Mae West: Brazen Burglary

It was on a Wednesday, 39 years ago, when newspapers had written about MAE WEST. On Wednesday, 30 September 1981, Associated Press sent their coverage from Los Angeles, California over the wire and many prominent newspapers carried it.
• • Los Angeles [A.P.] — — A vacant home owned by the late sex goddess Mae West has been systematically looted over the last three months, with brazen thieves carrying off memorabilia of the fabled screen star.
• • Neighbors said Monday the rambling single-story home has been abandoned since July 1, when the star's elderly sister, Beverly West, suffered a stroke.
• • 'People have been coming and going out of the house every day for the last two weeks,' said Charlotte Gottenbos, who lives across the street.
• • 'Cars come and park and people stay in there for half a day.  People have even pulled up in pickup trucks, opened the gate and pulled into the property,' she said. Old letters, newspaper stories, photos of Mae West, theater trunks, crumbling dresses and wigs were scattered around the house and yard.  
• • A family friend  of Mae West told the Los Angeles Times that there had been much Mae West memorabilia in the house, but little of it was in good condition or of much value.  'If someone had gone in there 10 or 15 years ago and preserved the material, it would have been a priceless collection,' said the friend, who asked that his name not be disclosed. 'But what was left there — — hats, dresses, family photographs and a bunch of junk — — was probably not worth much.'
• • The friend said a bank handling Mae West's estate was responsible for the house. He said the estate is currently tied up in a legal battle between friends and family of the star, who died last November at 87.  
• • On Sunday, 30 September 1934 • •

• • Andre Sennwald wrote an article "Lines for a Mae West Scrapbook." It was published in The New York Times on Sunday, 30 September 1934.
• • Note: Andre Sennwald [4 August 1907 — 12 January 1936], motion-picture critic of The New York Times, was killed shortly after 1 o'clock this morning when an explosion of undetermined origin believed at first to be caused by gas wrecked his terrace apartment on the top floor of the seventeen-story apartment building at 670 West End Avenue. Mr. Sennwald, who was 28 years old, became motion-picture critic of The N.Y. Times in October 1934.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • One of Mae West's least favorite motion pictures was "The Heat's On" [1943].
• • Fitzroy Davis received screenwriting credit for this mish-mash, a film so disjointed and disappointing that The New York Times review led off with this sally: "The heat is definitely off!"
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  “I'm just as busy when I'm not making a new motion picture.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A TV commentator discussed Mae West.
• • Mae West Made this "Insane" Film in her 80's • •
• • PBS wrote: The film "Sextette," which Mae West made when she was in her 80's, was actually a "radical power move," according to comedian Natasha Lyonne.
• • PBS wrote: It demonstrated Mae West's supreme confidence as a woman trying to defy the taboo against sexual older women. At the same time, it showed that the persona Mae West created in the 1930s was so original that it could endure into the 1970s and beyond. ..
• • Source: PBS; published on Tuesday, 16 June 2020
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,572nd 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 • • Mae West in 1934 • •
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Mae West: Sex Before Mae

Reporters who met MAE WEST during the 1920s and early 1930s — — before stardom cloaked her utterly — — have a refreshingly different take than those who met her as a bonafide movie queen.
• • Newsman Stanley Walker came up to see Mae West often. He saw her productions onstage on The Great White Way, he visited several times backstage, and sat at her table when she relaxed at a favorite night spot.
• • As a writer for the old New York Herald Tribune in the 1920s and 1930s, Stanley Walker chronicled the city with a pen the way Weegee did with a Graflex.
• • A section in Stanley Walker’s 1935 memoir discussed Mae West. This is Part 1 of 19 segments.
• • “Sex Comes to America” • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Before the rise of the lush Mae West, sex in the United States was treated either with extreme seriousness, even to the point of dolor, or it was laughed at and razzed.
• • Mae added a slightly burlesque overtone • •
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Mae West, by adding a slightly burlesque overtone to the by-play between the sexes, made everybody feel more comfortable except the censors, who felt rather vaguely that there was something wrong in her technique, though for the life of them they never made it clear whether it was because they took her acting seriously or as something amusing.
• • Stanley Walker wrote: Miss West can invest the simple phrase, “How do you do?” with a sexy quality which is the distilled essence of all the bordellos of all time.
• • Mae West put a laugh in the libido • •  . . .
• • This long chapter by Stanley Walker will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Chapter “Sex Comes to America” from "Mrs. Astor's Horse" written by Stanley Walker [NY: Frederick A. Stokes, 28 October 1935, 320 pages].
• • Mildred Katherine West [8 December 1898 — 12 March 1982] • •
• • In the month of March, we pay tribute to Mae's younger sister Beverly.

• • In March 1924, Variety noted a new act listed on Manhattan's stagebill: "Beverly West and Co., Piano and Singing." While not mentioning that she was Mae West's sister, Variety's reviewer admitted that "she puts over her numbers acceptably." Proctor's East 58th Street location had engaged Beverly and her musicians in 1924.
• • During the same interval (mid-March 1924), Mae West was trouping in vaudeville in Texas.
• • Born in Brooklyn on 8 December 1898, Beverly changed her stage name a few times. She was Beverly Osborne, then it was Beverly Arden. Afflicted with polio and a limp, Beverly favored long dresses that covered her imperfect legs. Beverly died two years after her older sister on Friday, 12 March 1982. She was 83.
• • On Friday, 12 March 2004 • •
• • ContactMusic.com wrote: Raquel Welch [born in 1940] discussed the rift on the movie's DVD. She said, "Mae West didn't really work until after 5 pm. Those were her hours, and it was even stipulated in her contract. I only had one scene with her in "Myra Breckinridge," and she was quite apprehensive about working with me. She hadn't done a movie in a long time. In all her previous films, she had been the only star and the only woman, and she was not very inclined to share the screen. So there were a few shenanigans." 
• • Note: during filming, Raquel was 30 and Mae was 77 years old.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The title of Mae West's novel of interracial sex is "The Constant Sinner."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Personally, I like two types of men, domestic and foreign."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Reporter George Lait interviewed Mae West for a four-part series in 1933.
• • George Lait wrote: Although not particularly superstitious, Mae claims seven and eight as her lucky numbers. She points out her birthdate — August 17 — shows one of her lucky numbers and totals the other.
• • George Lait wrote: Astrologically speaking, the Zodiacal sign of Venus was in the ascendancy when Mae West was born, and throughout her career, Venus, the goddess of love, has guided her destiny, theatrically. …
• • Source: Winona Republican Herald [Minnesota]; Monday, 11 December 1933
• • 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 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,429th 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 • • her sister • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Hollywood Exploits

MAE WEST is one of the bad girl actresses mentioned in a long, fascinating series. Let’s have a look. This is Part 5.
• • “This Is the Action of a Very Naughty Young Lady” • •
• • The 1930s Glamour Factory, Fear of Socialist Agitators, and “The Luther of Burbank” • •
• • Bright spots in women’s finances, actresses winning in the system • •
• • Kerry McElroy wrote: Still, each article in this series has aimed to take hope in the lives and courage of particular actresses in film history. Bette Davis is arguably the most exemplary of these from the 1930s both for her witty and candid recollections of the exploitative Hollywood underbelly in 1962’s The Lonely Life, and for her role in an important court case over actress rights.
• • Three controversial actresses • • . . .
• • To be concluded on the next post.
• • Source: Independent Magazine; published on Sunday, 30 September 2018.
• • Mildred Katherine West [8 December 1898 — 12 March 1982] • •

• • In the month of March, we honor Mae's younger sister Beverly.
• • In March 1924, Variety noted a new act listed on Manhattan's stagebill: "Beverly West and Co., Piano and Singing." While not mentioning that she was Mae West's sister, Variety's reviewer admitted that "she puts over her numbers acceptably." Proctor's East 58th Street location had engaged Beverly and her musicians in 1924. Back in 1895, F.F. Proctor had built his playhouse, Proctor's Pleasure Palace Palm Gardens, on 154 East 58th Street, New York, NY in midtown on the eastside [now zipcode 10022]. During the same interval (mid-March in 1924), Mae West was trouping in vaudeville in Texas.
• • Born in Brooklyn on 8 December 1898, Beverly changed her stage name a few times. She was Beverly Osborne, then it was Beverly Arden. Afflicted with polio and a limp, Beverly favored long dresses that covered her imperfect legs. Beverly died two years after her older sister on Friday, 12 March 1982. She was 83.
• • On Saturday, 12 March 1938 • •
• • On Saturday, 12 March 1938 , the Indianapolis Recorder reported that Louis Armstrong, who has just taken Nap-Town by storm last week at a local theatre, starred with Mae West in the picture “Every Day Is a Holiday.” 
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The N.Y. Times was aware of the uproar from the Hays Office that delayed Mae's latest motion picture "Klondike Annie."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I think Dior looks good — — on Dior.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Bronx, NY radio station played a song sung by Mae West.
• • WFMU: DJ Roulette’s Playlist dated from Sunday, 12 March 2017 scheduled this rock and roll hit for the number two position: Mae West singing “Shakin' All Over” . . .
• • Note: This rock and roll standard was first performed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. Written by frontman Johnny Kidd, it reached #1 in the U.K. in August 1960.
• • Note: Frederick Heath a.k.a. Johnny Kidd met an early end but not by his own hand. He died on 7 October 1966, in a fatal car crash.
• • Source: WFMU; published on Sunday, 12 March 2017

• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4167th 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
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sister Beverly • •
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