Mae West: A Tearful Tribute on November 22nd

 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 iconic actress took her final breaths quietly in her Hollywood apartment (Ravenswood).
• • Private services [conducted by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie and attended by 100 close friends and family members] were held in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.

• • 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
• • Photo: Mae West, 1935
• • On Friday, 22 November 2013 in NYC • •
• • Mae West's most successful play "Diamond Lil" was performed in Jefferson Market Library on Friday, 22 November 2013 in the evening. The performance was dedicated to the Brooklyn bombshell, whose career soared after her successful run as the Queen of the Bowery onstage at the Royale Theatre.
• • And Mae West's legal woes have also inspired the stage play "Courting Mae West." Folks came to see it on Saturday, 23 November 2013 in the very same room where Mae faced off with Judge George Donnellan and 12 jurors.
• • Darlene Violette, starring as Mae West, appeared with Joanna Bonaro, Jim Gallagher, Sidney Myer, Dena Tyler, Melvin Lima, Kimmy Foskett, Jeffrey Johns, and Jane Aquilina. The popular Mae West raffle followed.
• • The play, based on true events, is set during the Prohibition Era when Mae's plays were padlocked and she was sent to jail. Talk about a woman who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.
• • 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 • •
• • All Mae West biographies discuss the icon at the very end of her long life.
• • Somber moments are described by her biographer Jill Watts:
• • Jill Watts wrote: Soon [Mae West's] personal physician arrived. He announced that nothing more could be done. [Paul] Novak summoned a priest from the church just down the block, who gave Mae a blessing. Only a few minutes later, at 10:30 A.M., Mae West passed away [at the age of 87 years old].
• • Jill Watts wrote: ... At [Stanley] Musgrove's urging, Paul Novak organized a private service. On the afternoon of November 25, 1980, one hundred of Mae's family, friends, and acquaintance gathered at Forest Lawn's Old North Church to memorialize Mae West.
• • Jill Watts wrote: ... That night Mae's body was flown home to Brooklyn, New York and the following morning Paul Novak and Dolly Dempsey arrived at Cypress Hills for the interment. Two priests and a bishop offered short prayers and blessed the casket. …
 • • Source: “Mae West: An Icon in Black and White” by Jill Watts; published by Oxford University Press, 2001
• • 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 ongoing anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past twenty years. We reached an a-MAE-zing milestone when we completed 5,000+ blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,156th 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 • • in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

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/
________
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• • 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: Los Angeles Lesbians

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 29 of 29 segments, the finale.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: A corking motion picture • •

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Either "It Ain't No Sin" will be a corking picture or Mae will come to after its release to discover she tried to bite off more than she could manage to the downfall, not the betterment, of her career.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: That she failed in the way others have failed before her and for practically the same reasons, and that her stellar light in the film firmament has begun to fade to the dirge of "another flash in the pan is dying out."
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: I hope I'm wrong about Mae West. I hope she continues to be what we expect her to be.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: But I have very serious doubts. Have you?
• • Note: In 1941 Picture Play ceased publication when it merged with Charm Magazine.
• • Note: Memphis born Dorothy Herzog, who began writing for fan magazines during the silent screen era, also penned the “Behind the Scenes in Hollywood” column. Though little is known about her, she had once been a notable fixture among Tinseltown stars and wannabes. Dorothy Herzog even wrote the plot for one silent film: “Coney Island” (1928).
• • Los Angeles Lesbians • •
• • From Lynn Kear’s biography on the self-destructive, suicidal actress Evelyn Brent: “Evelyn Brent's life and career were going quite well in 1928. Brent [1895–1975] was happily living with her lesbian lover, writer Dorothy Herzog, following Evelyn’s divorce from film producer Bernard P. Fineman [1895–1971].” The female lovebirds enjoyed frequent meals together at Hollywood's Montmartre Café before switching over to the Embassy, a private club limited to 300 members, and “paying dues to insure their privacy and social position within the film colony,” according to one book reviewer.
• • Herzog wrote a scandalous book “Some Like It Hot” (Macaulay Company, 1930), banned in Boston, in Canada, and not permitted to be circulated by lending libraries. She wrote other potboilers, too, such as “Intimate Strangers” and “Undercover Woman,” and dedicated them to Brent under her real (birth) name. Presumably, these titles sold well enough since Herzog retained the enthusiasm of her editors at Macaulay.
• • During the 1920s, Dorothy Herzog also worked as a film critic for the New York Daily Mirror.
• • This opinionated article written by Herzog has now been concluded. Let us know if you enjoyed it.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Tuesday, 25 February 1913 • •
• • The announcement that "Mae West, the comedienne" was appearing at the Grand ran in the Atlantic Journal on Tuesday, 25 February 1913.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The controversy over the latest Mae West film is gathering volume and velocity.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I cut down on physical sex when I'm writing or plotting a play."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Photoplay mentioned Mae West.
• • “Why Was Hollywood Jealous of Mae West?” • •
• • No star in Hollywood has been more miserably treated by the Cinema City than this famous blonde. Usually, Hollywood admires success, but in this case Hollywood resented it.
• • Here is the inside story, never before told in a movie magazine.
• • All of the absorbingly interesting feature articles described above and many, many more appear in the big March [1935] issue of Movie Mirror, the great movie magazine edited direct from Hollywood.
• • If you have not already done so, by all means get your copy today and see for yourself why Movie Mirror is fast becoming America's most popular movie magazine regardless of price. …
• • Source: Photoplay; published in the issue dated for February 1935
• • 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 4,938th 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 • • in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: NYE 2021

MAE WEST is ready to wish you a blissful and an a-MAE-zing fresh start in 2022.
• • On Saturday, 31 December 1927 at Club Deauville • •
• • Mae West spent New Year's Eve on Saturday night, 31 December 1927, entertaining a crowd.
• • The nonfiction book "The Year the World Went Mad" is exclusively focused on the most vibrant events and the most fascinating individuals of 1927.
• • Author Allen Churchill wrote: "Another New York night club listed a gala unveiling for New Year's Eve. This was Mae West's Club Deauville, at Park Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street. Here a New Year's Eve Supper was advertised for a cover charge of ten dollars. Together with this went "A Program of Distinctive and Unique Entertainment Conceived and Directed by the Distinguished Star in Person." ...  Too bad we don’t know more.
• • On Friday, 31 December 2021 • •
• • "You Are the Star" • •

• • Mark Desjardin wrote: This mural is called "You Are The Star" and this is a close-up detail of the work. [When you see the complete artwork, you will note E.T. calling home in the lobby.] 
• • Mark Desjardin wrote: In 1983, it was painted by Thomas Suriya. Due to weather damage and vandalism over the years, it had been restored in 1995 and (most recently) in 2011, when a protective coasting was applied to the work.   
• • Mark Desjardin wrote: This 20 x 30 mural is located on the side of a building on the corner of  Wilcox and Hollywood Blvd, in the heart of Hollywood.  
• • Where: 1665-1699 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
• • Born in 1948 in Wisconsin, self-trained artist Thomas G. Suriya, Jr. now lives and paints in New Mexico.
• • Photo shared by Mark Desjardin; the detail used shows a close-up of Mae.
• • On Friday, 31 December 2021 • •
• • Wishing all of our readers health and happiness in the New Year: 2022. .•:*¨¨*:•.  We hope you enjoyed our Mae West blog posts so much that you'll follow us next year. .•:*¨¨*:•. Will you?
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Ringo Starr enjoyed working with Mae West in “Sextette” and invited her to a wrap-up gala he threw in a rented house on Woodrow Wilson Drive.
• • Ringo Starr wrote: "I had this party there and about a hundred people came including Mae West. We had a band and a lot of musicians and rock `n' rollers were there obviously."
• • Ringo Starr continued: "Mae West just sat in a big chair and all these rockers were on their knees to her because she was so great. Since Mae had such a huge personality, obviously she could mix with the best of them."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “The warden appeared to be sorry that I was leaving. He smiled wistfully. I thanked him for his kindness, and he said, ‘Come and see us again, sometime.’  And I replied, "Thanks, I will, but not via the Little Black Wagon."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Singapore newspaper featured an interview with Mae West.
• • It was on Sunday, 30 December 1934 that the final installment of "The Story of Mae West" was published in a Singapore newspaper.
• • "The High Priestess of Hokum" • •
• • John C. Moffitt wrote: Recently, when Mae began to work on her picture "It Ain't No Sin," someone thought it would be a pretty sentiment to have George Raft, the star of her first movie, play opposite her. George thought otherwise. He had a nervous breakdown and started for Europe.
• • "It would be like starring in a story about a boil doctor," George Raft said. "All that dame would let you see of me would be the back of my neck." ...
• • Source: In syndication to The Straits Times; published on Sunday, 30 December 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 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 4,899th 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 • • onscreen in 1937; detail of artwork in 1983 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Sordid Realism

MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 48 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: To avoid “sordid realism” • •  

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: This Gay Nineties setting, however, worked not only as a camouflage for “sordid realism” that the Hays Office and the SRC worried about, but also as a perfect backdrop to present West’s voluptuous body as a standard.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: The intertitle after the opening credits reads: “A lusty, brawling, florid decade when there were handlebar on lip and wheel — and legs were confidential!”
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Only a few minutes into the film, this statement makes it clear that we are about to see plenty of feminine curves in this film, which is quite easy to tell for those with knowledge of women’s fashion in the 1890s.
• • Mae West: A woman’s legs were confidential • • ...    
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Friday, 24 December 1937 • •
• • "NBC Bans the Name of Mae West from the Airwaves" • •
• • "Joking References to Adam-Eve Skit are Barred" • •
• • New York, Dec. 23. [AP] Word went out from the National Broadcasting Company today to keep the name of Mae West out of all programs over which it has control.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Roustabout" would surely be "a Mae West picture with Elvis as her stooge,” Col. Parker shouted at Hal Wallis.
• • Elvis was bitterly disappointed to learn that Mae West was out, with the role going to Barbara Stanwyck instead.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Santa Baby, come and trim my Christmas tree."
• • Mae West said: "I never think about age. I'm health-minded. If you take care of your health and you're interested in positive thinkin' you'll be okay."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Cheat Sheet featured an article on Mae West.
• • Why Did Mae West Turn Down a Role in a Movie with Elvis Presley? • •
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: But when called upon to act in the 1964 film Roustabout alongside Elvis Presley, West turned the role down. According to Elvis Presley’s former bodyguard, Sonny West, here’s why she was so opposed to acting with the King. …
• • Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet; published on Sunday, 24 January 2021
• • 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 4,894th 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 • • at home • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest