Mae West: Pure Egocentricity

MAE WEST enjoyed copious coverage in Time Magazine ― some of it positive such as her 1978 interview with Gerald Clarke. This is Part 3 of 15 segments.
• • "Show Business: At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: A generation ahead of her time • •
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Two 32-inch-high nude statues of her stand on the piano, a nude painting of her hangs on the wall, and there are photographs of her everywhere.
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Hers is an egocentricity so forthright and complete as to be pure, like that of a six-month-old baby, happy in the discovery of her body.

• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Back in the era when she did the decorating, she was a generation ahead of her time.
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Writing or adapting her own scripts, she made movies such as “Go West, Young Man” and “I'm No Angel” that were both sexy and funny, and when she laid down her pen, the formula seemed to be lost.
• • Mae West: Two young producers with Hollywood aspirations and a $4 million inheritance • • …   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Time Magazine; issue dated for Monday, 22 May 1978.
• • On Monday, 24 August 1931 • •
• • When Mae West brought her play "The Constant Sinner" to Atlantic City for a try-out in August 1931, the crowds lined up for tickets, noted The New York Times: "With two rows of standees and chairs in the aisles for extra celebrants, last Monday night saw Mae West run through her latest daisy chain, "The Constant Sinner," at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City. . ." [NY Times on Sunday, 30 August 1931].
• • The play opened out of town in New Jersey's resort town at the Apollo Theatre on Monday, 24 August 1931.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Even decades after her heyday in Hollywood, Mae West is still remembered for her enviable figure and sassy quotes. At a time when other major starlets were maintaining the petite flapper girl frame, West embraced her curves — and the attention that came with it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Men are my hobby. If I ever got married, I'd have to give up my hobby.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a lawsuit quoted Mae West.
• • "Mae West, Gable Ex Deny Scandal Yarns" was the headline.
• • "Boxer Just Chauffeur, Says Mae" was the sub-head.
• • Two more subjects of Confidential Magazine's stories slapped back with emphatic denials in Los Angeles yesterday.  ... Miss West said it was untrue that the late boxer Chalky Wright had lived in her apartment for a year.
• • "My, my, those stories are ridiculous," Miss West said. "How could Chalky Wright have lived with me for an entire year?  At that time — — 1935 —1936 — — I was living in the Ravenswood Apartments in Los Angeles. Everybody would have known. It would have made headlines. The entire story is silly." . . .
• • Source: Pasadena Independent; published on Friday, 23 August 1957
• • 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 5,066th 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 • • at home in 1934 • •
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Mae West: Open-Door Policy

The sensational front-page headline "MAE WEST Denies Living with Negro Boxer" appeared as far away as the Malay Peninsula in the Singapore Free Press as well in American and British newspapers.  Hollywood stars began to join her to form an anti-scandal coalition. Let's revisit this touchy subject, shall we?
• • "Mae West Linked To Negro Boxer" • •
• • LOS ANGELES. Aug. 21 — — Defendant Fred Meade testified at the Confidential Magazine libel trial today that the late Negro boxer Chalky Wright gave him a statement "that detailed the year he spent living in the apartment with Mae West." Meade also testified a band leader named Daniel Terry gave him the story of a tryst in the Lake Tahoe woods with singer Dorothy Dandridge.   ...
• • The Meades, the prosecution contends, gathered material in filmland with their organization Hollywood Research, Inc.  Defense attorney Arthur Crowley asked Meade if he and his wife checked information for the Confidential story, "Mae West's Open-door Policy." "Yes," Meade replied. He said the inception of the assignment was a letter from Confidential publisher Robert Harrison, who enclosed a news clipping and a letter from Dale Wright dated 11 November 1954. The clipping stated that Mae West's newest beau is bound to start a bit of talk.  . . .   
• • Fred Meade said Chalky Wright was paid $200 for the information. ...
• • Source: Page 1 article rpt in The Morning Herald (Hagerstown, Maryland); published on Thursday, 22 August 1957.
• • On Monday, 22 August 1932 • •
• • On this date production began for the motion picture "Night After Night," which offered Mae West her first chance to be in pictures.
• • On Saturday, 22 August 1936 • •
• • Elizabeth Yeaman wrote an article, "Mae West to Abandon Corsets, Wear Modem Apparel in New Picture." Her piece was published in Hollywood Citizen-News on Saturday, 22 August 1936.
• • On Sunday, 22 August 1993 • •
• • Ron Alexander wrote a tribute to Mae called "Peel Her a Grape." His charming essay, which mentioned a gala Mae West centennial bus tour, ran in Sunday's New York Times, Section 9, on 22 August 1993.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Miss Mae West remains busy. She has finished a couple of screenplays, is discussing with Paramount the possibility of appearing in a sequel to "Paper Moon," and answers the fan mail of youngsters who have flipped over her movies on television.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I couldn't help it if I exuded a 'sex personality.' And I did it with the most innocent of lines and with high-necked dresses."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A book review mentioned Mae West.
• • "Hollywood by Starlight" • •
• • Book reviewer R. J. Whitney wrote:  Californian banalities (Chapman and Hall, 7s. ad.), though described by its blurb as being a frank exposition in naked relief of the Hollywood mind, is actually a very casual and indiscriminate account of Mr. Minney's adventures with the show-pieces of the film world. Few of its characters seem to have the mentality that lends itself satisfactorily to an exposition (even one as superficial as Mr. Minney's) and Charlie Chaplin is the only one who comes through with any success.
• • "Mae West is a person you would expect to meet at the Vicarage" • •
• • At the same time, we learn that Douglas Fairbanks is very fond of playing practical jokes; that Mae West, in private life, is the sort of person you would expect to meet at the Vicarage; and life in Hollywood, in spite of the fact that Harold Lloyd's children must always be accompanied by detectives and every girl with a small salary is a possible black-mailer, is in reality anything but the crude, unprincipled existence described by the newspapers, and that its supper parties are comparable to the dignity of a reception at Londonderry House.  ...
• • Source: Review published by The Spectator [U.K.]; published on Thursday, 22 August 1935 
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2987th 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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Mae West: Hoover & Horrors

MAE WEST's friend Rona Barrett turned 75 years old today. Her birthdate is in October — — on 8 October 1936. Born (like Mae) in New York City, Rona Burstein was sufficiently intelligent, ambitious, and starstruck enough by 13 years old to begin a fan club for a fellow landsman — — Jewish crooner Eddie Fisher.
• • During the 1950s, Rona Barrett began penning an entertainment news column which appeared in newspapers around the country. By the time she launched a broadcast career, she was becoming as famous as the Hollywoodites she covered. She became the go-to-gal for gossip, taking over the throne that once belonged to Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. Instead of Hopper’s hats, Rona's trademark was her silvery-blonde poodle bob.
• • Rona Barrett hosted her own primetime TV specials and series along with publishing three successful magazines, including Rona Barrett's Hollywood, Rona Barrett's Gossip, and one about daytime TV.
• • She played herself in a cameo in Mae West's last motion picture "Sextette."
• • Rona Barrett also spoke about the Brooklyn sexpot for a TV documentary — — "Mae West: An Intimate Portrait."
• • Auction on Saturday, 8 October 2011 • •
• • Mae West posters and memorabilia will be on sale starting at 10:00 AM, among numerous other items, at this full day auction taking place at Dalton Community Event Center in Dalton, Minnesota.
• • On 8 October 1935 • •
• • In the autumn of 1935, Mae began to receive very frightening extortion letters. Shortly after Labor Day, someone mailed her a note demanding $1,000; he threatened to throw acid in her face if she did not comply. Naturally, Mae sent these letters to her local police precinct, and an investigation began. When Mae's life was threatened, however, the police arranged for her to drive with Chalky Wright, her chauffeur (who was armed) to a parking lot near the Warner Brothers studio and to leave a purse containing money there, as the thief had specified. When a man went to retrieve the handbag, police moved in. They arrested a Greek immigrant George Janios, who had been working as a busboy in the studio cafeteria.
• • On 8 October 1935, the FBI learned about these blackmail attempts from the headlines. A picture of one of the LAPD detectives, Harry Dean, garbed in "feminine attire" and a wig, standing next to Mae West, had appeared in the October 8th issue of The L.A. Times, along with a note bearing the extortionist's scrawled handwriting. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was angry with the Los Angeles police because he felt that threats sent in the mail were the bureau's responsibility, not a matter for local law enforcement.
• • The death threats and other sinister communications must have rattled Mae but, in the end, she came through this ordeal unharmed.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Men are my hobby — — and if I ever got married I'd have to give it up.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about the Wall Street protests mentioned Mae West.
• • Andrea Chalupa writes: When the police close in along Occupy Wall Street, their minds naturally do what humans do — — look for patterns. When this natural human reaction overacts we call it profiling. If the protesters occupying Liberty Plaza all dedicated a day to looking like Mae West or Cary Grant, we would turn the lazy profile thinking on its head. And it would be one sharply-dressed Liberty Plaza. . . .
• • Source: Article: "We're Chic as Hell, and We're Not Going to Take This Anymore!" written by Andrea Chalupa for The Huff Post; posted on 3 October, 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2077th 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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Mae West: Gorilla Jones

William Landon Jones enjoyed a close friendship with MAE WEST for 50 years.
• • Born in Memphis, Tennessee on 12 May 1906, he was known in boxing by the moniker "Gorilla" Jones. This weekend, the five-foot-nine fighter will be inducted posthumously into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y. He died at age 75 on 4 January 1982. After Mae's death, it's said he lost the will to live.
• • The 22-year-old Jones met Mae West in a New York night club during 1928. He had enjoyed a long career in the ring and was about to come into the big time in 1929, when he would earn a $100,000 purse — — about $1.2 million in today's money — — for winning a bout in Madison Square Garden.
• • Often photographed in a ringsize seat, the daughter of "Battling Jack" also befriended other black pugilists such as Chalky Wright and Joe Louis.
• • In a colorful feature for the Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, reporter Mark J. Price covers the career of Gorilla Jones as well as his private life with Mae West. Many pleasures await you.
• • Mark J. Price writes: Outside the boxing ring, Gorilla Jones was an unforgettable personality. He wore impeccable suits, flashed diamond rings, drove a Lincoln coupe, consorted with a Hollywood vixen — — Mae West — — and walked a lion cub on a leash.
• • Inside the ring, stripped of all excess, he was equally memorable — — except perhaps to the dozens of fighters he knocked out. They were excused for not recalling a thing after Jones' right glove cratered their faces.
• • One of the greatest boxers in Akron's history, Jones won the world middleweight title twice in the 1930s. He will be inducted posthumously this weekend into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y.
• • Jones fought in 138 professional bouts, winning 101, losing 24 and drawing 13. He KO'd 52 opponents, but never suffered a knockout or serious injury.
• • ''I have been blessed with a mind that works rapidly in the ring and hands that work as rapidly as my mind tells them,'' Jones told the Beacon Journal early in his career. ''I think I can figure fight moves a bit faster than can the fellows I am fighting, and once figured out, my hands move as they should to carry me to victory.''
• • Why did they call him "Gorilla"? • •
• • The nickname ''Gorilla,'' politically incorrect in today's world, was attributed to Jones' long reach — 75 inches — in the ring. In 1932, Beacon Journal sports scribe Jim Schlemmer said the Gorilla moniker didn't fit ''in looks or actions,'' and called Jones ''as classy a piece of fighting machinery as the game has known.''
• • ''He is an unusual type of fighter,'' Schlemmer wrote. ''He doesn't like to hurt anybody. He wishes every fellow he fights could be as good or nearly as good as himself.''
• • William Landon Jones was born in 1906 in Memphis, Tenn. He confessed to doing a lot of things wrong in his youth, such as giving up on education after grammar school. He worked for a bootlegger, ran with a tough crowd and learned to fight.
• • The ring was his way out. At age 18, Jones started boxing for $7.50 a bout. He stood 5 feet 9 inches and tipped the scales at 145 pounds.
• • Jones' first fight outside Memphis was at the Akron Armory in 1927. He beat welterweight K.O. Kelly and won $100. Unfortunately, Jones tried to add to his earnings in a late-night dice game and lost everything.
• • He begged Akron boxing promoter Suey Welch for another fight so he could buy a train ticket to Memphis.
• • Jones won the rematch, but stayed in Akron after the promoter offered to be his manager and train him at the Welch Athletic Club at 219 S. Main St.
• • Welch called Jones ''the greatest fighter in the world, pound for pound.'' The two made a fortune together.
• • Jones pummeled his way through a long line of foes: Sailor Maxwell, Mickey Fedor, Tommy Freeman, Bucky Lawless, Al Mello, Izzy Grove, Jackie Horner, Nick Testo, Meyer Grace, Jock Malone. The purses grew larger, and soon he was fighting as a middleweight at Madison Square Garden in New York.
• • In 1929, Jones earned $100,000 — about $1.2 million in today's money — and went on a spending spree. He bought his parents a Ford sedan and $10,000 home in Memphis, then rewarded himself with a $5,400 Lincoln. He bought three suits after each bout, giving away older outfits to pals. He added a diamond-collared lion to his act, walking the cub on a leash to matches and personal appearances.
• • ''In 1929 when I was in the so-called 'big' money, I spent too much,'' he later recalled. ''I liked fast horses, fast autos, fast airplanes. I had too many friends who helped me spend.''
• • Jones hit the big time in January 1932 with a sixth-round knockout of Italian boxer Oddone Piazza in Milwaukee for the National Boxing Association middleweight crown. A cheering crowd greeted him at Union Depot as he returned to Akron.
• • Five months later, he lost the title to Marcel Thil before 70,000 spectators in Paris, but regained it in 1933 by knocking out Sammy Slaughter at Cleveland Public Hall. He declined to defend the title after that.
• • Jones boxed for seven more years, but his right punch lost its sting. His final fight at the Akron Armory was a 1938 loss to Babe Risko. Jones retired in 1940 after losing a bout in Idaho. ''Gorilla Jones will never stay in the fight game until he's ready to cut paper dolls,'' Jones vowed.
• • Mae West met Gorilla Jones in a nightspot in 1928 • •
• • In many respects, the next chapter of his life was flashier than boxing. He went to work as Hollywood legend Mae West's chauffeur and bodyguard.
• • He first met the wise-cracking actress at a New York nightclub in 1928. Mae West's father had been a prizefighter, and she enjoyed bankrolling boxers.
• • ''The boxers had a hard time, even some of them who were pretty good,'' West told biographer Charlotte Chandler in 1979. ''There was one I backed named Gorilla Jones. I don't know why he was called 'Gorilla.' He wasn't that kind of fighter. I saw he was getting pounded too much, and he really didn't like fighting anymore, but he didn't know what else to do.''
• • She asked him if he could drive a car. Sure, he could. Even with a lion cub in the back seat.
• • ''So I hired him as my chauffeur,'' West said. ''He turned out to be a very good driver — — and he was also protection.''
• • Mae West also employed Jones' mother, Daisy, as a wardrobe assistant when the actress traveled. She bought homes for the boxer and his mother in Los Angeles, and served as Jones' financial manager and personal manager.
• • Biographers agree that the relationship wasn't all business. West and Jones remained close companions for 40 years. In public, he referred to her as ''The Lady,'' never by her name.
• • One time, a heckler made a bawdy remark to the actress, and the boxer threatened to rearrange the man's face.
• • ''Let 'em talk,'' Mae West told him. ''It's good for business.''
• • According to Hollywood lore, West got aggravated when house managers tried to block Jones from visiting her sixth-floor suite in the Ravenswood apartment complex. She bought the building and hired new staff.
• • ''A motion picture company offered me a quarter-million to film my story, but they wanted to make me say I was her lover,'' Jones told Jet magazine in 1974. ''That would be a lie because she was my manager and my friend. All the money in the world would be no good without a friend who has done everything to keep me on top and let me live the life I wanted to live.''
• • When Jones began to suffer from diabetes and lose his eyesight, West kept him on the payroll and handled his bills.
• • Jones was devastated in 1980 when West died in Ravenswood at age 87. She left him two apartment buildings and three houses.
• • Acquaintances said Jones gave up the will to live after ''The Lady'' passed away.
• • As his health deteriorated, his weight plunged to 102 pounds. In 1982, William ''Gorilla'' Jones died of arteriosclerosis at age 75.
• • The final bell sounded for an Akron boxing legend.
• • Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
— — Source: — —
• • Article: Akron's king of rings: Boxer Gorilla Jones conquers the world and lives the high life
• • Byline: Mark J. Price | Beacon Journal staff writer
• • Published in: Ohio.com
• • Published on: 8 June 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: August 1957

In 1955, sleazy Confidential Magazine tried to blackmail MAE WEST over her romance with a BLACK MALE: prizefighter Chalky Wright.
• • On 12 August 1957, just before he was to testify in this lawsuit about extortion, Albert "Chalky" Wright [age 45] died suddenly in Los Angeles in the bathtub of his mother's house. Mae West insisted that her dear friend had been murdered.
• • On the fiftieth anniversary of his untimely death [murder?] in August 1957, we are remembering a dark-skinned prizefighter Mae West was more than fond of.
• • Swing by for some prized time with Mae West on Friday evening 17 August 2007, when a guided tour will explore Manhattan's WEST-side during the "Mae West Side Story" walking tour. The event — — open to the public — — is timed to salute Brooklyn's own sexpot on her birthdate. [See the Annual Mae West Gala posting below.]
• • Only 3 more days until Mae's birthday on August 17th!
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West's lover Chalky Wright • • in 1941 • •
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