Mae West: Libelous Lassies

During her days in vaudeville, MAE WEST wanted to be "in the legit" — — on The Gay White Way — — and Jesse Lasky gave her an opportunity.
• • In 1911, Jesse Lasky opened the "Folies-Bergere," a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street and he cast a pretty 18-year-old Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The extravaganza was produced by Ned Wayburn, Mae's dancing teacher and was called "A La Broadway."
• • Jesse Lasky [13 September 1880 ― 13 January 1958] made his way out to the West Coast and was still giving a first chance to female hopefuls.
• • “They Say in New York” by Karen Hollis • •

• • Karen Hollis wrote: Latest to enlist outside aid for Hollywood is Jesse Lasky, who wants recruits from society for his picture, "Coming Out Party."  
• • Karen Hollis wrote: Jesse Lasky already has Alice Moats, who wrote "No Nice Girl Swears."
• • Karen Hollis wrote: A little group of New York Junior Leaguers, discussing their debutante friends and their possibilities, weren't too enthusiastic. To hear them tell it, there is hardly a girl among them who doesn't try to ape the looks and mannerisms of her favorite star of the moment.
• • A pallid replica of Mae West • •
• • Karen Hollis wrote: But they are just pallid replicas of Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Mae West, and Kay Francis, according to their friends.
• • Karen Hollis wrote: In the midst of the discussion, up cropped an incident that has long been gloated over in New York's social circles.  
• • Karen Hollis wrote: It happened before Mae West became the rage that she now is, back in the days when she was being arrested regularly for putting on shows that somebody or other considered indecent.
• • Karen Hollis wrote: A society reporter remarked that a certain young woman of one of our first  families grew to  resemble Miss West more every day. Next day the telephone wires to the newspaper office burned. The mother, the uncle, the family  lawyer, and finally the girl  herself, called to protest indignantly.  
• • Karen Hollis wrote: The reporter admitted her blunder, professed to be broken-hearted, said that she would never make such an invidious comparison again, and then added slyly, "Because everyone expects Mae West to sue me for libel."
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for February 1934.
• • On Tuesday, 10 January 1950 • •
• • The letter was dated for Tuesday, 10 January 1950 and Mae West had a pen in her hand, ready to make it official. Mae was signing a typed letter (one page long) employing the William Morris Agency as her sole and exclusive agent for a period of three years. The contract would go into effect on 18 February 1950.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Part of her appeal is she's funny,'' said Emily Wortis Leider, Mae’s latest biographer. Leider's new book, ‘Becoming Mae West’ (Farrar Straus Giroux), chronicles the formative and little-known years of the actress' early life.
• • "I think she appeals to feminists, although I don't think she was a feminist by any standard and didn't like other women,'' Emily Wortis Leider added. "She's so powerful on the screen, always the focal point and always bigger than anyone else.'' ...
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I am a showman. I know that the public wants sex in their entertainment and I give it to them."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Michigan newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • “Mae West Coming to Shubert Detroit” • •
• • Mae West in "Sex" is listed for the Shubert Theatre in Detroit beginning on Christmas night, Dec. 25, and continuing through Jan. 3.
• • Barry O'Neill is Mae's leading man, as he was previously with Jeanne Engels and Francine Larrimore. …
• • Source: The Detroit Jewish Chronicle; published on Friday, 19 December 1930
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,905th 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 • • in 1911 • •
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Mae West: 13 Inches

On 13 September 1953, this image of MAE WEST appeared in The Los Angeles Times.
• • On 13 September 1969 • •
• • Michael Sarne was writing a lot to Mae West during the autumn of 1969 as he developed the cinema version of "Myra Breckinridge." In a letter dated 13 September 1969, he asked Mae to hurry up and get her comments on the revised screenplay to him as soon as possible. He promised he was giving more thought to other ways to involve her character Leticia Van Allen in the central plot. Mae West, of course, got top billing.
• • Lasky's Lucky 13 • •
• • More than anything, vaudevillian Mae West wanted to be "in the legit" — — on The Gay White Way — — and Jesse Lasky gave her an opportunity.
• • In 1911, Jesse Lasky opened the "Folies-Bergere," a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street and he cast a pretty 18-year-old Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The extravaganza was produced by Ned Wayburn, Mae's dancing teacher and was called "A La Broadway."
• • Born in San Francisco, California in the month of September — — on 13 September 1880 — — Jesse Lasky went on to be the founder of the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company, which later merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, one of the major studios of the silent era.
• • Quite versatile, Jesse Lasky started out as a reporter and then made failed plans to join the Alaska Gold Rush. Also a talented musician, Lasky then tried his hand at being a bandleader in Hawaii. Upon his return to the United States, he and his sister Blanche teamed up to play the coronet in vaudeville; this led to his becoming a vaudeville promoter.
• • In 1913 he and his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (who later became Sam Goldwyn) formed the first studio with Goldfish functioning as president and Lasky as the vice-president. In 1914, their first film, The Squaw Man, became a great hit and an industry milestone in that it was the first epic western; its success also helped make Hollywood a center for filmmaking. Eventually his Famous Players-Lasky company merged and merged again until it became Paramount, another major studio in American cinema history.
• • Perhaps thirteen was his special number. Born on the 13th of September, Jesse Lasky died on 13 January 1958 at age 77.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said this to an Australian reporter: "I like my sexes stable."
• • Mae West wrote this: “The wages of sin are sables and a film contract.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Mae West was mentioned in connection with a new show on Al Jolson, with whom she performed.
• • Cynthia Citron writes: Al Jolson defends himself by rattling off some of the many other performers who worked in blackface, such as Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, George Jessel, Buster Keaton, and even the young Shirley Temple. He might also have mentioned Mae West, Gene Kelly, Will Rogers, the Marx Brothers, George Burns, among many others. ...
• • Source: Article: "Jolson sings again!" written by Cynthia Citron for Examiner.com; posted on 12 September 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2052nd 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 • • 1953 • •
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Mae West: Harold Atteridge

MAE WEST was cast in "Vera Violetta," a musical that opened in November — — on 20 November 1911 — — at the Winter Garden Theatre when she first worked with Mr. Atteridge.
• • Most of the music was prepared by composer Edmund Eysler who was born in Vienna [on 12 March 1874]. The lyricist for "Vera" — — a show set in Paris, France — — was Harold Atteridge.
• • Mae West was assigned the second number in Act I. Backed by the chorus, Mae [as Mademoiselle Angelique] was to sing "Angelique of the Opera Comique," a song whose lyrics were written by Melville Gideon to music composed by Louis A. Hirsch.
• • And a decade later Mae would work with Harold Atteridge again on "The Mimic World" [1921]. This time, the audience got to see Mae in all 26 performances in the role of Cleopatra, a Shimmy Dancer, and La Belle (renamed Madelon).
• • Born in the month of July — — on 9 July 1886 — — in Lake Forest, Illinois, Harold Atteridge began his long career when he was at the University of Chicago and often wrote for a number of college shows. After graduation, he joined a commercial music publishing outfit as a lyricist. A producer recognized his talent and encouraged him to move to The Big Apple, which he did by September 1910. After a discussion with Jesse Louis Lasky, Atteridge was hired for a show at Manhattan's York Follies Bergere. That unprofitable dinner theatre soon closed, however, it led to the lucky chance to audition for J. J. Shubert and then be engaged for more than twenty upcoming productions.
• • A show such as Vera Violetta, which offered enormous prestige and a high salary, was not without its perils. Harold Atteridge explained: "Writing a Winter Garden revue involves many details, and this work is unlike that of the librettist who writes a straight musical comedy. It must be remembered that there are more principals for whom parts and song numbers must be arranged, and that, due to the nature of travesties indulged in, constant revisions are necessary up until the very week before the premiere. Seven or eight weeks ahead I have a private conference with J.J. Shubert, who engages the cast and chorus, plans the scenery and lighting effects, and superintends the production and together we map out a skeleton idea of the forthcoming revue. Then we scout about for a promising composer, and I begin writing a series of lyrics to be used. In the average Winter Garden offering about thirty-five numbers are written, and ten songs from this list are eliminated before the premiere. ..." No wonder this Broadway mainstay took to drink to calm his nerves.
• • By 1930, he was working in Tinseltown, hired to write film continuities. And later on he scripted radio continuities for two performers who had worked with Mae West — — Ed Wynn and Al Jolson. But his alcoholism and the deadline pressure took its toll. Harold Richard Atteridge died on 15 January 1938 of cirrhosis of the liver in Lynbrook, New York. He was only 51 years old and was survived by his wife.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Op-Ed journalist Patt Morrison writes: The self-styled Psychic to the Stars who has hosted lucrative infomercials, TV shows and hotlines says he consulted with the likes of Lucille Ball and John Wayne on this side of life, heard from Elvis and James Dean on the other side, and knows Marilyn Monroe from both sides — — she gave him the table and chairs where we sat and talked in his Studio City home. He learned his craft from his grandmother, his mother and his mother's friend, psychic devotee Mae West. .. .
• • Source: Op-Ed piece: "Patt Morrison Asks: Spirit guide Kenny Kingston" written by Patt Morrison for L.A. Times; posted on 9 July 2011
• • 17 July 2004 — 17 July 2011 • •
• • In mid-July the Mae West Blog will celebrate its seventh anniversary. Thank you to all those Mae-mavens who come up and see Mae every day.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1986th 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 • • "Mimic World of 1921" • •
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Mae West: Lasky's Folies

More than anything, vaudevillian MAE WEST wanted to be "in the legit" — — on The Gay White Way — — and Jesse Lasky gave her an opportunity.
• • In 1911, Jesse Lasky opened the "Folies-Bergere," a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street and he cast a pretty 18-year-old Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The extravaganza was produced by Ned Wayburn, Mae's dancing teacher and was called "A La Broadway." The venue was all wrong for this production, which lasted only eight nights. Nevertheless, the show won Mae some positive attention.
• • Shining Lights in the Cast . . . • •
• • The New York Herald reported: "There were some shining lights in the cast — — notably Mae West." The New York Times critic wrote: "A girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and a snappy way of singing and dancing."
• • Born in San Francisco, California in the month of September — — on 13 September 1880 — — Jesse Lasky went on to be the founder of the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company, which later merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, one of the major studios of the silent era.
• • Quite versatile, Jesse Lasky started out as a reporter and then made failed plans to join the Alaska Gold Rush. Also a talented musician, Lasky then tried his hand at being a bandleader in Hawaii. Upon his return to the United States, he and his sister Blanche teamed up to play the coronet in vaudeville; this led to his becoming a vaudeville promoter.
• • In 1913 he and his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (who later became Sam Goldwyn) formed the first studio with Goldfish functioning as president and Lasky as the vice-president. In 1914, their first film, The Squaw Man, became a great hit and an industry milestone in that it was the first epic western; its success also helped make Hollywood a center for filmmaking. Eventually his Famous Players-Lasky company merged and merged again until it became Paramount, another major studio in American cinema history.
• • Perhaps thirteen was his lucky number. Born on the 13th of September, Jesse Lasky died on 13 January 1958 at age 77.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Folies-Bergere 1911 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.

Mae West: Jesse Lasky

More than anything, vaudevillian MAE WEST wanted to be "in the legit" — — on The Gay White Way — — and Jesse Lasky gave her an opportunity.
• • In 1911, Jesse Lasky opened the "Folies-Bergere," a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street and he cast a pretty 18-year-old Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The extravaganza was produced by Ned Wayburn, Mae's dancing teacher and was called "A La Broadway." The venue was all wrong for this production, which lasted only eight nights. Nevertheless, the show won Mae some attention.
• • The New York Herald reported: "There were some shining lights in the cast — — notably Mae West." The New York Times critic wrote: "A girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and a snappy way of singing and dancing."
• • Born in San Francisco, California on 13 September 1880, Jesse Lasky went on to be the founder of the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company, which later merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, one of the major studios of the silent era.
• • Quite versatile, Jesse Lasky started out as a reporter and then made failed plans to join the Alaska Gold Rush. Also a talented musician, Lasky then tried his hand at being a bandleader in Hawaii. Upon his return to the United States, he and his sister Blanche teamed up to play the coronet in vaudeville; this led to his becoming a vaudeville promoter.
• • In 1913 he and his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (who later became Sam Goldwyn) formed the first studio with Goldfish functioning as president and Lasky as the vice-president. In 1914, their first film, The Squaw Man, became a great hit and an industry milestone in that it was the first epic western; its success also helped make Hollywood a center for filmmaking. Eventually his Famous Players-Lasky company merged and merged again until it became Paramount, another major studio in American cinema history.
• • Perhaps thirteen was his lucky number. Born on the 13th of September, Jesse Lasky died on 13 January 1958 at age 77.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Folies-Bergere • • 1911 • •
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