Mae West

This article is about the actress. For other uses, see Mae West (disambiguation).
Mae West

Publicity photo for Night After Night (1932)
Born Mary Jane West
(1893-08-17)August 17, 1893
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Died November 22, 1980(1980-11-22) (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation Actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, comedian
Years active 1907–78
Spouse(s) Frank Szatkus, stage name Frank Wallace
(1911–43; dissolved)
Partner(s) Paul Novak
(1954–80)

Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980)[1] was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades.

Known for her lighthearted bawdy double entendres, American comedienne sex-symbol West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York City before moving to Hollywood to become a comedian, actress, and writer in the motion picture industry, as well as on radio and television. For her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of classic American cinema.

One of the more controversial movie stars of her day, West encountered many problems, including censorship. When her cinematic career ended, she continued to perform in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, and on radio and television, and to record rock and roll albums. Asked about the various efforts to impede her career, West replied: "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."[2]

Early life and career

West was born Mary Jane West in Bushwick, Brooklyn on August 17, 1893, having been delivered at home by an aunt who was a midwife.[3] She was the eldest surviving child of[4][5][6] John Patrick West and Matilda "Tillie" Delker (sometimes spelled "Dilker"), who, with her five siblings, had emigrated with their parents, Jacob and Christiana, from the German state of Bavaria in 1886.[7] West's parents married on January 18, 1889, in Brooklyn and reared their children as Protestants, although John West was of mixed Catholic-Protestant descent.[8][9][10] Her father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West" who later worked as a "special policeman", and later had his own private investigations agency.[11] Her mother was a former corset and fashion model.[12] Her paternal grandmother, Mary Jane (née Copley), for whom she was named, was of Irish Catholic descent,[13] and West's paternal grandfather, John Edwin West, was of English-Scots descent and a ship's rigger.[14][15]

Her eldest sibling, Katie, died in infancy. Her other siblings were Mildred Katherine West, later known as Beverly (December 8, 1898 – March 12, 1982), and John Edwin West, II (sometimes inaccurately called "John Edwin West, Jr."; February 11, 1900 – October 12, 1964).[16] During her childhood, West's family moved to various parts of Woodhaven, as well as the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of Brooklyn. In Woodhaven, at Neir's Social Hall (which opened in 1829 and is still extant), West supposedly first performed professionally.[17][18]

West was five when she first entertained a crowd at a church social, and she started appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She often won prizes at local talent contests.[19] She began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Clarendon Stock Company in 1907 at the age of 14.[20] West first performed under the stage name Baby Mae,[21] and tried various personas including a male impersonator,[22] She used the alias "Jane Mast" early in her career. Her trademark walk was said to have been inspired or influenced by female impersonators Bert Savoy and Julian Eltinge, who were famous during the Pansy Craze.[23] Her first appearance in a Broadway show was in a 1911 revue A La Broadway put on by her former dancing teacher, Ned Wayburn. The show folded after eight performances,[24] but at age 18, West was singled out and discovered by the New York Times.[25] The Times reviewer wrote that a "girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and snappy way of singing and dancing." West next appeared in a show called Vera Violetta, whose cast featured Al Jolson. In 1912, she appeared in the opening performance of A Winsome Widow as a "baby vamp" named La Petite Daffy.[26]

"Ev'rybody Shimmies Now" sheet music cover with portrait, 1918

She was encouraged as a performer by her mother, who according to West, always thought that anything Mae did was fantastic.[27] Other family members were less encouraging, including an aunt and her paternal grandmother. They are all reported as having disapproved of her career and her choices.[13] In 1918, after exiting several high-profile revues, West finally got her break in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, opposite Ed Wynn.[28] Her character Mayme danced the shimmy,[29] and her photograph appeared on an edition of the sheet music for the popular number "Ev'rybody Shimmies Now".

Eventually, she began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name Jane Mast.[30] Her first starring role on Broadway was in a 1926 play she entitled Sex, which she wrote, produced, and directed. Although conservative critics panned the show, ticket sales were hot. The production did not go over well with city officials, who had received complaints from some religious groups, and the theater was raided, with West arrested along with the cast.[31] She was taken to the Jefferson Market Court House, (now Jefferson Market Library), where she was prosecuted on morals charges and, on April 19, 1927, was sentenced to ten days for "corrupting the morals of youth. Though West could have paid a fine, and been let off, she chose the jail sentence for the publicity it would garner. "[32] While incarcerated on Welfare Island (now known as Roosevelt Island), she dined with the warden and his wife; she told reporters that she had worn her silk panties while serving time, in lieu of the "burlap" the other girls had to wear. West got great mileage from this jail stint.[33] She served eight days with two days off for "good" behavior. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl," who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong." [32]

Her next play, The Drag, dealt with homosexuality, and was what West called one of her "comedy-dramas of life".[34] After a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, West announced she would open the play in New York.[35] However, The Drag never opened on Broadway due to efforts by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice to ban any attempt by West to stage it. West explained,"the city fathers begged me not to bring the show to New York, because they were not equipped to handle the commotion it would cause." [36] West was an early supporter of the women's liberation movement, but said she was not a "burn your bra" type feminist. Since the 1920s she was also an early supporter of gay rights.[37]

West continued to write plays, including The Wicked Age, Pleasure Man, and The Constant Sinner. Her productions aroused controversy, which ensured that she stayed in the news, which also often resulted in packed houses at her performances.[38] Her 1928 play, Diamond Lil, about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit, and cemented West's image in the public's eye.[39] This show had an enduring popularity and West successfully revived it many times throughout the course of her career.[40]

Motion pictures

"Diamond Lil" returning to New York from Hollywood, 1933

In 1932, West was offered a motion picture contract by Paramount Pictures despite being close to 40. This was an unusually high age to begin a movie career, especially for women, but she was not playing an ingenoue, and her characterization of a freewheeling sexually secure and liberated woman was timeless and ageless. She nonetheless managed to keep her age ambiguous for some years. She made her film debut in 1932's Night After Night starring George Raft. At first, she did not like her small role in Night After Night, but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite her scenes.[41] In West's first scene, a hat check girl exclaims, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds." And West replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie. "[42] The rest was cinema history, effectively waking up the American audience from the doldrums of the Depression. Reflecting on the overall result of her rewritten scenes, Raft is said to have remarked, "She stole everything but the cameras."[42]

She brought her Diamond Lil character, now renamed Lady Lou, to the screen in She Done Him Wrong (1933).[43] The film is also notable as one of Cary Grant's first major roles, which boosted his career. West claimed she spotted Grant at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead.[44] She claimed to have told a Paramount director "If he can talk, I'll take him!" The film was a box office hit and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.[43][45] The success of the film saved Paramount from bankruptcy.[46]

Cary Grant and Mae West in I'm No Angel (1933)

Her next release, I'm No Angel (1933), paired her with Grant again. I'm No Angel was also a financial success, and was the most successful film of her entire movie career.[47] By 1933, West was the eighth-largest U.S. box office draw in the United States[48] and, by 1935, West was the highest paid woman and the second-highest paid person in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst).[49] Heart invited West to San Simeon. "I could'a married him," West explained, " but I got no time for parties. I don't like those big crowds." On July 1, 1934, the censorship of the Production Code began to be seriously and meticulously enforced, and her screenplays were heavily edited. Her next film was Belle of the Nineties (1934). Originally titled It Ain't No Sin, the title was changed due to the censors' objections.[50] Despite Paramount's early objections regarding costs, she insisted the studio hire Duke Ellington and his orchestra to accompany her in the film's musical numbers. Their collaboration was a success; the classic "My Old Flame" ( recorder by Duke Ellington) was introduced in this picture. Her next film, Goin' to Town (1934), received mixed reviews.[51]

Publicity photo 1936

Her following effort, Klondike Annie (1935) dealt, as best it could given the heavy censorship, with religion and hypocrisy.[52] Some critics called the film her screen masterpiece.[53] That same year, West played opposite Randolph Scott in Go West, Young Man. In this film, she adapted Lawrence Riley's Broadway hit Personal Appearance into a screenplay.[5][54] Directed by Henry Hathaway, Go West, Young Man is considered one of West's weaker films of the era, due to the censor's cuts.[55]

West next starred in Every Day's a Holiday (1937) for Paramount before their association came to an end. Again, due to censor cuts, the film performed below its goal. West, along with other stellar performers, was put on a list of actors called "Box Office Poison" by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners Association. Others on the list were Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire, Dolores del Río, Katharine Hepburn, and Kay Francis. The attack was published as a paid advertisement in the Hollywood Reporter and was taken seriously by the fearful studio executives. The association argued that these stars' high salaries and extreme public popularity didn't affect their ticket sales and thus hurt the exhibitors. This didn't stop producer David O. Selznick who next offered West the role of the sage madam, Belle Watling, the only woman ever to truly understand Rhett Butler, in his film version of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind after Tallulah Bankhead turned him down. West also declined the part, claiming that as it was, it was too small for an established star, and that she would need to rewrite her lines to suit her own persona. It certainly would have been a memorable cameo. The role eventually went to Ona Munson.[56]

In 1939, Universal Pictures approached West to star in a film opposite W. C. Fields. The studio was eager to duplicate the success of Destry Rides Again starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart with a comic vehicle starring West and Fields.[57] Having left Paramount eighteen months earlier and looking for a new film, West accepted the role of Flower Belle Lee in the film My Little Chickadee (1940).[57][58] Despite the stars' intense mutual dislike, and Field's very real drinking problems,[59] and fights over the screenplay,[57] My Little Chickadee was a box office success, outgrossing Fields's previous film, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), and the later The Bank Dick (1940).[60]

West's next film was The Heat's On (1943) for Columbia Pictures. She initially didn't want to do the film but after actor/producer/director and personal friend Gregory Ratoff ''All About Eve'' pleaded with her and claimed he would go bankrupt if she couldn't help, West relented as a personal favor.[61]

Perhaps the most critical issue facing Mae West was censorship of her dialogue. Her risqué and ribald dialogue could no longer be allowed to pass. As a result, the movie opened to poor reviews and weak performance at the box office. West was so distraught by the experience, and her years of struggling with the ultra-conservative and hypocritical Hays censorship office, that she would not attempt another film role for the next quarter-century.[62] Instead West pursued a successful and record breaking career in top nightclubs, Las Vegas, and the theater.

Radio

On December 12, 1937, West appeared in two separate sketches on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's radio show The Chase and Sanborn Hour.[63] By the second half of the 1930s, West's popularity was affected by her dialogue being severely censored. She went on the show eager to promote her latest movie, Every Day's a Holiday.[64] Appearing as herself, West flirted with Charlie McCarthy, Bergen's dummy, using her usual brand of wit and risqué sexual references. West referred to Charlie as "all wood and a yard long" and commented that his kisses gave her splinters.[65] West was on the verge of being banned from radio.

More outrageous still was a sketch written by Arch Oboler, starring West and Don Ameche as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden on NBC. She told Ameche in the show to "get me a big one... I feel like doin' a big apple!"[65] This ostensible reference to the then-current dance craze was one of the many double entendres in the dialogue. Days after the broadcast, the studio received letters calling the show "immoral" and "obscene" by societies for the protection of "morals." [66] Several conservative Women's clubs and religious groups admonished the show's sponsor, Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company, for "prostituting" their services for allowing "impurity [to] invade the air".[63] Under pressure, the Federal Communications Commission later deemed the broadcast "vulgar and indecent" and "far below even the minimum standard which should control in the selection and production of broadcast programs".[67] There is some debate regarding the reaction to the skit. Conservative religious groups took umbrage far more swiftly than the mainstream. These groups found it easy to choose West as their target. They claimed to take exception to her outspoken use of sexuality and sexual imagery, which she had employed in her career since at least the Pre-Code films she had made in the early 1930s, and for decades before on Broadway. The groups reportedly warned the sponsor of the program they would protest her appearance.[68]

NBC scapegoated West for the incident and banned her (and the mention of her name) from their stations.[69] They claimed it was not the content of the skit, but West's tonal inflections that gave it the controversial context, acting as though they hired West knowing nothing of her previous work, nor having any idea of how she would deliver the lines written for her by Obler.[64] West would not perform in radio for a dozen years, until January 1950, in an episode of The Chesterfield Supper Club, which was hosted by Perry Como.[70] Ameche's career did not suffer any serious repercussions, however, as he was playing the "straight" guy. Nonetheless, Mae West would go on to enjoy a record breaking success in Las Vegas, swank nightclubs like the Lou Walter's The Latin Quarter, and Broadway.

Middle years

Mae West in 1953

After appearing in The Heat's On in 1943, West returned to a very active career on stage and swank clubs like Lou Walter's The Latin Quarter. Among her popular new stage performances was the title role in Catherine Was Great (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an "imperial guard" of tall, muscular young actors.[71] The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd (Around The World In 80 Days)and ran for 191 performances.[72] In the 1950s, West starred in her own Las Vegas stage show, at the newly opened Sahara Hotel, singing while surrounded by bodybuilders. It was a show that stood Las Vegas on its head. "Men come to see me, but I also give the women something to see: wall to wall men!" West explained.[73] Jayne Mansfield met and later married one of West's muscle men, a former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay.[74]

When casting the role of Norma Desmond for the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder offered the 57-year-old West the role. Still smarting from the censorship debacle of The Heat's On, she declined, claiming to be offended at the notion. The theme of the film,she noted, was pure pathos, while her brand of comedy was always about uplifting the audience. Mae West was a unique comedy character, and as such, timeless, in the same way as Charlie Chaplin.[75] After Mary Pickford also declined the role, Gloria Swanson was cast.[76]

In 1958, West appeared at the live televised Academy Awards and performed the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rock Hudson, which brought a standing ovation.[77] In 1959, she released an autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, which became a best seller and was reprinted with a new chapter in 1970.[78]

Later career and final years

West guest starred on television, including The Red Skelton Show in 1960, to promote her autobiography "Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It," and a lengthy interview on "Person To Person" with Charles Collingwood, which was censored by CBS in 1960, and never aired. CBS executives felt members of the television audience were not ready to see a nude marble statue of West, which rested on her piano. In 1964, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Mister Ed.[79] West's recording career started in the early 1930s with releases of her film songs on bakelite 78's. She recorded The Fabulous Mae West in 1955. Demonstrating her willingness, in the 1960s, to keep in touch with the contemporary scene, she recorded a pair of rock-and-roll albums, Way Out West and "Great Balls of Fire." Her Christmas album 'Wild Christmas (later re-issued as "Mae in December") was released in the late 1960s.[80] In 1965 she recorded two songs, "Am I Too Young," and "He's Good For Me" for a 45 rpm record released by Plaza Records. She also made several parody songs including "Santa, Come Up to See Me"[81] on the album Wild Christmas.[82]

The April 18, 1969, issue of Life featured West at age 75, with photograhy by child star and actor ("Planet Of The Apes") Roddy McDowall. The article detailed her views on homosexuals, her feeling for personal liberation and sexual expression, her generosity to certain charities, her vast real estate holdings and her desire to continue an active career in the upcoming decade.

West arriving to the 1978 opening of Sextette, her last film

After a 27-year absence from motion pictures, West appeared as Leticia Van Allen in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (1970) with Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck in a small part. The movie was intended to be deliberately campy sex change comedy, yet was tastelessly directed and edited, resulting in a botched film that was both a box office and critical failure. Vidal later called the film "an awful joke".[83] Though Mae West was given star billing, her scenes were truncated by the inexperienced film editor, and her songs were filmed as though she were merely a side act. Despite Myra Breckinridge's mainstream failure, it continued to find an audience on the cult film circuit where West's films were regularly screened and West herself was dubbed "the queen of camp".[84]

West's last rock album (released in 1972) on MGM Records, titled Great Balls of Fire, covered songs by The Doors among others, and had songs written for West by British Invasion English songwriter-producer Ian Whitcomb.[85] Her autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, was also updated and republished.[86]

In 1976, she appeared on Back Lot U.S.A. on CBS, where she was interviewed by Dick Cavett and sang Frankie and Johnny along with After You've Gone.[87] That same year, she began work on her final film, Sextette (1978). Adapted from a script written by West, daily revisions and production disagreements hampered production from the beginning.[88] Due to the near endless script changes and tiring production schedule, West agreed to have her lines signaled to her through a speaker concealed in her hair piece.[89] Despite the daily problems, West was, according to Sextette director Ken Hughes, determined to see the film through. At 86, her now-failing eyesight made navigating around the set difficult, but she made it through the filming.[89][90] Upon its release, Sextette was not a critical or commercial success, but remains an interesting film for the cast, which included some of West's first co-stars such George Raft,(Night After Night 1932), silver screen stars such as Walter Pigeon, Tony Curtis, and more contemporary pop stars such as the Beatle's Ringo Starr, and Alice Cooper. It also included cameos of some of her famed musclemen from her 1950's Las Vegas show, such as the still remarkably fit Reg Lewis. Sextette also reunited Mae West with Edith Head, her costume designer from 1933, in She Done Him Wrong. The film was a last hurrah, and a Valentine, from Mae West to her fans.[91]

West family crypt at Cypress Hills Cemetery, with Mae at top

In August 1980, West tripped while getting out of bed. After the fall, West was unable to speak and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles where tests revealed that she had suffered a stroke.[92] She died on November 22, 1980, at the age of 87.[93]

A private service was held in the Old North Church replica, in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, on November 25, 1980.[94][95] Bishop Andre Penachio, a friend, officiated at the entombment in the family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Abbey, Brooklyn, purchased in 1930 when her mother died. Her father and brother were also entombed there before her, and her younger sister, Beverly, was laid to rest in the last of the five crypts less than 18 months after West's death.[91][96][97]

For her contribution to the film industry, Mae West has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood. For her contributions as a stage actor in the theater world, she has been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[98][99]

Personal life

West was married on April 11, 1911, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Frank Szatkus,[100] whose stage name was Frank Wallace, a fellow vaudevillian whom she first met in 1909. She was 17; he was 21.[101] West kept the marriage a secret,[102] but in 1935, after West had made several hit movies, a filing clerk discovered West's marriage certificate and alerted the press.[103] An affidavit in which she had declared herself married, which she made during the Sex trial in 1927, was also uncovered.[104] At first, West denied ever marrying Wallace, but she finally admitted in July 1937, in reply to a legal interrogatory, that they had been married.[105] Although legally wed, the couple never lived together as husband and wife. She insisted they have separate bedrooms, and she soon sent him away in a show of his own to get rid of him. She obtained a legal divorce on July 21, 1942, during which Wallace withdrew his request for separate maintenance, and West testified that Wallace and she had lived together for only "several weeks".[106] The final divorce decree was granted on May 7, 1943.[107]

In August 1913, she met an Italian-born vaudeville headliner and star of the piano-accordion, Guido Deiro. Her affair went "[v]ery deep, hittin' on all the emotions." West later said, "Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution yet."[108]

West in 1973, by Allan Warren

West remained close to her family throughout her life and was devastated by her mother's death in 1930.[109] In 1930, she moved to Hollywood and into the penthouse at the new Ravenswood apartment building, where she lived until her death in 1980.[110]

After she began her movie career, her sister, brother, and father followed her to Hollywood. West provided them with nearby homes, jobs, and sometimes financial support.[111] Among West's other boyfriends was boxing champion William Jones, nicknamed Gorilla Jones. When the management at her Ravenswood apartment building barred the African American boxer from entering the premises, West solved the problem by buying the building and lifting the ban.[112]

West had a relationship with James Timony, an attorney 15 years her senior, in 1916, when she was a vaudeville actress. Timony was also her manager. By the time West was an established movie actress in the mid-1930s, they were no longer a couple. However, West and Timony remained extremely close, living in the same building, working together, and providing support for each other until Timony's death in 1954.[113]

At 61, West became romantically involved with one of the muscle-men in her Las Vegas stage show, wrestler, former Mr. California, and former merchant marine Chester Rybinski.[114][115] He was 30 years younger than West, and later changed his name to Paul Novak. He soon moved in with her, and their romance continued until West's death in 1980 at age 87.[114][116] Novak once commented, "I believe I was put on this Earth to take care of Mae West."[117]

In popular culture

The "Four Ladies of Hollywood" gazebo at the western border of the Walk of Fame: Mae West, Dolores del Río, Dorothy Dandridge and Anna May Wong.

Broadway stage

Broadway stage
Date Production Role Notes
September 22, 1911 – September 30, 1911 A La Broadway Maggie O'Hara
November 20, 1911 – February 24, 1912 Vera Violetta West left show during previews
April 11, 1912 – September 7, 1912 Winsome Widow, AA Winsome Widow Le Petite Daffy West left show after opening night
October 4, 1918 – June 1919 Sometime
August 17, 1921 – September 10, 1921 Mimic World of 1921, TheThe Mimic World of 1921
April 26, 1926 – March 1927 Sex Margie LaMont Written by Jane Mast (West). West was jailed for 10 days due to the play's content.
January 1927 Drag, TheThe Drag closed during out-of-town tryouts (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
credited only as writer
November 1927 Wicked Age, TheThe Wicked Age Evelyn ("Babe") Carson
April 9, 1928 – September 1928 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil
October 1, 1928 –October 2, 1928 Pleasure Man, TheThe Pleasure Man credited only as writer
September 14, 1931 – November 1931 Constant Sinner, TheThe Constant Sinner Babe Gordon
August 2, 1944 – January 13, 1945 Catherine Was Great Catherine II
1945–46 Come on Up Tour
September 1947 – May 1948 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Revival) United Kingdom
February 5, 1949 – February 26, 1949 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (2nd Revival) until West broke her ankle on the latter date.
The play resumed as a "return engagement"
September 7, 1949 – January 21, 1950 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (2nd Revival) as "return engagement"
September 14, 1951 – November 10, 1951 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (3rd Revival)
July 7, 1961 – closing date unknown Sextette Edgewater Beach Playhouse
Other plays as writer
Other plays as writer
Year Title Notes
1921 Ruby Ring, TheThe Ruby Ring Vaudeville playlet
1922 Hussy, TheThe Hussy Unproduced
1930 Frisco Kate Unproduced, later produced as the 1936 film Klondike Annie
1933 Loose Women Performed in 1935 under title Ladies By Request
1936 Clean Beds Sold treatment to George S. George, who produced
an unsuccessful Broadway play of West's treatment

Filmography

Year Film Role Co-stars Director Studio
1932 Night After Night Maudie Triplett George Raft
Constance Cummings
Wynne Gibson		 Archie Mayo Paramount Pictures
1933 She Done Him Wrong Lady Lou Cary Grant
Owen Moore
Gilbert Roland		 Lowell Sherman
I'm No Angel Tira Cary Grant
Gregory Ratoff
Edward Arnold		 Wesley Ruggles
1934 Belle of the Nineties Ruby Carter Roger Pryor
Johnny Mack Brown
Katherine DeMille		 Leo McCarey
1935 Goin' to Town Cleo Borden Paul Cavanagh
Gilbert Emery
Marjorie Gateson		 Alexander Hall
1936 Klondike Annie The Frisco Doll
Rose Carlton
Sister Annie Alden		 Victor McLaglen
Phillip Reed
Helen Jerome Eddy		 Raoul Walsh
Go West, Young Man Mavis Arden Warren William
Randolph Scott
Alice Brady		 Henry Hathaway
1937 Every Day's a Holiday Peaches O'Day Edmund Lowe
Charles Butterworth
Charles Winninger		 A. Edward Sutherland
1940 My Little Chickadee Flower Belle Lee W.C. Fields
Joseph Calleia
Dick Foran		 Edward F. Cline Universal Pictures
1943 The Heat's On Fay Lawrence Victor Moore
William Gaxton
Lester Allen		 Gregory Ratoff Columbia Pictures
1970 Myra Breckinridge Leticia Van Allen Raquel Welch
John Huston
Farrah Fawcett		 Michael Sarne 20th Century Fox
1978 Sextette Marlo Manners
Lady Barrington		 Timothy Dalton
Dom DeLuise
Tony Curtis		 Ken Hughes Crown International Pictures

Discography

Albums:

At least 21 singles (78 rpm and 45 rpm) also were released from 1933 to 1973.

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Routledge. p. 1183. ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
  2. ↑ Karen Weekes (February 15, 2011). Women Know Everything!. Quirk Books. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-59474-545-4.
  3. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 5. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  4. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  5. 1 2 Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 10. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  6. ↑ West, Mae (1959). Goodness Had Nothing to Do With it. Prentice-Hall. p. 1.
  7. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  8. ↑ "The religion of Mae West, actress". adherents.com.
  9. ↑ Gross, Max (February 6, 2004). "Playwright Examines Mae West's Legal Dramas". forward.com. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  10. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  11. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 12. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  12. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  13. 1 2 Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co. p. 20. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  14. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2007). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-37562-X.
  15. ↑ 1870, 1880, 1900 US censuses.
  16. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 12, 289. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  17. ↑ amNew York, Thursday, September 5, 2013, p. 23.
  18. ↑ Lisa L. Colangelo (June 22, 2010). "Woodhaven bar Neir's Tavern gets a time-machine fix up". Daily News. New York. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  19. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 16, 18. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  20. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2005). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. St. Martin's Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  21. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 23, 170. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  22. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 38, 170. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  23. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 122–3. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.,Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 18. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  24. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  25. ↑ Maurice Leonard. Mae West Empress of Sex. ISBN 0-00-637471-9; pp. 33–34
  26. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 50, 452. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  27. ↑ Biery, Ruth, "The Private Life of Mae West: Part One", Movie Classic, January 1934, pp. 106–08
  28. ↑ Tuska, Jon (1992). The Complete Films of Mae West. Citadel Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-8065-1359-4.
  29. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 78, 79, 452. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  30. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. p. 77. ISBN 0-9679158-1-3.
  31. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 88–89. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  32. 1 2 Bunyan, Patrick (1999). All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities. Fordham University Press. p. 317. ISBN 0-8232-1941-0.
  33. ↑ Schlissel, Lillian; West, Mae (1997). Three Plays by Mae West: Sex, The Drag and Pleasure Man. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 0-415-90933-3.
  34. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1997). When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. University of California Press. pp. 57, 67. ISBN 0-520-21094-8.
  35. ↑ Chauncey, George (1995). Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940. Basic Books. p. 312. ISBN 0-465-02621-4.
  36. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 66–68. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  37. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 299. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  38. ↑ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Routledge. p. 1187. ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
  39. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 78, 79, 81. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  40. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 223, 228, 229. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  41. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. pp. 105–106. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  42. 1 2 Ashby, LeRoy (2006). With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830. University Press of Kentucky. p. 224. ISBN 0-8131-2397-6.
  43. 1 2 Smith, Sarah (2005). Children, Cinema and Censorship: From Dracula to the Dead End Kids. I.B.Tauris. p. 55. ISBN 1-85043-813-7.
  44. ↑ McCann, Graham (1998). Cary Grant: A Class Apart. Columbia University Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-231-10885-0.
  45. ↑ Vogel, Frederick G. (2003). Hollywood Musicals Nominated for Best Picture. McFarland & Co. p. 54. ISBN 0-7864-1290-9.
  46. ↑ Starr, Kevin (2002). The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s. Oxford University Press US. p. 256. ISBN 0-19-515797-4.
  47. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West: A Biography. Morrow. p. 127. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  48. ↑ Pendergast, Tom (2000). St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. St. James Press. p. 116. ISBN 1-55862-405-8.
  49. ↑ West, Mae; Schlissel, Lillian (1997). Three Plays by Mae West: Sex, the Drag, the Pleasure Man. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-90933-3.
  50. ↑ Doherty, Thomas Patrick (1999). Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American cinema, 1930–1934. Columbia University Press. p. 338. ISBN 0-231-11095-2.
  51. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 279. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  52. ↑ Black, Gregory D. (1996). Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 228, 229. ISBN 0-521-56592-8.
  53. ↑ Bavar, Michael (1975). Mae West. Pyramid Communications. p. 87. ISBN 0-515-03868-7.
  54. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 402. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  55. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 308. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  56. ↑ Jewell, Richard B. (2012). "7". RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born (1 ed.). London: University of California Press. p. 153. ISBN 0-520-27179-3.
  57. 1 2 3 Louvish, Simon (1999). Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W. C. Fields. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 435. ISBN 0-393-31840-0.
  58. ↑ Deschner, Donald (1989). The Complete Films of W.C. Fields. Citadel Press. p. 140. ISBN 0-8065-1136-2.
  59. ↑ Curtis, James (2003). W.C. Fields: A Biography. A.A. Knopf. p. 399. ISBN 0-375-40217-9.
  60. ↑ Gehring, Wes D. (1999). Parody as Film Genre: "Never Give a Saga an Even Break". Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 39. ISBN 0-313-26186-5.
  61. ↑ Tuska, Jon (1992). The Complete Films of Mae West. Citadel Press. p. 153. ISBN 0-8065-1359-4.
  62. ↑ Dick, Bernard F. (1993). The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures. University Press of Kentucky. p. 130. ISBN 0-8131-1841-7.
  63. 1 2 Hilmes, Michele; Loviglio, Jason (2002). Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. Routledge. p. 137. ISBN 0-415-92821-4.
  64. 1 2 7
  65. 1 2 Pendergrast, Mark (2000). Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World. Basic Books. p. 200. ISBN 0-465-05467-6.
  66. ↑ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-time Radio. Oxford University Press US. p. 229. ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
  67. ↑ Ohmart, Ben (2007). Don Ameche: The Kenosha Comeback Kid. BearManor Media. p. 50. ISBN 1-59393-045-3.
  68. ↑ Craig, Steve. Out of Eden: The Legion of Decency, the FCC, and Mae West's 1937 Appearance on The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Journal of Radio Studies (November 2006).
  69. ↑ Hilmes, Michele; Loviglio, Jason (2002). Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 0-415-92821-4.
  70. ↑ Curry, Ramona (1996). Too Much of a Good Thing: Mae West as Cultural Icon. U of Minnesota Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-8166-2791-6.
  71. ↑ Shafer, Yvonne (1995). American Women Playwrights, 1900–1950. Peter Lang Publishing Inc. p. 419. ISBN 0-8204-2142-1.
  72. ↑ Bloom, Ken (2004). Broadway: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 480. ISBN 0-415-93704-3.
  73. ↑ Robertson, Pamela (1996). Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna. I.B.Tauris. p. 27. ISBN 1-86064-088-5.
  74. ↑ Strodder, Chris (2000). Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: A Tribute to 101 of the Decade's Defining Women. Cedco Publishing Company. p. 83. ISBN 0-7683-2232-4.
  75. ↑ Staggs, Sam (2003). Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream. Macmillan. p. 8. ISBN 0-312-30254-1.
  76. ↑ Meade, Marion (1997). Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase. Da Capo Press. p. 245. ISBN 0-306-80802-1.
  77. ↑ Robertson, Pamela (1996). Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna. Duke University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-8223-1748-6.
  78. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. p. 71. ISBN 0-9679158-1-3.
  79. ↑ Cullen, Frank; Florence Hackman; Donald McNeilly (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Routledge. p. 1188. ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
  80. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. p. 73. ISBN 0-9679158-1-3.
  81. ↑ album cover
  82. ↑ Kashner, Sam; Macnair, Jennifer (2003). The Bad & the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 335. ISBN 0-393-32436-2.
  83. ↑ Hoberman, J.; Jonathan Rosenbaum (1991). Midnight Movies. Da Capo Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-306-80433-6.
  84. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1997). When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. University of California Press. p. 263. ISBN 0-520-21094-8.
  85. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 463. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  86. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 401. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  87. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. p. 74. ISBN 0-9679158-1-3.
  88. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 309. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  89. 1 2 Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 310. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  90. ↑ Clarke, Gerald (May 22, 1978). "At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West". Time. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  91. 1 2 Kashner, Sam; MacNair, Jennifer (2003). The Bad & the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 336. ISBN 0-393-32436-2.
  92. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 313. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  93. ↑ "Mae West, Stage and Movie Star Who Burlesqued Sex, Dies at 87". The New York Times. November 23, 1980. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  94. ↑ "Former Boxing Champ Managed by Mae West Succumbs at Age 75". Jet 61 (17): 52–53. January 28, 1982. ISSN 0021-5996.
  95. ↑ Leonard, Maurice (1991). Mae West: empress of sex. p. 406. ISBN 0-00-215197-9.
  96. ↑ Witchel, Alex (May 8, 2000). "Blown Sideways, but Landing on Broadway". The New York Times.
  97. ↑ Kirby, David (January 25, 1998). "Neighborhood report: Upper east side; The Lady Is a Stamp?". The New York Times.
  98. ↑ "Theater Hall of Fame members".
  99. ↑ "The Gershwin Theatre – On This Very Spot". Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  100. ↑ Maurice Leonard in Mae West, Empress of Sex ISBN 0-00-637471-9, pp. 29–30
  101. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1997). When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. University of California Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-520-21094-8.
  102. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1995). The Queen of Camp: Mae West, sex and popular culture. HarperCollins. pp. 13–14.
  103. ↑ Watts, Jill. Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press. pp. 201–2.
  104. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 283.
  105. ↑ Watts, Jill. Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press. p. 224.
  106. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 350–1. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  107. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. p. 351. ISBN 0-312-34878-9.
  108. ↑ Swainson, Bill (2000). Encarta Book of Quotations. Macmillan. p. 980. ISBN 0-312-23000-1.
  109. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co. pp. 90, 91. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  110. ↑ Lord, Rosemary (2003). Hollywood Then and Now. San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press. p. 77. ISBN 1-59223-104-7.
  111. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 168, 187, 188, 207, 288. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  112. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 207. ISBN 0-19-516112-2.
  113. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co. pp. 55–61, 39–146, 188–191, 241. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  114. 1 2 Kevin Thomas (July 15, 1999). "Paul Novak, 76; 26-Year Companion of Actress Mae West". Los Angeles Times.
  115. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co. pp. 249, 250. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  116. ↑ Tom Vallance (July 20, 1999). "Obituary: Paul Novak". The Independent.
  117. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co. p. 293. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.
  118. ↑ Elster, Charles Harrington (2006). What in the Word?: Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions about Language. Harcourt Trade. p. 246. ISBN 0-15-603197-3.
  119. ↑ "Parachute Rigger's Handbook". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  120. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. p. 349. ISBN 0-306-80951-6.
  121. ↑ Gleadell, Colin (October 6, 2003). "Object of the week: the 'Mae West' lip sofa". The Daily Telegraph (London, UK). Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  122. ↑ Martin, George (1995). Summer of Love: the Making of Sgt. Pepper. MacMillan. p. 139.

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