Mae West: Orphan Children

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 12 of 18 segments.
• • Mae West’s Secret Self • •
• • Mae West: Had a busy life • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Miss West greeted her guests at the circus tent, of all places, where she met them with consignments of peanuts, popcorn, and pink lemonade, and these guests comprised — hold your breath! — orphan children from the Los Angeles asylums.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Do you wonder the party was a huge success and that everyone, including the hostess, thought it was swell?
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae has led a busy life, busier than most people.  

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She has written and produced plays, as well as acted in them.  
• • Mae West: Keeps a wad of dollar bills in her sock • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; issue dated for October 1933.   
• • On Wednesday, 2 August 1944 • •
• • It was Wednesday, August 2nd and the applause rang out from the Shubert Theatre [225 West 44th Street], signaling the gala Broadway debut of "Catherine Was Great," when Mae West portrayed the Empress of Russia. Produced by Mike Todd, the show starred Mae as the Empress of Love who handled her men as skillfully as she handled affairs of state.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The type of humor you think of as typical of Mae West comes from her most spontaneously when she is in the mood of her screen roles. "I have to get in the mood," she told me once when I asked her to "gag" an interview.
• • Mae West saves for her "public" life all the fire and passion that other stars burn up in their personal romances. When she's acting, jokes, and wisecracks of her own peculiar brand come spontaneously to her lips.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "She who laughs lasts.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A New York newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Catherine Was Great" starring Mae West • •
• • "Catherine Was Great" opened on Wednesday, 2 August 1944. Reviews appeared soon after.
• • The Herald Tribune wrote: "Mae West came to Broadway last night, decked out like a battleship in a swimming pool." ...
• • Source: The Herald Tribune; published on Thursday, 3 August 1944
• • 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 5,050th 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 • • Mae West in 1933 • •
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