Mae West: Forever Hooked

Was the heavily air-brushed memoir that MAE WEST published in 1959 “scandalous”? Vanity Fair seems to think so. See if you agree. This is Part 4 of 14 segments.
• • “When I’m Bad, I’m Better” — — Mae West’s Sensational Life in Her Own Words • •
• • PBS’s Mae West: Dirty Blonde delves into the life of a savvy sexpot—but even it is not half as scandalous as West’s 1959 autobiography.
• • Mae West: I demanded my light • •
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: Baby Mae West said: “‘Where is my spotlight!’ I stamped it again and the spotlight moved across stage onto me and caught me in the act of demanding my light. The audience saw me and laughed and applauded.”
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: “Baby Mae” was a hit, and the child was forever hooked on showbiz. “The rest of America could ask for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she writes. “I’d take the spotlight.”
• • Mae West: "Sex" • •

• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote:  After years on the vaudeville circuit, West became the toast of Broadway with her original play Sex in 1926.
• • Mae West: I became a writer by accident • •  ..
• • This 14-part article will be continued tomorrow.
• • Source: Vanity Fair; published on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.  
• • On Friday, 27 August 1976 • •
• • The Times Sunday Review interviewed people who knew Mae West. The actress had attended the theatre with friends and after the show they asked what she thought of it. And Mae had replied: "I kept concentrating on making my mind wander. It [the play] made me realize there's less to life than sex."
• • Source: The Times Sunday Review [U.K.]; published  on Friday, 27 August 1976.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "I always have somebody with me during interviews," Mae West explained to Mike Connolly, "ever since that Mickey Hargitay mess. He and that Jayne Mansfield were getting all the good publicity.  I was getting roughed up. No more of that for Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I had to stay in command of my career.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • "Mae West Plays Santa Claus'' • •
• • Film Daily wrote: About $15,000 in presents was passed around by Mae West to those who helped in the retakes of her new Paramount picture, "Belle of the Nineties." ...
• • Source: Film Daily; published on Monday, 27 August 1934
• • 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 4,549th 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 • • "Sex" poster in 1926 • •
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Mae West: Silver Screen Sex

Was MAE WEST really misquoted? Let’s find out. This is Part 8 of eight sections, the finale.
• • 1930s sex symbol Mae West has been misquoted for decades, book reveals • •
• • “I lived like a man, in some ways” • •
• • Stephanie Nolasco wrote: From 1954 until 1956 she toured the country with a nightclub act where she surrounded herself with young musclemen. One of her gladiators, Mickey Hargitay, would go on to marry another Hollywood blonde bombshell who found inspiration in Mae West — Jayne Mansfield.
• • Stephanie Nolasco wrote:  West’s last credit in films was 1977’s “Sextette,” where the actress played a role she knew best — — that of a glamorous silver screen sex symbol. West was 84 at the time.

• • Stephanie Nolasco wrote: And the woman who personified the sexual innuendo had zero regrets doing things her way. “I lived like a man, in some ways — decided what I wanted and went after it,” West once said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not sorry. A friend of mine once wrote that I was ‘self-enchanted but never self-deceiving,’ and I hope that was always true. I got what I wanted. I still have it. Like I said a long time ago, ‘a real star never stops.’”
• • Stephanie Nolasco wrote: Mae West passed away in 1980 at age 87.
• • This article by Stephanie Nolasco has now concluded with this post, the eighth. Did you enjoy it?
• • Source: Fox News; published on Wednesday, 4 September 2019.
• • On Thursday, 27 September 1934 in Boston Herald • •
• • A review of "Belle of the Nineties" appeared in the Boston Herald on this date.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Earl Carroll wanted Mae West and W, C. Fields for his new 'Vanities,' which opens May 6 in Boston before coming into the Winter Garden, NY, with a proposed $4 top. Not being able to get them, it will only be a $3 top affair with 'new legit faces.' 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Look, I haven't got a bookkeeper's mind. I can't remember what I paid for those things five or six years ago."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Singapore daily mentioned kissing and Mae West.
• • Mae West's First Kiss • •
• • Hollywood — For the first time in any of her films, Mae West has agreed to kiss a man.
• • The lucky man is Charles Winninger, who is playing the part of a social reformer in the film she is now making, "Every Day's a Holiday."
• • Said Mae in announcing the big decision: "I figured I owed just one kiss to reformers as a class. So Charlie gets it.  He's old enough not to take it too seriously."
• • Mae West is 45 and Charles Winninger is 53.  …
• • Source: The Straits Times; published on Sunday, 26 September 1937
• • 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 4,300 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4311th 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 • • in 1977 • •
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Mae West: Experience

One of my favorite sketches of MAE WEST was done by Michaël Borremans.  With a deft touch and watercolor playfulness, he brings out new elements in the movie queen.
• • Michaël Borremans called his 2002 piece "A Mae West Experience"; he did his portrait with pencil, watercolor on paper, 6 13/32 x 8 in. (16.3 x 20.3 cm). It is now in a private collection in Belgium.
• • His gallery wrote:  Michael Borremans drawings are full of fluid lines that describe figures and architecture while personal notes are utilized as compositional tools. These drawings are often on the inside of ragged book covers or aged, crumbled paper that Borremans decided to rescue with his skillful hand.  However, mostly everything in "As sweet as it gets" takes a back seat to Borremans intensely detached and serene paintings.
• • Image:  A Mae West Experience, 2002

• • Courtesy Zeno X Gallery Antwerp © Photographer Felix Tirry ©Michaël Borremans
• • On Saturday, 12 August 1944 • •
• • According to an article in Billboard Magazine [on Saturday, 12 August 1944], Mike Todd and Mae West shared the financial burden of mounting this costume drama ("Catherine Was Great") — — $150,000, not an inconsiderable sum during the World War II era. 
• • And though she often hired inexperienced actors and actresses for the minor roles, Mae West sought out the best costume people and set designers. Despite the savage reviews that would greet the star's own efforts, the critics heaped praise on the production itself, calling the scenery "as beautiful as Howard Bay's best" and rhapsodizing over lavish details such as the fireplace set in Count Mirovich's apartment and the decor of the ghoulish "secret room" of Ivan VI where a murder occurs.
• • On Saturday, 12 August 1961 • •
• • "Come On Up" was having a revival in 1961. The copyrighted version bears the credit line "based on a story idea by Charlotte Francis" but Mae had tinkered with the text and brought in a handsome old friend Jack LaRue to play the heroine's former gangster husband.
• • Save the Date: Wednesday, 17 August 2016 • •
• • Mae West: New Yorker, Vaudevillian, Upstart, and Jailbird — — a Birthday Celebration! • •
• • Link: Mae West event on August 17, 2016
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Frank Wallace, who says he is the husband of actress Mae West, sued her business manager, James Timony, and five John Does for $105,000 damages.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "As long as the public supports my pictures, I'll fight to provide what the people want." 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Desert Sun mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West to Be Replaced by Jayne Mansfield?" • •
• • HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Mae West had an Icy “no comment” today to reports that the Mae West life jacket (a flotation device widely used during WW2) is being replaced by a new streamlined model, the Jayne Mansfield. . . .
• • Source: Item in Desert Sun; published on Monday, 5 October 1959
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past twelve years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started twelve years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3507th 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 • • artwork • •
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NYC  Mae West