the “expiry date” of the female performer and her sexuality).
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'll never tell anyone else how to live. These happen to be my own rules, but they might not apply to someone else. If anyone tried them out and they didn't work happily, I'd feel responsible."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Times mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Still Comes on Strong But She Forgot to Pucker" • •
• • Lee Mueller wrote: One of these women, named Elsie, who is 70 years old, said she worked in that hotel as a cleaning maid and lived over in Brooklyn's Bushwick section where Miss Mae West was born.
• • Lee Mueller wrote: "When I was a girl growing up, Mae West was somethin'," she said. "I heard about her when she was in vaudeville, you know. I remember I told my mother I wanted to grow up to be like Mae West and she slapped me.” …
• • Source: Syndicated feature written by Lee Mueller, NBA, rpt in The Daily Times (Burlington, N.C.); published on Wednesday, 15 July 1971
• • 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 5,038th 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 • • with Ethel Merman and Judy Garland in 1954 • •
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While ardent Mae West fans vehemently deny her secret marriage to Guido Deiro and subsequent abortion, facts prove otherwise. Some fans continue to push the narrative that Mae did not have female friendships, but this is erroneous as well. I find it fascinating that Mae can claim to be a Ziegfeld Girl, having appeared in the 1912 production "A Winsome Widow." Judy Garland appeared in the 1941 musical film "Ziegfeld Girl," with the pair registering together at the Hotel Belvidere in 1942. Information shared like this on this blog site underscores its ongoing importance. Bravo!
ReplyDelete• • Thank you for your generous praise, Mark.
ReplyDelete• • The truth, like cream, rises to the top.
• • Abortions during this era (Mae West's during the pre-WW1 era when she was impregnated by her husband Guido Deiro — and Judy Garland's pregnancy in 1942) were often dangerous, back-alley risks.
• • The fact that Judy Garland was able to bear children afterwards but Mae West remained sterile does speak volumes about how carefully chosen the Pennsylvania doctor was in 1942.
• • The Supreme Court decision has set reproduction rights back 100 years. I know Mae is shaking her head in dismay.