Mae West: Romero’s Too Old

MAE WEST enjoyed copious coverage in Time Magazine ― some of it positive such as her 1978 interview with Gerald Clarke. This is Part 5 of 15 segments.
• • "Show Business: At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Promote it as "a high-camp movie for everyone." • •
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Now, says Co-Producer Robert Sullivan, he is looking for a distributor who will promote it nationwide as "a high-camp movie for everyone."

• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Adapted from West's own [sic] script, “Sextette” has her portraying a movie sex goddess, not unlike the Mae West of 40 years ago, who has just married her sixth husband.
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: Sullivan and his partner, Daniel Briggs, originally suggested Cesar Romero, 71, for the part of No. 6.
• • Gerald Clarke wrote: But Mae said Cesar Romero [15 February 1907 – 1 January 1994] was too old, and she auditioned 1,000 of the handsomest unknowns in Hollywood.
• • Mae West: Discovering Heathcliff, a.k.a. Timothy Dalton • • …   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Time Magazine; issue dated for Monday, 22 May 1978.
• • On Thursday, 26 August 1954 • •

• • According to vintage newspaper ads, the roving "Mae West Revue" opened their performance schedule in Reno, Nevada starting on Thursday, 26 August 1954.  
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • You are received at her apartment by Paul, La West's constant companion, champion, and confidant.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I am my severest critic, don't forget that!"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about VIPs at a boxing match mentioned Mae West.
• • Louella Parsons wrote: Snapshots of Hollywood collected at random: . . . Mae West, dripping with orchids, in a ringside seat with her boyfriend, Jim Timony; B.P. Schulberg, and Sylvia Sidney on the other side of the ring; Roger Pryor and Ann Sothern, Adela Rogers and the new boyfriend, Enzo Fiermonte, Raoul Walsh, Adolph Zukor and dozens of other film celebrities, watching these bouts; ...
• • Source: Syndicated Gossip Column written by Louella Parsons rpt in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; published on Saturday, 25 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 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 5,068th 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 • • with Dom DeLuise in 1978 • •
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Mae West: Acted in the “Olio”

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 30 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Took part in the “olio” • •

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: As a member of the stock company, when there were no child parts in the plays, she was called upon to take part in what are known in old-fashioned plays as "olios," or vaudeville acts in between the scenes of the plays.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She sang popular songs and gave her imitations, being what was known on the billboards as a "coon shouter."  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: It was at this stage of the game, she avers, that she learned to roll her eyes, a propensity, however, that had to be curbed when she became, for the sake of drama, "Little Eva" or "Little Red Riding Hood."
• • Mae West: Discovered she liked being around boys • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Sunday, 27 June 1954 • •

• • On Sunday night, 27 June 1954, Mae West delighted the Las Vegas club goers — — and the female patrons stormed the stage — — when the bodybuilders in "The Mae West Revue" filed into the Sahara's Congo Room.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was all about breaking rules. Mae made her film debut at age 40 in the 1932 “Night After Night,” in a supporting role for which she wrote her own dialogue.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Sex is emotion in motion."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A trade magazine mentioned Mae West and Mike Todd.
• • Mike Todd has penciled in "Catherine Was Great," the Mae West opus for late June. …
• • Source: Billboard Magazine; published on Saturday, 3 June 1944
• • 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 5,024th 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 • • at The Sahara in 1954 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Celebrity Persona

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 10 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Remarkable and fascinating • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West, the woman, is just as remarkable, and just as fascinating a human being as Mae West the celebrity.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: But totally different and at opposite poles are Mae West the star, and Mae West the woman.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: And it is the woman as I have seen her that I want to introduce to you.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: You all know, Mae West the star, whether you live in Hyde Park, London, Charlottenberg, Berlin, or Chillicothe, Ohio.  
• • Mae West: Her philosophy • • ...      
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Tuesday 30 May 1950 • •
• • On Tuesday 30 May 1950, Mae West made the front page in Australia. This tantalizing tidbit was featured in The Argus and elsewhere.

• • Las Vegas, Monday: Mae West will open soon a gambling restaurant — casino in Las Vegas. Her lawyer Charles Catt, announced today that Mae West would be a featured attraction in the casino's floor shows.
• • Note: The "Mae West Revue" was not assembled until a few years later. However, it's clear Mae was mulling over her prospects with her manager and her lawyer. Aware that there were opportunities for live entertainment in Nevada's big rooms, the performer was already putting out feelers in 1950.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Legion of Decency has had its effect. Mae West will finally come forth in "I'm a Lady," leaving behind her "I'm No Angel," "She Done Him Wrong" and the like.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Harry Richman was one of my pianists. And so was Whispering Jack Smith."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Motion Picture Herald mentioned Mae West.
• • Did the Hays Office See It? • •  
• • Balaban and Katz's theatre advertising copy announcing the opening of Mae West's "Belle of the Nineties" in Chicago said that it is "Paramount's Picture Presented Exactly as Produced."  
• • If this advertising is truthful, then we are all wrong in our recollections of Paramount having returned the original version to its studio in Hollywood for a scrubbing and toning down that necessitated more than a few retakes. …
• • Source: Motion Picture Herald; published on Saturday, 29 September 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 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,004th 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 • • onstage with Louise Beavers in July 1954 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Ciro’s with Steve

The Sunset Strip was once dotted with night clubs where all the big names performed live such as MAE WEST, Cab Calloway, Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, and more.
• • In 1940, Billy Wilkerson opened Ciro's at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.
• • When Jerry Fink interviewed Steve Rossi for the Las Vegas Sun, he mentioned Ciro’s.
• • Steve Rossi: Mae West came in to see me one night [in 1953] with her manager, Jerry Franks. I was 20 at the time. After the show, they knocked on my dressing room door and she walks in with all her jewels and false eyelashes an inch-and-a-half long and she says, "You're a terrific singer and you've got a great body and a great face. I'm doing a nightclub act with Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe and I want you be my leading man. You'll feed me lines and sing to me in the show." I told her I was a student at a Catholic university and she said, "I don't give a damn ... I want you in my show, and I'll sign you up with my agency, William Morris."

Steve Rossi and Mae West

• • Las Vegas Sun: How long were you with her?
• • Steve Rossi: For 14 months. And for a long time "The Mae West Revue" was at Ciro's Supper Club on the Sunset Strip, where all the biggest stars worked. Our sold-out show went on right after (Frank) Sinatra and just before Sammy Davis Jr. …
• • Source: Las Vegas Sun; published on Friday, 24 May 2002.
• • On Wednesday, 12 June 1946 • •
• • The Schuberts wanted to land "Come On Up" starring Mae West on Broadway, after her regional tour. They promoted this show with a full page of warm-hearted local reviews in Variety, in the issue dated for Wednesday, 12 June 1946.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was doing the best she could between legit hits and flops, and mostly flops, in 1929, but she's a $6,600 picture name on the New York Paramount stage this week.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I have always been too busy with my own affairs to be envious of anyone.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An academic paper mentioned Mae West.
• • Jenna Simpson wrote: For one thing, there is considerable evidence that "immoral" pictures were quite popular across the country. Mae West, for instance, was very successful in her transition from stage to screen in the early 1930s. Her 1928 play "Diamond Lil" was so inflammatory that the Hays Office [the film censorship office run by Will Hays and supported by the movie studios] demanded that the studio should change the title and the plot  before the movie could be released. …
• • Source: “Reforming the Stage and Screen: How Expectations, Audiences, and Economics Shaped the Film and Theatre Censorship Movements in Early-1930s New York” by Jenna Simpson; posted in 2005
• • 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,495th 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 • • with Steve Rossi [this image is protected by ©; be nice and do not grab it without permission] • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Guido's Gone

By way of her Italian accordionist husband, MAE WEST acquired a step-son, of sorts. She met the boy for the first time in 1938, when he was 10 years old. Formerly a vaudeville headliner, Guido Deiro was hit hard by the Great Depression, so Mae generously financed this child’s education and their relationship blossomed.
• • R. Mark Desjardins reviewed his memoir for The Mae West Blog during August 2019.
• • Guido Roberto Deiro’s title was: “Mae West and the Count — — Love and Loss on the Vaudeville Stage” [2019].
• • In this exclusive post, R. Mark Desjardins has composed Deiro’s obituary.
• • Guido Robert Deiro [18 February 1938 — 12 September 2019] • •

• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: It is with great sadness I learnt of the passing of Guido Roberto Deiro, author of  "Mae West And the Count," which detailed the secret  marriage of his father to Mae West. It is not lost on me that his beloved wife Joan telephoned me with the news on November 22nd, the 39th anniversary of the passing of Mae West. 
• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: Guido was first introduced to Mae West by his father, Count Guido Deiro when he was 10 years old, in 1938. When Mae returned to Las Vegas in March of 1959, Guido had opened up a small gym: Globe Health Studios. It was the only gym in town at that time equipped with heavy enough free weights and barbells for Mae's troupe to maintain their strength training regimen.

Guido and Mae with family, 1913

• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: George Eifferman, who eventually won the title of Mr. Universe 1962, got the musclemen in Mae's Sahara act to work out there during their four week booking.
• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote:  When Mae heard about this, she arranged for Guido, then 21 years old, to come and see her after her performance. 
• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: According to Guido, Mae West surveyed him from head to foot and stated, "You look a lot like your father, 'cept for his eyes." 
• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: Guido was able to educate the world about the great accomplishments of his father. With the publication of the story about his father and Mae West in the Spring of 2019, Guido Jr. had achieved his goal. Guido has inspired me to finish the last lap of my own Mae West manuscript. During our brief friendship that spanned five months, we spoke several times for hours at a time on the telephone, as well as shared numerous emails. 
• • R. Mark Desjardins wrote: I will greatly miss his electrifying spirit and words of support.
• • Guido Roberto Deiro was born on Friday, 18 February 1938 in Reno, Nevada. Abruptly, he passed away on Thursday, 12 September 2019 in Las Vegas.
• • Photo of Guido, age 21, taken by body-builder George Eifferman. Photo-collage courtesy of Mr. Desjardins.
• • On Monday, 28 November 1932 • •
• • At the MPPDA board meeting on Monday, 28 November 1932, Adolph Zukor made promises to Will Hays that only "suitable material" would find its way into the script and the "Diamond Lil" title was already gone.
• • On Thursday, 28 November 2019 • • 
• • Happy Thanksgiving today to all of our dear readers. • •
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was featured in the animated cartoon "The Coo-Coo Nut Grove" [1936]. The script took the audience on an amusing tour of a fashionable Hollywood night club.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You've got to keep everything under control."
• • Mae West said: "That picture was a mistake from the word 'Shoot!'''
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Town and Country mentioned Mae West, who was shown reading the magazine in one of her films.
• • Town and Country’s editorial assistant Lucia Tonelli wrote: Bette Midler came dressed as legendary actress, singer, and playwright Mae West, wearing a striking feather-and-beaded pink ballgown with an equally extravagant matching headpiece.
• • Lucia Tonelli wrote: Michael Kors and husband Lance LePere judged the costume contest  . . .
• • Source: Town and Country; published on Friday, 1 November 2019
• • 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 4,355th 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 • • obituary in 2019 • •
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