Mae West: Cupid Can Wait

Malcolm H. Oettinger profiled MAE WEST for Screenland. Since this interview has rarely been seen, let us enjoy it together. This is part 10 of 13.
• • “Going West” • •   
• • Mae West: The famous golden swan bed • •
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: She purchased the famous golden swan bed from Diamond Jim Brady. When she can't find a spot for it in a play, Mae keeps the bed in her country house.

• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: She has surrounded it with a roomful of gold furniture. "I never use that room," she said, "but it certainly looks swell."
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: Mae is not interested in matrimony.  
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: "I want to keep my mind on myself!" Mae explained succinctly. "Let them fall in love with me if they want to, but I don't fall in love with them. I got plenty to occupy me.  Pictures, personal appearances, stage plays, books. I'm too busy to be in love with anybody."
• • Mae West: Her films promise to be lusty, forthright, rowdy • • …  
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; published in the issue dated for June 1933.
• • On Saturday, 6 May 1944 • •
• • Syndicated columnist Earl Wilson reviewed "Catherine Was Great" and his comments were printed in the Los Angeles Daily News on Saturday, 6 May 1944.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Controversial news about Mae West's secret marriage to Frank Wallace in 1911 had "chased Hitler, the NRA, and the quintuplets off the front page of every newspaper in America for two weeks," explained the L.A. Times.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You mustn't go away with the idea that men is the only subject I know anything about."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Business Times mentioned Mae West.
• • Hooray for Hollywood • •
• • Daniel Goh wrote: This spring, Gucci unleashes a cinematic collection, both lush and louche, that is a love letter to the Golden Age of movies.
• • Daniel Goh wrote: There were fur stoles (faux, of course) stolen from Jean Harlow, and Mae West evening gowns with plunging necklines dripping with bugle beads ...
• • Source: Business Times; posted on Thursday, 21 April 2022
• • 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 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,988th 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 • • onscreen in 1933 • •
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Mae West: Jack Howard

An old vaudevillian who worked for years with MAE WEST has escaped attention. Until now.
• • Written by and starring Mae in the title role, "Diamond Lil" enjoyed its first successful Broadway run from 9 April 1928 — September 1928 at the Royale Theatre.
• • Jack Howard has the distinction of being the only original cast member from the 1928 production who also appeared in each and every Broadway revival of this show.
• • In "Diamond Lil," a Bowery-situated melodrama, the roly-poly singer played the role of Bill.
• • Born as John E. Jenkins, the performer had adopted the stage name of Jack Howard by the time he made his debut on The Gay White Way during the springtime of 1913 in "The Geisha," a musical comedy. Often cast as an authority figure, Howard was seen in "Little Ol' Boy" [1933] in the role of a Penitentiary Guard; in "Hold Your Horses" [1933] as Diamond Jim Brady; during the 1939 World's Fair as P.T. Barnum in "American Jubilee"; in "High Kickers" [1941—42] as a Police Chief.
• • From 1942—45 he gave up acting to become Chief Engineer on a Liberty ship before heading back to Times Square, where he was seen in the short-lived flop "A Place of Our Own" [1945] and Mike Todd's "Up in Central Park" [1947].
• • Burlesque and the Bowery • •
• • Before his featured roles in the legit, Jack Howard was a vaudeville and burlesque headliner from 1905. In 1920, he copyrighted his comedy sketch "On the Bowery." [Perhaps Mae West went to see this since she was fascinated by the old glory days of the Bowery.] In April 1931, Howard wrote "Lonesome Life," a song he performed as well as licensed.
• • Mae West was loyal to the variety artist veterans who came up the ranks in show business with her — — and this long-standing hire, who reclaimed his role in the 1949, 1950, and 1951 mainstage productions of "Diamond Lil," is but one example.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1928 • •
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Mae West: Diamond Life

MAE WEST, whose Broadway blockbuster was "Diamond Lil," was fascinated by characters – – and the actress-loving gift dispenser Diamond Jim Brady was one of them. Since the very generous gent died in mid-April, it's time for a toast.
• • James Buchanan Brady, also known as Diamond Jim Brady [12 August 1856 – 13 April 1917], was an American businessman, a financier, and a philanthropist.
• • Known for his penchant for jewels, especially diamonds, he collected precious gems and favored his idol Lillian Russell with dazzling doo-dads such as a bicycle encrusted with mother-of-pearl inlaid and other imaginative tributes.
• • For another actress, Diamond Jim commissioned a hand-carved gilded swan bed [shown here].
• • After Brady died on 13 April 1917, Mae West managed to buy the swan bed from his estate. It was used onstage as part of the bedroom suite of "Diamond Lil" [1928] and Mae also finessed the vintage prop into the filmed version "She Done Him Wrong" [1933].
• • Where lies the gilded swan bed today? Who knows?
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
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Mae West: Fulton Street

Raise your hand if you have an Arby's tumbler imprinted with the face of MAE WEST?
• • The roast beef sandwich chain, based in Georgia, is claiming to have sealed a juicy deal on their first Kings County outpost.
• • The fast food franchise will take top shelf space on Fulton Street inside the landmark that once hosted the venerable Gage & Tollner, where Mae West used to dine. Former patrons of Gage & Tollner were frequently high-fliers [think "Diamond Jim" Brady] along with colorful entertainers such as Jimmy Durante.
• • In 1879, a decade before Battling Jack West and Tillie Delker took their wedding vows, Charles Gage decided it was time to open an "eating house" in Brooklyn at 303 Fulton Street. By 1892, a year before Mae West was born, Gage & Tollner relaunched their dining saloon at 372—374 Fulton Street — — in a brownstone built in 1875 (before the district became commercial).
• • It seems odd to think of fast food served in an historic gaslight-era rowhouse that once boasted a prestigious steakhouse catering to swells and stars. But Raymond Chera, a Brooklyn-based franchisee, insisted that its gas lamps and wall-length mirrors will survive the dramatic transformation. “We’re keeping everything in place, and anything we move in will be non-permanent and easy to move out,” said Chera. “It will probably be the most beautiful Arby’s ever.”
• • But will the Mae West etched glassware return to Arby's? Stay tuned.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West: Edward Arnold

Edward Arnold co-starred with Mae West in "I'm No Angel" [1933].
• • Native New Yorker Edward Arnold [18 February 1890 — 26 April 1956] was a character actor who appeared in 150 films — — along with his role as Big Bill Barton.
• • Born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, he was the son of German immigrants. With his booming baritone voice, piercing blue eyes, and a heavy-set physique, Edward Arnold was an expert at playing rogues and authority figures.
• • A burly man with a commanding style, he was a popular screen presence for decades. He starred in such film classics as Diamond Jim [1935], a role he reprised in Lillian Russell [1940].
• • Edward Arnold served as President of The Screen Actors Guild shortly before his death in 1956 at age 66.
• • "I'm No Angel" Cast • •
• • Mae West as Tira
• • Cary Grant as Jack Clayton
• • Gregory Ratoff as Benny Pinkowitz
• • Edward Arnold as Big Bill Barton
• • Memorable lines • •
• • Rajah (a fortuneteller): Ah, you have a wonderful future. I see a man in your life.
• • Tira: What — — only one?
• • Tira: Beulah, peel me a grape.
• • Tira: It's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men.
• • Tira: When I'm good I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
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Mae West: Lillian Russell

Much admired by both MAE WEST and her mother was the actress Lillian Russell.
• • Millionaire "Diamond Jim" Brady was another devotee.
• • Lillian Russell [born Helen Louise Leonard in Iowa in December 1860] is in our thoughts during the month of June because the influential beauty died at age 61 on 6 June 1922.
• • Referring to the Victorian idol (and ideal example of womanhood) that Russell had become, Emily Wortis Leider writes: "Matilda [West] herself, a soft-spoken native of Bavaria whose stunning hourglass figure reminded people of the ripe and rounded opulence of reigning New York beauty, actress Lillian Russell, had married after a brief stint modeling corsets, a scant seven years after her arrival in America. She had once harbored hopes for a stage career of her own, but her respectable merchant family, kin to proprietors of a New York brewery renowned for its lager, forbade it. They probably had also discouraged her forays into the corset-modeling profession, which she glamorized with a French word, modiste. ..."
• • Leider's book "Becoming Mae West" is a well-researched and engrossing biography.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West: Diamond Jim

MAE WEST was fascinated by certain notables – – and the actress-loving gift dispenser Diamond Jim Brady was one of them.
• • James Buchanan Brady, also known as Diamond Jim Brady [12 August 1856 – 13 April 1917], was an American businessman, a financier, and a philanthropist.
• • Known for his penchant for jewels, especially diamonds, he collected precious gems and favored his idol Lillian Russell with doo-dads such as a bicycle encrusted with mother-of-pearl inlaid and other imaginative tributes.
• • For another actress, Diamond Jim commissioned a hand-carved gilded swan bed [shown here].
• • After Brady died on 13 April 1917, Mae West managed to buy the swan bed from his estate. It was used onstage as part of the bedroom suite of "Diamond Lil" and Mae also finessed the vintage prop into the filmed version "She Done Him Wrong" [1933].
• • Where lies the gilded swan bed today? Who knows?
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
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Mae West & the Swan

An article written in 1930 mentioned the preferences of MAE WEST on home decor.
• • "She likes everything massive," noted the journalist. "Her furniture, bed, even her car is larger than the average. The swan bed used onstage in Diamond Lil was taken from her home. Formerly it belonged to Diamond Jim Brady. ..."
• • When it was time to recreate the Bowery on the stage of the Royale Theatre in 1928, Mae West opted for a stylish version of her mother's era. Broadway's set designer August Vimnera equipped the saloon with an old-fashioned piano and situated Lil's upstairs dressing room in a way that guaranteed opportunities for grand sweeping entrances.
• • Onstage, Diamond Lil reclines in a gilded swan-shaped bed. Formerly, it belonged to the turn-of-the-century actress Amelia Bingham [1869 — 1927]. Mae said she purchased it from the estate of Diamond Jim Brady [1856 — 1917].
• • The swan bed made its way into the Paramount Pictures production of "She Done Him Wrong" as well.
• • During the week when carollers are singing about the "Twelve Days of Christmas" and the partridge in a pear tree, Mae West's languid pose with the swan seems so festive.
• • Question: what became of this famous swan bed? Who owns it now?
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photograph: Mae West • • 1932 • •
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