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It was early in April 1930 when the Los Angeles Evening Herald reported on the dispatches from Manhattan regarding MAE WEST.
• • DROPPING of CHARGES LOOMS as MAE WEST JURY SPLITS • •
• • New York, NY — — 4 April 1930
• • The indictment will probably be dismissed today against "Broadway" Mae West and 23 other defendants following the failure of a jury to agree on a verdict at the trial of the band of actors and actresses charged with giving an obscene play in Pleasure Man.
• • After 10 weary hours of deliberation, the jury reported it was impossible to reach an agreement. In dismissing the jury, Judge Amadeo Bertini commented upon the difficulties of moral regulation of the theater and suggested stage censorship.
• • "The difficulties of legal administration and oral regulation of the theater must be apparent," Judge Bertini told the jury. "The difficulty is inherent from the nature of the present system of presenting evidence. Words, gestures, and actions cannot be easily reproduced in court."
• • The 'hung' jury was reported to have stood divided: six for acquittal and six for conviction. It is expected that a promise will be requested from Miss West not to present the play again, and that the charges then will be quashed.
• • Best line from the "Pleasure Man" trial: "Not everyone on the NYC police force is a dancer."
• • Shortly after, Variety printed a headline: "Mae West Beats It!"• • Not all was rosy, however, when Mae West was told she was acquitted and would not be going to jail. The enormous legal fees and fines had bankrupted Mae.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • April 1930 • •NYC
Mae West.
The role of Captain Cummings — — in Mae West's play "Diamond Lil" — — required a handsome, charismatic man with stage training. For the Broadway role, Mae chose Curtis Cooksey, who was born 9 December 1891 in Indiana. 
• • "Diamond Lil" debuted at the Royale Theatre [242 West 45th Street, NYC] on 9 April 1928. It was a box office success as well as a favorite with drama critics.• • Since 1916, the 25-year-old actor began winning leading roles on The Great White Way. Curtis Cooksey had starred in over a dozen productions before stepping into his Salvation Army uniform to make an impact on a beautiful saloon singer, a vivacious blonde bombshell who told him, "Diamonds is my career."• • Since 1911, Curtis Cooksey had also been cast in silent films [debut: "Taming a Tyrant"] and he made a smooth transition into talkies.
• • In the film version of Mae's play, Cary Grant played Captain Cummings [a.k.a. "The Hawk"].• • After a long career in Tinseltown, Cooksey contracted cancer. He committed suicide in Hollywood on 19 April 1962.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West's co-star Curtis Cooksey • • circa 1950s • •NYC
Mae West.
While you are busy finishing up your tax forms, think of what MAE WEST said: "When it comes to finances, remember that there are no withholding taxes on the wages of sin."• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •NYC
Mae West.
During April 1930, when MAE WEST was enmeshed by the infamous "Pleasure Man" trial, she had no choice but to remain in Manhattan for the duration of these court proceedings. 
• • At the time, Mae was living with her brother and sister in furnished rooms on West 57th Street. The Depression had forced many people out of work. In April 1930, the census takers enumerated both Mae and Beverly as unemployed actresses. Their brother John West, a real estate broker at the time, was supporting the household. It was a sad time for all of them, following the death of their mother Matilda West. Mae profoundly mourned her closest ally.
• • One day Texas Guinan, who was covering the trial, invited Mae to perform at a fundraiser she was co-hosting at the Imperial Theatre [249 West 45th Street]. This playhouse had 1443 seats. Guinan had tapped entertainers such as Helen Morgan, Ruth Etting, Charles Butterworth, Lily Damita, De Wolf Hopper, Paul Ash, and Harry Richman.
• • Jobless herself, Mae agreed to sing a few numbers to raise money at the "Give a Job Benefit" taking place on 12 April 1930.
• • Rudy Vallee and his orchestra backed Mae as she sang "Frankie and Johnny" and a few other favorites on the wide proscenium stage of the Imperial. Other co-hosts were Walter Winchell, Mark Hellinger, Jack Donahue, and the event's organizer Heywood Broun.
• • By the end of the "Pleasure Man" trial, Mae West was bankrupt.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West venue • • circa 1924 • •
NYC
Mae West.
It's a good thing that MAE WEST is not around to breeze through a free New York newspaper called am-New York. The daily just printed a column "Eat Cheap" and — — if Teddy's Bar and Grill in Williamsburg needs to lure in customers with lies — — heaven help what's going on in the kitchen.
• • According to the fib-sters at Teddy's Bar & Grill, "Mae West was born upstairs. How much more authentic can you get?" [96 Berry Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211; 718-384-9787].
• • TRUTH: Mae West never lived on Berry Street ever.
• • TRUTH: Mae West was born in Bushwick — — not Williamsburg.
• • TRUTH: Mae West's mother's maiden name was Dilker — — not Doelger. Was Mae even remotely related to the wealthy Peter Doelger clan of brewers? This is very doubtful. Matilda Dilker's father Jacob was a sugar and coffee broker — — not a brewer. The Dilkers were not wealthy. But it is possible that Mae West the vaudevillian liked to hint that her family had fancier connections. By the time the Brooklynite got to Hollywood, she was exaggerating her connections even further by telling the press her family had descended from Alfred the Great.
• • Authentic?• • Source:www.amny.com• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •NYC
Mae West.
The news racks on 18 April 1969 held the new issue of Life Magazine with MAE WEST on the cover.
• • The intriguing composition revealed the 75-year-old actress in her mirrored bed, garbed in white satin, and - - in the foreground - - was the exotic black long-tailed Tricky, Mae's pet woolly monkey, who had joined her Hollywood household in Apartment 611 just two years before.
• • Mae was photographed for Life by the 63-year-old lensman Philippe Halsman, who was born in Latvia on 2 May 1906. Aided by his friend Albert Einstein, Halsman emigrated to the United States. A portrait he took of the scientist became a US postage stamp in 1966.
• • In 1942, Halsman began working with Life Magazine. His portrait of a model wearing a Lily Daché hat was his first of the many covers he would do for the prominent weekly.
• • On 25 June 1979, Halsman died in New York City.
• • It is unclear what became of the docile, very photogenic long-tailed Tricky.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1969 • •NYC
Mae West.
When John Huston [1906-1987] watched MAE WEST in the 1928 stage production of "Diamond Lil," the 22-year-old son of actor Walter Huston could not stop thinking about it. John saved his copy of The New Yorker [5 May 1928] because he especially admired the illustration of a corseted, glittering, winsome Mae by the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias.
• • Huston, however, couldn't let go.
• • Inspired and infatuated, John Huston began researching the pedigree of "Frankie and Johnny," one of the songs that Mae West had performed in her play.
• • The result was John's first play - - "Frankie and Johnny" - - and the book was illustrated by Miguel Covarrubias. New York publishers Albert and Charles Boni enjoyed the way that Huston explored the old folksong's characters and added over a dozen regional versions of the narrative to the Appendix. Huston felt that the St. Louis version of "Frankie and Johnny" was the most authentic.
• • Boni published John Huston's book on 1 January 1930. Originally dark-skinned, Frankie and Johnny became Caucasian in the hands of Covarrubias. In fact, Frankie bears a strong resemblance to. . . Diamond Lil!
• • The eccentric Oscar-winning filmmaker fulfilled a lifelong dream, portraying the character Buck Loner, opposite the idol of his youth Mae West in the film "Myra Breckinridge" [1970].• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • John Huston • • 1970 • •NYC
Mae West.
It was on 11 April 1912 that Mae West debuted on Broadway in the role of "La Petite Daffy" in the musical farce "A Winsome Widow."
• • Set in San Francisco, the musical ran until 7 September 1912 [total performances: 172].
• • Built in 1895 by Oscar Hammerstein, The New York Theatre, located at 1514-16 Broadway (at West 44th Street), was renamed the Moulin Rouge for this production.
• • In 1915, this 2800-seat playhouse became part of the Loew's movie/vaudeville chain. It was demolished in 1935.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • to come • •NYC
Mae West.
In April 1954 and April 1956, Mae West returned to Manhattan to perform at the Latin Quarter.
• • Impresario Lou Walters [1896-1977] had produced shows for The Ziegfeld Follies, and wanted a regular "French style" cabaret of his own. • • On 1 April 1942, Lou Walters opened The Latin Quarter [at 200 West 48th Street, New York -- zipcode 10036]. It was housed in the two-story structure where The Cotton Club had been [September 1936 - April 1940].• • In his on-going column "Tips on Tables" night-life reporter Robert W. Dana reviewed "The Mae West Revue"; his critique appeared in the newspaper on 30 April 1956. Here is an excerpt from Dana's coverage.
• • • • Mae West's Show Grows • • • • • • The old belief that everything should be bigger and better, a thought most forcefully pronounced by Hollywood trailers, can be applied with forthright honesty to Mae West, who has returned to the Latin Quarter, where she scored heavily in the fall [sic] of 1954.
• • Instead of changing her act, Miss West embellished it. Most noteworthy, I think, is the addition of some song-and-dance men whose soft-shoe capers and grace provide a fair contrast to the muscle boys who are the background for her boudoir comedy. They rock and they roll and Miss West demonstrates that her vocal chords are as roving as her come- hither eyes.
• • . . . Packaged in regal white robes, [the bodybuilders] march first toward the audience then turn to Miss West and throw back their robes. Her expression of approval regales the customers. One of the muscle specimens is Mickey Hargitay, Mr. Universe. ...• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1954 • •NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST was costumed colorfully for her film shoots. 
But since these 1930s movies were in black and white, only visitors to the set and Mae's co-stars and co-workers could appreciate the brilliant tones and hues.
• • The same is true for most of Mae's live stage work. Attractive candy-colored costumes by Dolly Tree and other designers were, too often, captured by photographers working with black and white film.
• • A visit to the Hollywood Museum, where many of Mae's gowns and possessions are on display, would reveal the peacock splendor of Travis Banton's costumes, Walter Plunkett's designs, and Edith Head's creations for Mae West.• • To celebrate Easter Sunday, the Mae West blog presents Mae West in Technicolor.
• • Speaking about bunny day, Mae West had something to say about carrots: "I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond."• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1932 • •NYC
Mae West.
"I've gotten a lot of bunnies on Easter," Mae West retorted in her throatiest, breast-heaving contralto, when confronted by a Time Magazine reporter, "but this is the first time I've ever received a husband."
• • In 1937, Time was making an issue of "Mr. Mae West" in an article discussing the actress's secret marriage on 11 April 1911.
• • Here's what the article said about Mae's "Easter Honey" when she was 18 years old - - and perhaps afraid that she was pregnant:
• • Voluptuous, invitational Mae West, public passion of 50 million movie-going males, had to do last week the one thing every middle-aged woman hates most to do: admit having reached her middle forties. And she had to admit the other one thing that Mae West least wished to admit: that she is married.
• • Her marriage was not entirely news to Mae West's fans. Two years ago a female WPA researcher flipped a marriage card out of Milwaukee's registry which attested the wedding of one Mae West to one Frank Wallace, April 11, 1911 (TIME, May 6, 1935).
• • The Mae West then married was 18, would today be 44. Promptly Vaudeville Hoofer Frank Wallace popped up in Manhattan to boast that he was the man. But she would have none of him. "I've gotten a lot of bunnies on Easter," she retorted in her throatiest, breast-heaving contralto, "but this is the first time I've ever received a husband. I've never heard of the fellow. I'm a spinster and I'm not 42. I was practically a child in 1911 and I never was in Milwaukee until four years ago. They'll have me married to triplets next! Let this alleged Mr. Mae West c'm' up and see my lawyer sometime and prove it!"
• • Last week in Superior Court in Los Angeles it was as obvious as Mae West's best curves that Mr. Mae West had taken her advice. Even her most devoted fans chortled when they read that her now-admitted hoofer husband's real name is not Wallace but Willities or Szatkus and that the Szatkus family always knew her as Mamie. "Mrs. Mamie Szatkus" was scarcely box-office for glamorous Mae West.
• • Lawyers pondered the possible legal harvest of Mr. Mae West's suit. Under California law, property, except gifts, acquired by either husband or wife after marriage becomes community property, owned half & half by either spouse. Mae West's 1935 income was $480,000.
• • Her current worth, mostly acquired since the 1911 wedding, is estimated as $3,000,000.
• • Mae West's husband might not be tall, dark, nor handsome but the inside of his head was apparently not as bald as the outside. He had said he wished to vindicate his honor, money was of secondary moment. Snorted Mrs. Szatkus last week, "We were married but we never lived together as man and wife." Snorted Mr. Szatkus' lawyer, "They offered us $30,000 to settle the case. . . . Mae West can have half of Wallace's [Szatkus'] possessions. . . . Next week we expect to apply for an injunction that will tie up all of Miss West's property in California." That his client's share-Mae-West's-wealth movement might be halted by California's community property law proviso that a separated wife's earnings are her own was poohed by Mr. Szatkus' Los Angeles lawyer who said the clause was discriminatory sex legislation and might be found unconstitutional.
• • Source: Time Magazine
• • Published: Monday, 19 July 1937• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • to come • •NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST knew she had a real hit on her hands, at last. On 4 April 1928, if you were standing outside of Leo Teller's Broadway Theatre in Brooklyn, New York [once located at Court Street and Stockton Street], you would have heard thunderous applause and cheers. 
• • "You'd have thought that a favorite bootlegger had come back from Atlanta," wrote drama critic Robert Garland in the New York Evening Telegram on 5 April 1928. "[Mae] makes Miss Ethel Barrymore look like the late lamented Bert Savoy."
• • Mae West and her producers had decided to try out her play "Diamond Lil" in the actress's hometown before bringing it to Manhattan. Apparently, the show brought down the house. It was a clean sweep: both the critics and the public adored it.
• • It's always been said that Mae selected an 1890s Bowery setting because the corsetted turn-of-the-century fashions were more flattering to her curvy figure. No one has yet given her credit for recognizing that an old-fashioned saloon setting - - showing bar-goers enjoying their beer - - would touch the right nerve during the "parched" Prohibition Era.
• • So consider it said: Mae West understood her audience and gave them onstage what they missed very much in 1928 - - freedom to bend an elbow and imbibe in public. Brilliant, Mae!• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • April 1928 • •NYC
Mae West.
It was on 9 April 1974 that young Janet Damita Jo Jackson [born in Indiana on 16 May 1966] stepped onstage dressed as MAE WEST.
• • The little girl was making her public debut performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with the better-known members of her singing family. The adorable, chubby-cheeked 8-year-old soon became an audience favorite with her imitations of Mae West, Cher, Marie Osmond, Toni Tennille, etc. And by 1976, the Jackson family's Las Vegas act caught the attention of CBS president Fred Silverman.
• • Next month you could own Janet Jackson's Mae West costume along with other pieces of pop culture history. On May 30-31, 2007, "The Fabulous Jacksons Auction" will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Hundred of items once owned by Janet, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and their family are being auctioned.
• • Memorabilia up for sale will include handwritten lyrics, a wireless mike used by the gloved one, and - - most importantly - - Janet's MAE WEST costume.
• • Guernsey's auction catalogue [http://www.guernseys.com] described it like this:
• • • • JANET JACKSON'S "MAE WEST" COSTUME • • • •The young (approximately 8-10 years old) Janet Jackson wore this tailored Mae West costume while performing with her family in a Las Vegas stage act. The bodice is fashioned in shades of a pink satin-like material and embellished with sequins and layers of tulle at the hemline. Complete with matching ornate hat. Excellent condition.
• • Hard Rock Hotel: 4475 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109.
• • The auction catalogue is for sale. For a copy, phone Guernsey in NYC: 212-794-2280.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • to come • •NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST was prominently featured in the April 1974 issue of Ms Magazine. 
Their cover story — — "What Movies Have Done to Women" — — featured Hollywood blondes such as Mae, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, Marion Davies, Alice Faye, Doris Day, along with non-blondes such as Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, etc.
• • Of all the blondes, Ms decided that Jean Harlow and Mae West were the most interesting — — and the Art Director filled three-quarters of a page with Mae's photo.
• • Ms noted that Mae West "swaggered from one artificial costume epic to another, writing her own scripts, and emanating her brand of vulgarity and ribald comedy. ..." Her nine films were "enough to convulse the censors."
• • Calling Mae a "self-styled drag queen," Ms concluded that it was not the actress's appearance that riled the censors but rather that Mae West "as author and star, controlled plots and manipulated males with the deftness of a puppeteer. ..." • • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in vaudeville • • circa 1916
NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST had a talent for hooking up with the right gangsters. 
• • "So sweet and so vicious," was Mae's character rating for Owney "The Killer" Madden, who died during the month of April.
• • Mae West acknowledged meeting Madden when she moved into the Harding Hotel at 205 West 54th Street. Owney Madden provided the financing for several of Texas Guinan's speakeasies - - and Guinan's Club Abbey operated from the basement of the Harding Hotel during Mae's residency. Texas Guinan employed a tap dancer, George Ranft [stage name George Raft], who was also Madden's bagman.
• • When Owney Madden financed Mae West's Broadway show "Sex," George made nightly visits to pick up the gangster's share of the box-office profits. Soon George and Mae became lovers, a mutually beneficial relationship.
• • Owen "Owney" Madden [born 18 December 1891 in England] grew up in midtown Manhattan's gang-ridden westside. In the early 1900s, his family moved to 352 Tenth Avenue, off the corner of West 30th Street. Mary Madden and her three youngsters had moved in with her sister-in-law Elizabeth O'Neil; both widows were raising children while trying to support a husband-less household. Young Owney soon joined the Gopher Gang and became a one person crime wave.
• • During the Prohibition Era, Madden owned the popular Cotton Club in Harlem. When Francis Ford Coppola made "The Cotton Club," he chose Bob Hoskins to portray Madden.
• • On 24 April 1965, Owney Madden, 75, died in Hot Springs, Arkansas.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • West 54th, where Mae met Madden • • 2005
NYC
Mae West.
Yesterday The Scotsman offered interesting news about MAE WEST.
• • Columnist Alison Kerr led off with her view that, though the old formula was that sex sells, nowadays it is celebrity that makes the wallets come out. According to Alison Kerr: There were even a couple of early cross-pollinations between Hollywood and the world of fine fragrance, in the shapely shape of couturier Elsa Schiaparelli's legendary (and about to be relaunched) perfume "Shocking", the bottle of which was modelled on voluptuous wisecracker Mae West's figure - - and L' Interdit, which Hubert Givenchy created for his muse, Audrey Hepburn.
• • If "Shocking" is going to be re-launched, which fragrant face will the ad men use for the promotional campaign? Hmmm. . . .
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST was in rehearsal for her role as Margie LaMont, a Canadian vixen with no time for the Royal Canadian Mounties - - and an interest in the British navy. During April 1926, Mae was preparing for the out-of-town try-outs and then a well-publicized Broadway premiere on 26 April 1926 at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre. Written by Mae West under the penname Jane Mast, "Sex" sold out on opening night, and did respectably at the box office for the next ten and a half months despite bad-mouthing from all the drama critics in Manhattan.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • to come • • 1926NYC
Mae West.
MAE WEST didn't think she belonged in a lonely hearts club. 
• • New England journalist James Sullivan muses on the events of forty years ago that reunited Mae with her Salvation Army musings, dramatized in "Diamond Lil," and her encounter with Britain's fab foursome in March of 1967.
• • James Sullivan writes: It was 40 years ago . . . today. On the evening of March 30, 1967, four young musicians gathered with a large group of artists and assistants in a London studio to shoot a photograph for an album cover. The album, to be called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," would, of course, become synonymous with the creative revolution of the 1960s. The cover artwork, a photo-montage of the Beatles posing for photographer Michael Cooper among a gallery of several dozen celebrities ("People We Like," as the crew took to calling them) was itself a radical departure, with its elaborately designed "gatefold" layout, bonus insert, and printed song lyrics -- the latter a first in pop.
• • Behind the real-life Beatles, who were dressed in candy-colored military-band costumes and sported newly cultivated mustaches, the "crowd" was actually made up of wax figures and cardboard cutouts of singers, actors, writers, artists, athletes, and critical thinkers -- some of them (Marlon Brando, Bob Dylan) as familiar as the Beatles themselves, others (Bobby Breen?) now as obsolete as a monaural recording.
• • The cover concept was originally conceived by Paul McCartney and London art dealer Robert Fraser as a tableau for a fictitious Salvation Army-style brass band. But in the hands of its designers, then-husband-and-wife Pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth (who ended up choosing more than half of the faces), it became a droll satire of celebrity and influence. While many of the famous figures in the gallery were heroes to the Beatles, others were chosen out of sheer, Beatlesque audacity. The group's record company, EMI, rejected three of John Lennon's suggestions -- Jesus, Gandhi, and Hitler.
• • Inspired by Victorian-era composite photographs, Dada collage artists, and Pop artist Richard Hamilton's surreal cut-and-paste suburban scenes, the "Sgt. Pepper" cover has become a visual touchstone. Haworth, now living in Utah, still has the Grammy she and her ex-husband shared for the graphic design: "I let the children play with it," she says with a laugh. "The trumpet fell off, and the dog chewed on it. It's been destroyed in an iconoclastic way."
• • • • James Sullivan is a frequent Globe contributor and the author of "Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon."
Some of the "People We Like" on the "Sgt. Pepper" cover:
• • 1. Sri Yukteswar Giri: Indian guru, one of four chosen for the cover by George Harrison.
• • 2. Aleister Crowley: Notorious mystic, polymath, and drug user - - chosen, designer Jann Haworth says, by John Lennon.
• • 3. Mae West: "What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?" she reportedly joked. Ringo Starr appeared in her 1978 film "Sextette."
• • 4. Lenny Bruce: By 1967, the Beatles shared some of the late comic's persecution complex.
• • 5. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Avant-garde composer who (though chosen by McCartney) once credited John Lennon as the crucial link between pop and "serious" music. . . .
- - excerpt - -
• • Source: Boston Globe - www.boston. com -
• • Published: 24 March 2007
• • Byline: James Sullivan
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Ringo Starr • • 1978NYC
Mae West.
For the record, MAE WEST began making films in 1932 — — not the 1920s. 
• • Director Todd Stephens credits the screen queen with being his muse and guidepost. A recent article in the Sydney Star Observer, written by John Burfitt, offers Stephens's comments on his idol.
• • This is an excerpt from an interview by Australian columnist John Burfitt:
• • While filming Another Gay Movie, director Todd Stephens believed the project had an unexpected guardian angel watching over it.
• • For a film depicting a group of young gay men’s desperate efforts to lose their virginity, Stephens believed it is appropriate that guardian angel was the long-dead screen siren, Mae West — — the woman who introduced sex to the movies in the 1920s [sic], and scandalised Hollywood as a result.
• • Todd Stephens is a Mae West fan, and even has some of her old furniture in his apartment. But while he was filming Another Gay Movie, he discovered an even closer connection with West.
• • “She was one of my big idols as I was growing up, and a big influence on me,” Stephens says from his New York home.
• • “When I was living in Hollywood while making this film, I discovered I was living right next door to where Mae lived for 50 years, and that was a total coincidence. I liked that as this is a very sex-positive movie, and certainly Mae was into that.
• • “She never apologised for exploring sexuality on screen, and neither do I with this film. So I felt I had her spirit watching over me the entire time I was making this film.”
• • . . . Another Gay Movie, which played at the recent Mardi Gras Film Festival, will be released on DVD 18 April 2007.
• • Source: Sydney Star Observer — — /www.ssonet.com.au — — Issue 860
• • Published on 29 March 2007• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • defending herself at Criminal Court for writing a gay play • • October 1928NYC
Mae West.
It was early in April 1930 when the Los Angeles Evening Herald reported on the dispatches from Manhattan regarding MAE WEST.
