Mae West: Missed & Mourned

 At age 87, MAE WEST suffered a series of strokes which finally resulted in her death on Saturday, 22 November 1980 in Hollywood, California.

• • The actress took her final breaths quietly in her white and gold Hollywood apartment (The Ravenswood). Private services [conducted by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie and attended by about 100 close friends and family] were held in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, California.
• • Her eulogy, written by Kevin Thomas and delivered by producer Ross Hunter, concluded: “Mae West always said that no one was ever to feel sorry for her, and she would not want anyone to start now. Mae West figured that in one way or another she would live forever. And she probably will.”
• • Entombment was in the West family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Abbey in Brooklyn, New York.
• • Cause of death: Complications from stroke
• • Burial: Cypress Hills Cemetery
• • Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
• • Image: Nerman, 1930s
• • On Friday, 22 November 2013 • •
• • Mae West's most successful play "Diamond Lil" was performed in Jefferson Market Library, NYC on Friday evening, 22 November 2013, in her honor.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West wore the famous West diamonds, and made a late entrance very impressively.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "This is the greatest age for women. They no longer have to sit primly on a straight-backed chair with hands folded, waiting for some guy to come and make a pass at them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Barron’s mentioned Mae West yesterday on Tuesday, 21 November 2023.
• • Historic Typewriters Used by Literary Giants and Celebrities Up for Auction • •
• • Eric Grossman wrote: This “type” of sale doesn’t come along very often. A bevy of historically significant typewriters from the collection of Los Angeles-based businessman Steve Soboroff, age 75, used by literary greats and celebrities—is going up for auction next month.

• • Eric Grossman wrote: Buyers will bid on vintage vessels used by some of America’s most famous writers and celebrities at a Heritage Auctions’ sale, at the auctioneer’s Dallas headquarters on 15 December 2023.
• • Image: Olympia SF typewriter owned by Mae West
• • Eric Grossman wrote: Steve Soboroff—who retired as president of the LAPD Board of Commissioners in August after a decade on the job—began his collection on a whim at an auction in 2005, when he outbid the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1940 Remington Model J used by Pulitzer-winning Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray.
• • Eric Grossman wrote: That typewriter was followed by others used by literary titans Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Philip Roth, and actors Mae West, Greta Garbo, Shirley Temple, Julie Andrews, and Tom Hanks. Musicians also feature, including Bing Crosby and Andrea Bocelli, as do notables such as Samuel T. Cohen (inventor of the neutron bomb) and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. …
• • Source: Written by Eric Grossman for Barron’s; published on 21 November 2023
• • 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 5,153nd 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sketched in 1932-33 by Nerman
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest   

Mae West: 130th Birthday With Love

Happy Birthday to MAE WEST, Brooklyn Bombshell, Screen Siren, Empress of Sex, Queen of Comedy, a notable and quotable comedienne who maintained a long career on stage, on screen, on the guest star circuit, and who also sizzled on the nightclub circuit.
• • Delivered by a local mid-wife, this feisty newborn drew her first lusty breaths in Bushwick on Thursday, 17 August 1893 (under the proud leonine sign of Leo) in her parents' bedroom. Little Mary Jane West always said: "I was born on a cool night in a hot month so I knew I could expect anything."

• • She trumped the income of every film actress of her generation because Mae was paid as a screenwriter as well as a box office draw.
• • Each day at least one publication in the world mentions her name. [We can verify our claim, too, because we have tracked this a-Mae-zing trend daily for the past 18 years now!]
• • No other movie queen coined so many witticisms — durable and dateless because Mae West relied on wordplay and rhetorical devices such as chiasmus.
• • Often imitated but never duplicated, the one and only Mae West endures in our hearts and memories.
• • Darling Mae, to your loyal followers, you don't look a day over twenty-sex!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Even at the fourscore mark, she remains a remarkable figure of a woman. The well-padded frame, which inspired the Mae West life jacket in World War II, seems little changed.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West  had been 40 when she made the first of 12 films and was an important influence on the early career of Cary Grant, teaching him much about the craft of comedy in the course of appearing with him in “She Done Him Wrong” and “I'm No Angel.”
• • The death of this sex goddess from Hollywood's Golden Age was front-page news in November 1980 when she was 87.

• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Come up sometime and see me. I'm home every evening."
• • Mae West said: "I give 'em what they want to see."
• • Mae West said: “The curve is mightier than the sword.”
• • Mae West said: "You have to outfight everyone else to succeed."
• • Mae West said: "I'll never believe the worst about anyone without complete proof."
• • Mae West said: "Woman is capable of more trickery than man ever dreamed of. I am not defending the tricky woman, but if she is forced to battle for the place due to her, she cannot be condemned for using any ruse she can."   
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • "Mae West Turns Sixty" • •
• • The Horsham Times wrote: Mae West turned 60 recently. To reporters who went along to wish her many happy returns, Miss West made it plain that birthdays are one thing a lady just doesn't discuss.
• • Fluttering her inch-long eyelashes demurely, Mae West said: "You can see for yourself, a girl's just as old as she feels."
• • Source: The Horsham Times;  published on Friday, 12 September 1952
• • 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 5,152nd 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sketched in 1932 and 1970 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest   

Mae West: Why a Hiatus?

The MAE WEST Blog, started in July 2004 when there was very little content online about the Brooklyn bombshell (except for vintage film reviews and her best known witticisms), has been an abiding presence for eighteen and a half years on Blogger, now owned by Google.
• • Censorship by Google • •

• • You might think that a long-standing Mae West Blog that attracts over 100 international visitors a day would get some respect from Big Tech. Sorry but you’d be wrong.
• • As two examples of disrespect from Google, our ads have been deactivated and “sensitive content” warnings have been slapped on some posts.
• • Why, Google? Why? • •
• • There is no “objectionable” content here, in my opinion.
• • If Mae West were here, she’d probably say, “Censors again!”
• • Mae West Blog Goes on Hiatus • •
• • Therefore, the blog will go on hiatus and the focus will shift to allowing more time to complete a fascinating, heavily illustrated book: “Mae West’s New York, 1895-1970.”
• • Pictorial Biography in Progress • •
• • Filled with rare pictures of a lost New York, the fascinating city Mae West grew up in, the sights that inspired her writing, the vaudeville houses and theatres that welcomed her performances, this will be the first bio-pictorial written by a native New Yorker. 

• • Most Westian biographers have (curiously) hailed from England or from California. Unfortunately, books written by out-of-towners have had noticeable gaps in Mae’s life story — — and have lacked the perspective of a native New Yorker, someone intimately acquainted with Big Apple history and the socio-political forces unique to Mae’s birthplace.
• • A new domain? • •
• • Due to Google’s censorship, the blog may also be moved to its own domain.
• • If you wish to know more about “Mae West’s New York, 1895-1970,” feel free to leave a comment with your contact info. Personal comments will not be published; only I will see them.
• • Thank you for visiting today.
• • Please follow this blog to keep up with announcements.
• • Occasional updates on the forthcoming Mae West book will be posted — — so come up and see us sometime.
• • On Wednesday, 9 January 1889 in Brooklyn, NY • •
• • On this date, John West took his best girlfriend Tillie Decker to Brooklyn's Borough Hall to apply for a marriage license. Mae's mother's name appears as "Tillie Decker" on the form, not as "Matilda."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Q. Did Mae West really make all those wisecracks, spontaneously, over the telephone to the thirteen editors in the nation-wide interview, or did she have rehearsals?
• • A. She did not have rehearsals. Mae's wit, both off the screen and on, is, apparently, as endless and as spectacular as her wardrobe.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "That's why I want you to see her story — — because her-story is the real lowdown."
• • Mae West said: "Sure, they are completely right when they say I make a parody of sex. That's my stock in trade. Any gal can get really sexy but it takes a smart dame to make guys and women both laugh at it."
• • Mae West said: "Every script presented to me, no matter how imaginative a story, was built around a man and a woman. Mae West pictures, as written by me, were built around a woman and men — — and the more the merrier."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Australian newspapers mentioned the high salary of Mae West.
• • "Big Incomes in the USA" • •
• • Among motion picture people, Mae West led the list with 339,000 dollars (£67,800).
• • Others were: Marlene Dietrich, 145,000 dollars (£29,000); W. C. Fields, 155,000 dollars (£31,000); Miriam Hopkins, 71,000 dollars (£14,200); Gary Cooper, 139,000 dollars (£27,000); Charles Chaplin, 143,000 dollars (£28,600); Claudette Colbert, 85,000 dollars (£17,000).  . . .
• • Source: The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld.); published on Thursday, 9 January 1936
• • 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 5,150 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,151st 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • colorized in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Never Forgets

MAE WEST met her fans on the silver screen and between the pages of the day’s popular fan magazines, all of whom skated dizzily on the surface of facts and never did any fact-checking. This is the first section, Part 1, segment 28 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Never forgets a friend nor a kindness • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: It practically gave Mae West her start in show business.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West never forgets a friend nor a kindness, and seems to have an inexhaustible memory for the faces of those who have crossed her pathway in her long journey from Brooklyn to Broadway.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Like all the children on the block, Mae West went to the public school, and she passes over the monotony of the schoolroom for the more exciting adventures in the evening when, as a child actress, with grease paint and furbelows, little Mae occupied the center of the stage.
• • Mae West: The Clarendon Stock Company • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • Mae West Contest: Follow-up • •

• • When New Movie Magazine asked readers for opinions about Mae West, they got lots of mail and many opinions.
• • Lively letters condemning Mae's influence (in 1934) were published from these readers:
• • Names: Mrs. Joe Miller, Charlotte, N.C.; Mrs. Mabel Hewes, Biloxi, Miss.; F.J. Bendick, New York City; and Phyllis Adato, New Brunswick, N.J.
• • On Tuesday, 23 June 1970 • •
• • "Myra Breckinridge" had its red-carpet, star-studded premiere in New York at the Criterion Theatre (1514 Broadway) on Tuesday, 23 June 1970. The movie went into general release in the USA one day later.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By the way, Mae West is now working on her new contract by the terms of which she gets $100,000 a picture. They also say that the curvaceous one also gets about half that amount again for providing her own story and, be it known, Mae won't stand for anybody's writing stories for her pictures but Mae.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A gal with good lines is better than one with a good line."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Bushwick site mentioned Mae West.
• • Danielle Thompson wrote: Despite the frequent moves, the West family appeared to build its strongest ties to Bushwick and its bordering community of Ridgewood.
• • Danielle Thompson wrote: In fact, Mae’s famed manner of speaking was thought to exemplify what one writer called the “Bushwick Avenyah” accent ― an accent that was once described as more of a “dialect, like Cockney,” that was “a life-long affliction.”  …
• • Source: Bushwick Daily; published on Monday, 25 February 2013
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen 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 seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,022nd 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: German Not French

MAE WEST met her fans on the silver screen and between the pages of the day’s popular fan magazines, all of whom skated dizzily on the surface of facts and never did any fact-checking. This is the first section, Part 1, segment 18 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Exploits as a youngster • •    
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: For the moment, let's meet the high-spirited little flaxen-haired girl, the daughter of the Wests, known because of her unconventional exploits at an early age as "that West child," and looked upon with arched eyebrows by the conservative mothers of the neighborhood because untamed, stubborn little spirit as she was, and the leader of the block, she refused to conform to the then current pastime of playing jacks in lady-like fashion on the top step, preferring to gang about with the boys.

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West, the daughter of a French mother [sic] and an American father, grew up in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
• • Mae West: A Bushwick kid who got into mischief often • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Sunday, 9 June 1935 • •
• • Mae West did a few interviews with John Moffatt. In an article printed in the Sunday Times on 9 June 1935, Mae discussed parting with Libby Taylor, her longtime maid. Mae said, "When she began wanting me to wake her up in the morning, I told her she'd better stop being a maid and give her all to the public."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • I am told that Mae West weighs more than one or two nutmegs — — but she is not British.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Keep a diary and some day it'll keep you."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Texas newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Life really is a comedy of errors" • •
• • From San Angelo, Texas, Britt Towery writes: At one time folks thought Mae West was what we needed. At one time all that America needed was a five-cent cigar. Cigars have disappeared and Mae West is but a life preserver and some still think America needs something. ...
• • Source: Go San Angelo; posted on Thursday, 9 June 2011
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen 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 seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,012th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Inherent Talent

MAE WEST met her fans on the silver screen and between the pages of the day’s popular fan magazines, all of whom skated dizzily on the surface of facts and never did any fact-checking. This is the first section, Part 1, segment 6 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: From the Bushwick section of Brooklyn • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West's strong individuality and her firm willpower are as responsible for her success as her inherent talent — a talent which was as apparent at the age of five as the strong little personality which bossed all the children on the block, and was the terror of the brownstone house district of Brooklyn — the Bushwick Section.

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West the child, as with Mae West the show-woman, never allowed anything to swerve her from her purpose.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: During her long career, which has taken her into all phases of the theater, stock, vaudeville, burlesque, musical comedy, producer of her own plays, she pressed forward.  
• • Mae West: Wanted to reach the top • •  ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Friday, 24 May 1929 • •
• • It was 1929 and Broadway star Mae West was feeling fine, touring from coast to coast with "Diamond Lil" — — specifically on Friday, 24 May 1929. And when a news man for a Midwestern tabloid approached, she agreed to an interview.
• • Mae told him that she had performed with Van Tenni's Arab Acrobatic Troupe. "I lifted three of the Arabs in the pinwheel formation," Mae affirmed, "and did other acts which required great strength."
• • She credited the hands-on training in gymnastics and acrobatics she received, coached by her father to develop her strength to the point where (she would claim later on) she was able to lift 500 pounds [sic] and support three athletes.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Colgate toothpaste propaganda points out that brighter smiles are more important in Hollywood than perfect figures. But Mae West complains she can't get anyone to admire her smile.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • A Florida newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • Sun Sentinel staffer Ivette M. Yee wrote: "Red Grooms delved in 3-D, and his celebrities often appear like caricatures in a pop-up book." 
• • Sun Sentinel staffer Ivette M. Yee wrote: In “Mae West Visits New England,” the voluptuous bombshell's breasts protrude from a slinky dress, drawing more attention than her sparkling diamond necklace. ...
• • Note: Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, 7 June 1937, Red Grooms is an American multimedia artist who is best known for his colorful pop-art constructions depicting frenetic scenes of modern urban life.
• • Source: The Sun Sentinel; published on Saturday, 24 May 2003
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen 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 seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,000th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • drawing made in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest