Mae West: 130th Birthday With Love

Happy Birthday to MAE WEST, Brooklyn Bombshell, Screen Siren, Empress of Sex, Queen of Comedy, a notable and quotable comedienne who maintained a long career on stage, on screen, on the guest star circuit, and who also sizzled on the nightclub circuit.
• • Delivered by a local mid-wife, this feisty newborn drew her first lusty breaths in Bushwick on Thursday, 17 August 1893 (under the proud leonine sign of Leo) in her parents' bedroom. Little Mary Jane West always said: "I was born on a cool night in a hot month so I knew I could expect anything."

• • She trumped the income of every film actress of her generation because Mae was paid as a screenwriter as well as a box office draw.
• • Each day at least one publication in the world mentions her name. [We can verify our claim, too, because we have tracked this a-Mae-zing trend daily for the past 18 years now!]
• • No other movie queen coined so many witticisms — durable and dateless because Mae West relied on wordplay and rhetorical devices such as chiasmus.
• • Often imitated but never duplicated, the one and only Mae West endures in our hearts and memories.
• • Darling Mae, to your loyal followers, you don't look a day over twenty-sex!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Even at the fourscore mark, she remains a remarkable figure of a woman. The well-padded frame, which inspired the Mae West life jacket in World War II, seems little changed.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West  had been 40 when she made the first of 12 films and was an important influence on the early career of Cary Grant, teaching him much about the craft of comedy in the course of appearing with him in “She Done Him Wrong” and “I'm No Angel.”
• • The death of this sex goddess from Hollywood's Golden Age was front-page news in November 1980 when she was 87.

• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Come up sometime and see me. I'm home every evening."
• • Mae West said: "I give 'em what they want to see."
• • Mae West said: “The curve is mightier than the sword.”
• • Mae West said: "You have to outfight everyone else to succeed."
• • Mae West said: "I'll never believe the worst about anyone without complete proof."
• • Mae West said: "Woman is capable of more trickery than man ever dreamed of. I am not defending the tricky woman, but if she is forced to battle for the place due to her, she cannot be condemned for using any ruse she can."   
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • "Mae West Turns Sixty" • •
• • The Horsham Times wrote: Mae West turned 60 recently. To reporters who went along to wish her many happy returns, Miss West made it plain that birthdays are one thing a lady just doesn't discuss.
• • Fluttering her inch-long eyelashes demurely, Mae West said: "You can see for yourself, a girl's just as old as she feels."
• • Source: The Horsham Times;  published on Friday, 12 September 1952
• • 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 5,152nd 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 • • sketched in 1932 and 1970 • •
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Mae West: Never Forgets

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 28 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Never forgets a friend nor a kindness • •
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: It practically gave Mae West her start in show business.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West never forgets a friend nor a kindness, and seems to have an inexhaustible memory for the faces of those who have crossed her pathway in her long journey from Brooklyn to Broadway.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Like all the children on the block, Mae West went to the public school, and she passes over the monotony of the schoolroom for the more exciting adventures in the evening when, as a child actress, with grease paint and furbelows, little Mae occupied the center of the stage.
• • Mae West: The Clarendon Stock Company • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • Mae West Contest: Follow-up • •

• • When New Movie Magazine asked readers for opinions about Mae West, they got lots of mail and many opinions.
• • Lively letters condemning Mae's influence (in 1934) were published from these readers:
• • Names: Mrs. Joe Miller, Charlotte, N.C.; Mrs. Mabel Hewes, Biloxi, Miss.; F.J. Bendick, New York City; and Phyllis Adato, New Brunswick, N.J.
• • On Tuesday, 23 June 1970 • •
• • "Myra Breckinridge" had its red-carpet, star-studded premiere in New York at the Criterion Theatre (1514 Broadway) on Tuesday, 23 June 1970. The movie went into general release in the USA one day later.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By the way, Mae West is now working on her new contract by the terms of which she gets $100,000 a picture. They also say that the curvaceous one also gets about half that amount again for providing her own story and, be it known, Mae won't stand for anybody's writing stories for her pictures but Mae.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A gal with good lines is better than one with a good line."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Bushwick site mentioned Mae West.
• • Danielle Thompson wrote: Despite the frequent moves, the West family appeared to build its strongest ties to Bushwick and its bordering community of Ridgewood.
• • Danielle Thompson wrote: In fact, Mae’s famed manner of speaking was thought to exemplify what one writer called the “Bushwick Avenyah” accent ― an accent that was once described as more of a “dialect, like Cockney,” that was “a life-long affliction.”  …
• • Source: Bushwick Daily; published on Monday, 25 February 2013
• • 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 5,022nd 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 • •
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Mae West: Corset at FIDM

An FIDM exhibit is featuring a corset worn by MAE WEST in her show "Diamond Lil" and you can come up and see it until 28 April 2012.
• • Writing for Pasadena Star-News Patt Diroll explains that there was a star-studded guest list on 11 February 2012 in California when the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) staged its reception for the annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition in the FIDM Museum & Galleries.
• • Patt Diroll continued: The FIDM exhibition, a collaboration between the Costume Designers Guild, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the film studios and some stars themselves, also features Colleen Atwood's Oscar-winning creations from last year's "Alice in Wonderland," along with iconic treasures from the FIDM archives such as Mae West's corset; Rudolph Valentino's "suit of lights" from "Blood and Sand"; Mabel Normand's tiara; and Fred Astaire's tap shoes.
• • The exhibition is open to the public from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm through 28 April 2012 at FIDM, 919 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles. Admission is free.
• • Ramfis Diaz [20 February 1963 — 15 May 2011] • •
• • Mae West collectors are everywhere but a most extraordinary West Coast Mae-devotee has, unfortunately, left us last year.
• • Born in Tucson, Arizona, Ramfis Anthony Diaz [20 February 1963 — 15 May 2011] began his extensive acquisition of Westiana around the time that Mae starred in "Myra Breckinridge" [1970], when he was quite young. Around 1994, Ramfis, then a 31-year-old musician, instituted a yearly tradition of having a festive open house in the Hollywood area to honor Mae West on August 17th. On that first occasion, Ramfis served spaghetti. The menu broadened as the guest list grew.
• • The final shindig was held Chez Ramfis on 17 August 2010 in grand style. It seems that no one has decided to continue that joyful tradition (which lasted for 16 years) in California.
• • While many stars from Hollywood's golden era still have a fan club and/ or have been honored with a postage stamp, Mae West is not in that number.
• • If you wish to honor this extraordinary woman by starting a Mae West tradition in your city, please let us know.
• • It's interesting that certain residents in Woodhaven, Queens, NY — — who have gone to great lengths to promote the ridiculous bit of misinformation that Mae's birth took place there — — have never bothered to institute an annual celebration (or even so much as a yearly sneezing-at-truth contest). Clearly, a touch of "reflected glory" is enough for the denizens of Woodhaven, where Mae briefly resided as an adult woman during the early 1920s. Mae's parents moved often and boundary maps have been altered since they resided in the boroughs. However, the John West family addresses included blocks in Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg as well as in Middle Village, Floral Park, Glendale, and Woodhaven.
• • It's quite sad that residents in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, where Mae was born with the aid of a mid-wife in August 1893, have done absolutely nothing to commemorate her.
• • Why?
• • On Thursday, 20 February 1936 in Hollywood • •
• • There is a Joseph Breen PCA office memo, dated 20 February 1936, in the "Klondike Annie" PCA case file. Alas, Breen felt that Mae West was "censorable" and he never let up.
• • On Thursday, 20 February 1936 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette • •
• • Many newspapers including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on the script disputes and disagreements between Joe Breen and Mae West over "Klondike Annie" and these articles were published on 20 February 1936.
• • On Saturday, 20 February 1937 • •
• • The headline from London, England was "PARIS FASHIONS MAE WEST CURVES."
• • London, February 20 — The British United Press correspondent in Paris says that fashions are going all buxom, after the style of Mae West, with curving hips and busts tending towards the styles of the "Naughty 'Nineties." Two of the leading stage and film suppliers have definitely fattened their mannequins, and even Schiaparelli is outlining the curves of the body in the form of a modified hourglass by pinching the waist. Generally, it seems that the days of slimming are ending.
• • Source: UPI and reprinted on Tuesday, 23 February 1937 in Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA) on page 15 of that Australian newspaper.
• • On Friday, 20 February 1998 in Seattle • •
• • "Sex" written by Mae West and directed by Ed Hawkins was onstage in Washington. It was performed at Annex Theatre, 1916 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA.
• • Until 20 February 2011 • •
• • Jann Haworth's soft sculptures such as "Mae West's Dressing Table" and "Mae West, Shirley Temple & W.C Fields," her 1967 creation made from fabric, wood, and plastic [131 x 91 cm] was being displayed as part of this show in Vienna. "Power Up — — Female Pop Art" was on view at Kunsthalle Wien, 5 November 2010 — 20 February 2011.
• • Jann Haworth's soft sculpture of Mae posed with Shirley Temple and W.C. Fields was illustrated in color on page 217 in the show catalogue.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It just breaks my heart when the censors take out my best cracks. So in writing the screen play and dialogue for 'Go West, Young Man,' I had to be pretty careful."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on a revival of "Sex" in Seattle mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West went to jail for "Sex."
• • In 1927, when West's bawdy melodrama was enjoying a successful run on Broadway, it was raided and shut down by the New York City police. West went on trial and ended up serving time for a play that was deemed "obscene, indecent, immoral and impure entertainment."
• • As it turns out, those supposedly obscene, indecent, immoral parts (graphic physical movements, double entendres) are the most entertaining aspects of this fun, if rather hackneyed, piece. This Annex staging is the first time the play "Sex" has been produced since it was shut down 71 years ago. ...
• • ... The show features an energetic cast that excels at giving the right inflections to lines such as: "You have the kind of beauty that makes a savage of any man," and "Baby, you'd make a bulldog break its chain." As Margy LaMont (the Mae West role), Heather Hughes gives a lusty, commanding performance, swaggering around the stage, mugging delightfully and lip-synching to a Judy Garland song-and-dance number that's completely gratuitous — — and completely fun. . . .
• • Source: Theater review "Sex," by Mae West. Directed by Ed Hawkins. Annex Theatre, 1916 Fourth Ave., Seattle. Thursdays — Sundays through March 14, 1998. 206-728-0933.
• • Review — — Mae West's 'Sex': Honey, You Should See This Play Sometime — — written by Janet I-Chin Tu, Seattle Times Theater Critic; published on Friday, 20 February 1998 Copyright (c) 1998 Seattle Times Company
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2215th 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 • • as Diamond Lil in 1928 • •
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Mae West: Tips to Wives

"MAE WEST's Tips to Wives" was an interesting feature published in newspapers during February 1945. "Get into shape — — good shape," Mae urged the ladies. "Build up surplus vitality, you'll need it. Be as attractive as possible, be cheerful, happy, and inviting. Above all, don't nag him," Mae advised. "You have everything Continental that other women have — — only show him you have more of it."
• • Actresses Jane Wyatt, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Tallulah Bankhead were interviewed, too, but Mae had much more to say to married women. ["Mae West's Tips to Wives" was published in Australia's Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) on page 7 on Saturday, 10 February 1945 as well as in other newspapers.]
• • Kathleen Clifford [16 February 1887 — 28 December 1962] • •
• • Born in Charlottesville, Virginia in the month of February — — on 16 February 1887 — — Kathleen Clifford was an American vaudeville and Broadway stage and film actress of the early twentieth century.
• • As with "Baby Mae," Kathleen Clifford's career acting was initially built on the vaudeville stages as a comedienne. Renowned for her impersonations of men, Kathleen Clifford was often humorously billed as "The Smartest Chap in Town."
• • In 1912, a large cast was hired for the Florenz Ziegfeld musical production "A Winsome Widow" [staged on Broadway from April — September 1912]. Kathleen Clifford was hired to play a male role: Willie Grow. Mae West won acclaim as La Petite Daffy in the same production.
• • Miss Clifford died on 28 December 1962. She was 75.
• • Broadcast on Thursday, 16 February 1950 • •
• • From "Mae West On The Air" [Sandy Hook LP and CD SH 2098]
• • "Little Red Riding Hood" performed by Mae West (from "The Chesterfield Supper Club" program aired on 16 February 1950).
• • "The Chesterfield Supper Club" was broadcast by NBC and sponsored by Chesterfield. The segment was pre-recorded in January (on 23 January 1950) for broadcast on February 16th, 1950 so that NBC could screen the content in advance. Mae sings a duet with Perry and tells her version of "Little Red Riding Hood." It's a very good show. Perry Como, Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra, The Fontane Sisters, Martin Block (announcer), Mae West: airtime: 28 minutes.
• • On Thursday, 16 February 1950 in Rochester • •
• • Rarely did Mae West miss a performance. When she did, however, it made the news.
• • On Thursday, 16 February 1950, Mae was starring in her popular Bowery drama "Diamond Lil" at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, NY — — when she collapsed onstage. At first it was thought that she was suffering from food poisoning.
• • A news reporter wrote: Mae West collapsed on the stage at Rochester last night, but the show went on. She was unable to continue with the third act of the play, 'Diamond Lil.' It was presented without her. It was thought at first that she had food poisoning, but her doctor, who was in the wings during the show, said that she was suffering mainly from "sheer exhaustion." Mae West hopes to appear in "Diamond Lil" again tonight.
• • The Auditorium Center was originally constructed for the Freemasons in 1928.
• • Happily, the Rochester Auditorium Theatre is still open for business and in the same location as back in 1950: 875 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "In my pictures I never took a man from another woman or pursued another woman's husband. That was all part of my plan to keep women audiences happy. Women don't like to be reminded of the fact that their man might stray after some thing like — — well, you know what I mean."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Asians mentioned Mae West.
• • Journalist Barrymore Laurence Scherer wrote: "I'm an occidental woman in an Oriental mood for love," sings the curvaceous Queen of Innuendo, Mae West, sporting a bespangled pseudo-Chinese headdress in the 1936 film "Klondike Annie." The scene is classic West and pure Hollywood kitsch. But the 1978 publication of Edward Said's book "Orientalism" effectively ended the long tradition of such risible, somewhat racist perceptions, at least in terms of nomenclature. ...
• • Source: Article: "Go East, Monsieur" written by Barrymore Laurence Scherer for the WSJ; posted on 7 February 2012
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2211th 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 "Diamond Lil" 1950 • •
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Mae West: Louis Giambalvo

The TV movie "MAE WEST" was broadcast in 1982, thirty years ago. Louis Giambalvo was cast in the role of George Kane.
• • Born in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, NY, Louis Giambalvo is celebrating a birthday today; his birthdate is on 8 February 1945. When he was in NYC, he was active in the Greenwich Village theatre circles. The actor is regularly seen on TV shows in guest roles as well as in motion pictures. In 1979, Louis Giambalvo moved to Los Angeles.
• • We hope Mr. Giambalvo is having an amazing birthday celebration today!
• • The cast for "Mae West" [1982] • •
• • Ann Jillian ... Mae West
• • James Brolin ... Jim Timony
• • Piper Laurie ... Matilda West
• • Roddy McDowall ... Rene Valentine
• • Louis Giambalvo ... George Kane
• • Chuck McCann ... W.C. Fields
• • Harold Fong [1911 — 1982] • •
• • Mae West was surrounded by a diverse number of nationalities when she filmed "Sextette" [1978].
• • Born in February — — on Wednesday, 8 February 1911 — — Harold Fong was seen briefly as the Chinese Kitchen Chef. A bit part player often cast as a menial or in an ethnic role, Fong was featured in 74 projects either on the small screen (in one TV series or another) as well as on the big screen such as: a naval aide, a Japanese, a clerk, or a captain of a patrol boat — — all of which he played in 1944 in Hollywood when he was 33 years old. His two final appearances were in "Up in Smoke" and "Sextette," both released in 1978, after which he retired.
• • On 1 June 1982, Harold Fong died in Los Angeles. He was 71. Unfortunately, little more is known. Nevertheless, it is still the right thing to give him his due here and memorialize his passing.
• • On Tuesday, 8 February 1927 • •
• • The date was Tuesday, on 8 February 1927. Mae had staged a midnight "sneak preview" of "The Drag" at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre, reported Variety Magazine; invited attendees included city officials and several respected physicians, who had been expected to give the play an endorsement.
• • Forty-one weeks into a sellout run of "Sex," Jimmy Walker happened to be out of town and the acting Hizzoner, holier-than-thou Joseph V. McKee, decided to send in the cops. Because of "holy Joe" getting her arrested, and brought to Jefferson Market's Police Court, Mae West wound up spending the night of February 9th in Jefferson Market Jail.
• • After a trial in the Jefferson Market Courthouse during March 1927, Mae West wound up convicted of "corrupting the morals of youth." She was sentenced to ten days in the Women's Workhouse on Welfare Island.
• • "I expect it will be the making of me," she told reporters, and it was: it made her a household name.
• • But "The Drag" died in Mae's dreams and did not open. Battling her with legal maneuvers, hefty fines, an expensive court battle, and dreadful jail cells, the censors and politicians made their point: there would be no gays on Broadway.
• • Dated for Friday, 8 February 1935 • •
• • Calling James A. Timony the manager of Mae West for 25 years, and the person who "guided her to success," The N.Y. Times's obituary for the Brooklynite also noted that he "received major credit for her development from a relatively obscure singer and dancer into an internationally known prototype of the American siren."
• • Clearly, their long-term arrangement took various forms during the 38 years of their partnership from 1916 — 1954. Each derived benefits from this relationship and one example is this signed check.
• • Dated for Friday, 8 February 1935, the $3,500 allowance to James Timony was his 10% commission on Mae's script for "Now I'm a Lady," sold to Paramount Pictures for $35,000. This was quite a sum in 1935 when most of the country was in the grip of the Great Depression.
• • On Monday, 8 February 1960 in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West got her star on the "Walk of Fame" at 1560 Vine Street on 8 February 1960.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "No gold-digging for me. I'll take diamonds! We may be off the gold standard someday."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on local entertainment in Brisbane's cinema mentioned Mae West.
• • The Courier-Mail editors wrote this: The new star, Mae West, will be seen at the Tivoli to-morrow in "She Done Him Wrong." Curves, comedy, and song — — all Mae West's repertoire has been added to this gay story of a diamond-loving lady of the gay '90s. The "come up and see me sometime" girl is original and merry in a story she wrote herself, and her two songs, "Frankie and Johnny Were Lovers" and "Haven't Got No Peace of Mind," will also be heard. The cast includes Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, and others. Mae West brings a totally new style of comedy to the screen, and "She Done Him Wrong" has been acclaimed wherever It has been screened.
• • Source: Article: "Tivoli Theatre" in The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld) on page 14; published on Thursday, 8 February 1934
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2203rd 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 • • 1978 • •
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