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Mae West

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Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known for portraying sexually confident characters and for her use of double entendres, often delivering her lines in a distinctive contralto voice.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> West began performing in vaudeville and on stage in New York City before moving on to film in Los Angeles.

She was frequently associated with controversies over censorship and once stated, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Weekes2011">Template:Cite book</ref> As her film career declined, she remained active by writing books and plays, performing in Las Vegas and London, and appearing on radio and television. In later years, she also released rock and roll recordings. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her 15th among the greatest female screen legends of classic American cinema.

Early lifeEdit

Mary Jane West was born on August 17, 1893, in either the Greenpoint or Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, before the consolidation of New York City.<ref name="Biographical Timeline">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn She was delivered at home by her aunt, a midwife.Template:Sfn

She was the eldest surviving child of Mathilde Delker (originally "Doelger" and later Americanized to "Delker" or "Dilker") West, a corset and fashion model,Template:Sfn and John Patrick "Battlin' Jack" West, a former prizefighter who later worked as a "special policeman" and founded a private investigation agency.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Her mother, known as "Tillie" or "Matilda", was a German immigrant from Bavaria, who arrived in 1886 with her siblings and parents, Christiana (née Brüning) and Jakob Doelger.Template:Sfn West's paternal grandmother, Mary Jane (née Copley), was of Irish descent,Template:Sfn and her paternal grandfather, John Edwin West, was of English and Scottish ancestry.Template:Sfn<ref>1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. censuses.</ref>

Her parents married in Brooklyn on January 18, 1889. According to reports, the groom's parents approved of the union, while the bride's family opposed it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Playwright">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They raised their children in the Protestant faith.Template:Sfn

West's eldest sister, Katie, died in infancy. Her surviving siblings were Mildred Katherine "Beverly" West and John Edwin West II (often incorrectly referred to as "Jr.").Template:Sfn During her childhood, the family lived in various areas of Woodhaven, Queens and the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

West may have first performed publicly at Neir's Social Hall in Woodhaven.<ref>amNew York, September 5, 2013, p. 23.</ref><ref name="DailyNews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Beginning of stage careerEdit

File:Advertisement for one of the burlesque shows of Mae West, 1915.jpg
Newspaper ad for burlesque show with West, "The Girl With a Personality", Detroit, Michigan, 1915

West was five when she first entertained a crowd at a church social, and she began appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She frequently won prizes at local talent contests.Template:Sfn She began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Clarendon Stock Company in 1907, at the age of 14.Template:Sfn As a child performer, West used the stage name "Baby Mae" (the baby may behave like this),Template:Sfn and later tried various personas, including a male impersonator.Template:Sfn

Early in her career, she sometimes used the alias "Jane Mast". Her distinctive walk was said to have been inspired or influenced by female impersonators Bert Savoy and Julian Eltinge, who were prominent during the Pansy Craze.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

West made her first appearance in a Broadway show in 1911, at age 18, in a revue titled A La Broadway staged by her former dancing teacher, Ned Wayburn. The show closed after only eight performances,Template:Sfn but West was praised in a New York Times review, which noted that "a girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and snappy way of singing and dancing."Template:Sfn She next appeared in Vera Violetta, which also featured Al Jolson, and in 1912, she played La Petite Daffy, a "baby vamp", in A Winsome Widow.Template:Sfn

File:EvrybodyShimmiesNowMaeWestCover.jpg
Cover of "Ev'rybody Shimmies Now" sheet music with West's portrait, 1918

West continued to build her career in vaudeville, appearing in circuits such as that run by Gus Sun of Ohio.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She credited her mother as a constant supporter who believed everything Mae did was "fantastic", though other family members—including an aunt and her paternal grandmother—disapproved of her performing career.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Sfn In 1918, West gained significant attention in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, starring opposite Ed Wynn.<ref name="complete films">Template:Cite book</ref> Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy,Template:Sfn and her photograph was featured on the sheet music for the popular number "Ev'rybody Shimmies Now".

Broadway stardom and jailEdit

Eventually, West began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name Jane Mast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her first starring role on Broadway was in the 1926 play Sex, which she wrote, produced, and directed. Although conservative critics panned the show, ticket sales were strong. The production did not go over well with city officials, who had received complaints from religious groups, and the theater was raided and West arrested along with the cast.Template:Sfn 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, she was sentenced to 10 days for "corrupting the morals of youth". Though West could have paid a fine and been released, she chose the jail sentence for the publicity it would garner.<ref name="allaround">Template:Cite book</ref> While incarcerated on Welfare Island (now known as Roosevelt Island), she dined with the warden and his wife and told reporters she had worn her silk panties while serving time, instead of the "burlap" issued to other inmates.Template:Sfn She served eight days, with two days off for good behavior, and afterward told reporters that her play was "a work of art".Template:Sfn Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, with reporters dubbing her a "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong."<ref name="allaround" />

Her next play, The Drag, dealt with homosexuality and was what West called one of her "comedy-dramas of life."Template:Sfn After a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, West announced she would open the play in New York.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, The Drag never opened on Broadway, owing 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."Template:Sfn West was an early supporter of the women's liberation movement, though she said she was not a "burn your bra" type of feminist. Since the 1920s, she also supported gay rights and spoke publicly against police brutality toward gay men. She expressed the then-modern belief that gay men were women's souls in men's bodies, and said that hitting a gay man was akin to hitting a woman.Template:Sfn

In her 1959 autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, ghostwritten by Stephen Longstreet, West condemned hypocrisy while also voicing concerns about homosexuality:

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I have always hated the two-faced, the smoother-over folk — the people who preach loudly one way of life, and then do something in private that they're against in public. In many ways homosexuality is a danger to the entire social system of western civilization...Template:Sfn{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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This perspective seems at odds with her later statements, such as in her 1975 book Mae West: Sex, Health, and ESP, in which she wrote:

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I believe that the world owes male and female homosexuals more understanding than we've given them. Live and let live is my philosophy on the subject, and I believe everybody has the right to do his or her own thing or somebody else's — as long as they do it all in private!Template:Sfn{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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Between the late 1920s and early 1930s, West continued to write plays, including The Wicked Age, Pleasure Man, and The Constant Sinner. These productions stirred controversy, which helped keep West in the headlines and filled seats at performances.Template:Sfn Her 1928 play Diamond Lil, a story about a racy but clever lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit.Template:Sfn West revived it many times throughout her career.Template:Sfn

Three years later, she played Babe Gordon in The Constant Sinner, which opened at the Royale Theatre on September 14, 1931.Template:Sfn New York Times critic J. Brooks Atkinson gave the show a scathing review:

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Other critics similarly dismissed the play as "clumsy", "deliberately outlandish", and referred to West as an "atrocious playwright".Template:Sfn The play closed after 64 performances.Template:Sfn Compared to Diamond Lil, which ran for 323 performances, The Constant Sinner was a disappointment.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Still, its notoriety enhanced West's public image as a daring and provocative performer. Soon afterward, she accepted a contract from Paramount Pictures to begin her Hollywood film career.Template:Sfn

Motion pictures and censorshipEdit

File:Mae West NYWTS cropped2.jpg
"Diamond Lil" returning to New York from California, 1933

In June 1932, after signing a two-month contract with Paramount that provided her a weekly salary of $5,000 ($110,000 in 2023), West left New York by train for California.Template:Sfn The veteran stage performer was by then nearly 40 years old, yet managed to keep her age ambiguous for some time. She made her film debut in the role of Maudie Triplett in Night After Night (1932) starring George Raft, who had suggested West for the part.Template:Sfn She did not like her small supporting role in the drama at first, but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite portions of her character's dialogue.Template:Sfn One of several revisions she made is in her first scene in Night After Night, when a hat-check girl exclaims, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds", and West replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."<ref name="amuse">Template:Cite book</ref> Reflecting on the overall result of her rewritten scenes, Raft is reported to have said, "She stole everything but the cameras."<ref name="amuse"/>

For her next role for Paramount, West brought her Diamond Lil character, now renamed "Lady Lou", to the screen in She Done Him Wrong (1933).<ref name=children>Template:Cite book</ref> The film was one of Cary Grant's early major roles, which boosted his career. West claimed she spotted Grant at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=children/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The success of the film saved Paramount from bankruptcy, grossing over $2 million, the equivalent of $46 million in 2023. Paramount recognizes that debt of gratitude today, with a building on the lot named after West.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Mae West in I'm No Angel 2.jpg
West's second film with Cary Grant, I'm No Angel (1933)

Her next release, I'm No Angel (1933), teamed her again with Grant. The film was also a box-office hit and was the most successful of her entire screen career. In the months after its release, references to West could be found almost everywhere, from the song lyrics of Cole Porter, to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural of San Francisco's newly built Coit Tower, to She Done Him Right, a Pooch the Pup cartoon, to My Dress Hangs There, a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera, paid his own tribute: "West is the most wonderful machine for living I have ever known—unfortunately on the screen only." To F. Scott Fitzgerald, West was especially unique: "The only Hollywood actress with both an ironic edge and a comic spark." As Variety put it, "Mae West's films have made her the biggest conversation-provoker, free-space grabber, and all-around box office bet in the country. She's as hot an issue as Hitler."Template:Sfn

File:Mae West - 1936.jpg
Publicity photo, 1936

By 1933, West was one of the largest box-office draws in the United States<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and, by 1935, she was also the highest paid woman and the second-highest paid person in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst).Template:Sfn Hearst invited West to Hearst Castle, his massive estate in San Simeon, California, where Hollywood celebrities and prominent political and business figures frequently gathered to socialize. "I could'a married him," West later commented, "but I got no time for parties. I don't like those big crowds." On July 1, 1934, the censorship guidelines of the film industry's Production Code began to be meticulously enforced. As a result, West's scripts were subjected to more editing. She, in turn, would often intentionally place extremely risqué lines in her scripts, knowing they would be cut by the censors. She hoped they would then not object as much to her other less suggestive lines. Her next film was Belle of the Nineties (1934). The original title, It Ain't No Sin, was changed because of censors' objections.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Despite Paramount's early objections regarding costs, West 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" was introduced in this film. Her next film, Goin' to Town (1935), received mixed reviews, as censorship continued to take its toll by preventing West from including her best lines.Template:Sfn

Her following effort, Klondike Annie (1936), dealt, as best it could given the heavy censorship, with religion and hypocrisy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some critics called the film her magnum opus, but not everyone agreed. Press baron William Randolph Hearst, offended by a remark West made about his mistress Marion Davies, sent a private memo to his editors stating: "That Mae West picture Klondike Annie is a filthy picture... DO NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVERTISING OF THIS PICTURE." Paramount executives felt they had to tone down West's characterization. "I was the first liberated woman, you know. No guy was going to get the best of me. That's what I wrote all my scripts about."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Around the same time, West played opposite Randolph Scott in Go West, Young Man (1936), adapting Lawrence Riley's Broadway hit Personal Appearance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Directed by Henry Hathaway, it is considered one of West's weaker films of the era due to censor cuts.Template:Sfn

West next starred in Every Day's a Holiday (1937) for Paramount before their association ended. Censorship had increasingly made West's sexually suggestive humor difficult to sustain on screen. She was included in the "Box Office Poison" list published by the Independent Theatre Owners Association. This did not stop producer David O. Selznick from offering her the role of Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind, but West declined, saying it was too small and would need rewriting.

File:Platform shoes worn by Mae West, 1950s AD, wood, metallic leather - Textile Museum, George Washington University - DSC09965.JPG
A pair of "trick" platform shoes worn by West in films to make her look taller, which also contributed to her unique gait

In 1939, Universal Studios approached West to star opposite W. C. Fields in My Little Chickadee (1940).<ref name="trapeze">Template:Cite book</ref> Although West and Fields had a combative relationship, the film was a box office success.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Religious leaders condemned West's on-screen persona, taking offense at lines such as: "When I'm caught between two evils, I generally like to take the one I never tried."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

West's final film of the period was The Heat's On (1943), produced by Columbia Pictures. She only agreed to star as a personal favor to director Gregory Ratoff.Template:Sfn It was the only film where she was not allowed to write her own dialogue. The result was poorly received, and West later cited her frustration with censorship as a key reason for her departure from filmmaking.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Instead, she found continued success in nightclubs, stage shows, and Broadway revivals where she retained creative control over her performances.

Radio and censorshipEdit

On December 12, 1937, West appeared in two separate sketches on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's radio show The Chase and Sanborn Hour.Template:Sfn 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, "Charles, I remember our last date, and have the splinters to prove it!"<ref name=uncommon>Template:Cite book</ref> West was on the verge of being banned from radio.

Another controversial sketch aired the same night on NBC, written by Arch Oboler, and featured Don Ameche and West as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She tells Ameche to "get me a big one... I feel like doin' a big apple!"<ref name=uncommon/> 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".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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".Template:Sfn

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".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some debate existed regarding the reaction to the skit. Conservative religious groups took umbrage far more swiftly than the mainstream. These groups found it easy to make West their target. They took exception to her outspoken use of sexuality and sexual imagery, which she had employed in her career since at least the pre-Code films of the early 1930s and for decades before on Broadway, but which was now being broadcast into American living rooms on a popular family-friendly radio program. The groups reportedly warned the sponsor of the program they would protest her appearance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

NBC Radio banned West (and the mention of her name) from their stations following the backlash.Template:Sfn She did not return to radio until January 1950, when she appeared on an episode of The Chesterfield Supper Club, hosted by Perry Como.Template:Sfn Ameche's career did not suffer any serious repercussions, however, as he was playing the "straight" character. West subsequently continued to perform in venues such as Lou Walters's The Latin Quarter, Broadway, and London.

Middle yearsEdit

File:Mae West in 1953.jpg
Featured in the Los Angeles Times, 1953

After appearing in The Heat's On in 1943, West returned to a highly active stage and nightclub career. Among her notable performances was the title role in Catherine Was Great (1944) on Broadway, a play she wrote as a satirical take on the life of Catherine the Great. In the production, she surrounded herself with a group of tall, muscular actors described as an "imperial guard".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd, the play ran for 191 performances before going on tour.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

West revived her 1928 play Diamond Lil in 1949, returning it to Broadway. A reviewer for The New York Times referred to her as an "American institution—as beloved and indestructible as Donald Duck. Like Chinatown, and Grant's Tomb, Mae West should be seen at least once." In the 1950s, she performed in her own Las Vegas stage show at the newly opened Sahara Hotel, where she sang while flanked by bodybuilders. The show proved popular with both male and female audiences, with West commenting, "Men come to see me, but I also give the women something to see: wall to wall men."Template:Sfn

During the casting of Billy Wilder's 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, West was offered the role of Norma Desmond. Still frustrated by the censorship imposed on The Heat's On, she declined the role, stating that its pathos did not suit her comedic sensibility, which she characterized as focused on uplifting audiences. The role ultimately went to Gloria Swanson, after Mary Pickford also declined.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

West was later offered additional film roles, including Vera Simpson opposite Frank Sinatra in the 1957 musical Pal Joey, which she declined, with the part going to Rita Hayworth. She also turned down a role in Roustabout (1964) alongside Elvis Presley, which was subsequently played by Barbara Stanwyck. West rejected offers from Federico Fellini to appear in both Juliet of the Spirits and Satyricon.

Television, and the next generationsEdit

On March 26, 1958, West appeared at the live televised Academy Awards and performed the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rock Hudson, which received a standing ovation.Template:Sfn In 1959, she released an autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, which became a best-seller. West made several television appearances to promote the book, including on The Dean Martin Variety Show in 1959 and The Red Skelton Show in 1960. She also recorded a lengthy interview for Person to Person with Charles Collingwood in 1959, which was ultimately not broadcast; CBS executives reportedly felt viewers were not prepared to see a nude marble statue of West that appeared in the segment. In 1964, she guest-starred on the sitcom Mister Ed.Template:Sfn In 1976, she appeared on a CBS special, Back Lot U.S.A., hosted by Dick Cavett, where she was interviewed and performed two songs.

Recording careerEdit

West's recording career began in the early 1930s with releases of songs from her films on 78 rpm records. These were issued alongside sheet music for home use. In 1955, she recorded her first LP album, The Fabulous Mae West. In 1965, she recorded two songs, "Am I Too Young" and "He's Good for Me", for a 45 rpm single released by Plaza Records. She also recorded novelty songs such as "Santa, Come Up to See Me", featured on the album Wild Christmas,Template:Sfn which was later reissued in 1980 as Mae in December.Template:Sfn In 1966, she released the rock-and-roll album Way Out West, followed in 1972 by Great Balls of Fire, which included covers of songs by The Doors and tracks written by English songwriter-producer Ian Whitcomb.

Later yearsEdit

West's likeness was used on the front cover of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. When approached for permission, West initially declined, reportedly asking, "What would I be doing in a Lonely Hearts Club?" She changed her mind after receiving a letter from the band expressing admiration for her work.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After a 27-year absence from motion pictures, West returned to the screen as Leticia Van Allen in Myra Breckinridge (1970), based on the novel by Gore Vidal. The film starred Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck, but was hampered by production difficulties and poor critical reception.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Though West received top billing, her role was reduced during editing. In 1971, she was voted "Woman of the Century" by students at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for her legacy as an outspoken figure on issues of sexuality and censorship.Template:Sfn

File:Mae West 14 Allan Warren.jpg
West in her Los Angeles apartment, 1973; photo by Allan Warren

In 1975, West released the books Sex, Health, and ESP and Pleasure Man, the latter based on her 1928 stage play.Template:Sfn Her 1959 autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, was also updated and reissued during this period.Template:Sfn She managed her own stage acts and invested in real estate, including property in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.

She appeared on the CBS television special Back Lot U.S.A. in 1976, where she was interviewed by Dick Cavett and performed "Frankie and Johnny" and "After You've Gone".Template:SfnTemplate:Self-published inline

That year, she began production on her final film, Sextette (1978), based on a script she had written in 1959.Template:Sfn Frequent revisions and production delays led to a decision to feed her lines via a speaker concealed in her wig due to her deteriorating eyesight.Template:Sfn Despite these challenges, director Ken Hughes later described her as committed to completing the film. Sextette was not a commercial success. Its cast included George Raft, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, Walter Pidgeon, Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper, Dom DeLuise, and Rona Barrett, along with several of West's former Las Vegas performers, such as Reg Lewis. The film reunited her with costume designer Edith Head, who had worked on She Done Him Wrong in 1933.Template:Sfn

West was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street for her work in film and was later inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame for her contributions to stage performance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Public imageEdit

Mae West was known for her distinctive appearance, often characterized by figure-hugging, floor-length gowns with low necklines. Her style typically featured details such as fishtail trains and feather trim, which became associated with her on-screen persona.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

File:Frank Wallace & Mae West 1911.jpg
West and husband Frank Wallace in 1911
File:Guido Deiro & Mae West c 1916.jpg
West (right) in an ad with Deiro, c. 1916–17
File:Paul Novak & Mae West 1978.jpg
West in 1978 with Paul Novak, her partner of 25 years

West was married on April 11, 1911, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Frank Szatkus (1892–1966),Template:Sfn whose stage name was Frank Wallace,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a fellow vaudevillian whom she met in 1909. She was 17.Template:Sfn She kept the marriage a secret, but a filing clerk discovered the certificate in 1935 and alerted the press.Template:Sfn The clerk also uncovered an affidavit from her 1927 Sex trial, in which she had declared herself married.Template:Sfn At first, West denied the marriage but admitted it in July 1937 in response to a legal interrogatory.Template:Sfn The couple never lived together as husband and wife; she stated they had separate bedrooms and soon sent him away to headline his own show. She obtained a divorce on July 21, 1942, during which Wallace withdrew his request for separate maintenance, and West testified that they had lived together for only "several weeks".Template:Sfn The final divorce decree was granted on May 7, 1943.Template:Sfn

In 1913, West met Guido Deiro (1886–1950), an Italian-born vaudeville star and accordionist. According to his son, Guido Roberto Deiro, West married Deiro in 1914, though this has not been conclusively proven. Their relationship reportedly ended after West had an abortion at her mother's urging, which left her infertile and nearly killed her.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> West later quipped, "Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1916, West began a relationship with James Timony (1884–1954), an attorney and her manager. By the mid-1930s, they were no longer a couple but remained close until his death.Template:Sfn

She was also romantically linked to Owney Madden, owner of the Cotton Club.Template:Sfn

West remained close to her family throughout her life and was especially affected by her mother's death in 1930.Template:Sfn She moved into the penthouse at The Ravenswood in Hollywood that year, remaining there until her death.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She later brought her father, sister, and brother to Hollywood and supported them.Template:Sfn She also had a relationship with boxer Gorilla Jones (1906–1982). When her apartment building barred Jones from entry because he was African American, she bought the building and lifted the ban.Template:Sfn

In her sixties, West became romantically involved with Chester Rybinski (1923–1999), a former Mr. California and member of her Las Vegas stage show. He later changed his name to Paul Novak. He was 30 years her junior and remained with her until her death.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Novak once commented, "I believe I was put on this Earth to take care of Mae West."Template:Sfn

West would sometimes refer to herself in the third person and speak of "Mae West" as the entertainment character she had created.Template:Sfn

West was a Presbyterian.<ref name="burlesqued" />Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DeathEdit

File:Lars Jacob at Mae West grave 2007.jpg
West family crypt at Cypress Hills Cemetery, with Mae at top

In August 1980, West tripped while getting out of bed. After the fall, she was unable to speak and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where tests revealed that she had suffered a stroke.Template:Sfn She died three months later on November 22 at the age of 87.Template:Sfn<ref name="burlesqued">Template:Cite news</ref>

A private service was held three days later at the church in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Sfn Her friend, Bishop Andre Penachio, officiated at the entombment in the family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, which had been purchased in 1930 when her mother died. Her father and brother had also been entombed there, and her younger sister Beverly was laid to rest in the last of the five crypts less than 18 months later.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In popular cultureEdit

  • In the 1935 Laurel and Hardy film Bonnie Scotland, in response to the character Mrs. Burns saying to Mr. Miggs, "The next time you drop down to Glasgow, you must come up and see me some time," Stan comments, "It's Mae West."
  • In the 1937 film Stand-In, the stage mother (Anne O'Neal) who has her young daughter (Marianne Edwards) auditioning for Dodd (Leslie Howard) tells her, "Now, do the Mae West number."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • During World War II, Allied aircrews called their yellow inflatable, vest-like personal flotation devices "Mae Wests", partly from rhyming slang for "breasts" and partly because of the resemblance to her torso.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A "Mae West" is also a type of round parachute malfunction that contorts the shape of the canopy into the appearance of a large brassiere.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • In 2017, West was the subject of an episode of the TV series Over My Dead Body on Amazon Prime.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Broadway stageEdit

Broadway stage
Date Production Role Notes Ref.
Template:Dts – September 30, 1911 A La Broadway Maggie O'Hara citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Template:Dts – February 24, 1912 Vera Violetta West left the show during previews. <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – September 7, 1912 Template:Sortname Le Petite Daffy West left show after opening night. <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – June 1919 Sometime Mayme Dean <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – September 10, 1921 Template:Sortname <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – March 1927 Sex Margie LaMont Written by Jane Mast (West), West was jailed for 8 days because of the play's content. <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts Template:Sortname Closed during out-of-town tryouts (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
credited only as writer 		Template:Sfn
Template:Dts Template:Sortname Evelyn ("Babe") Carson <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – September 1928 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – October 2, 1928 Template:Sortname Credited only as writer <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – November 1931 Template:Sortname Babe Gordon <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – January 13, 1945 Catherine Was Great Catherine II <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts–46 Come on Up Tour Template:Sfn
Template:Dts – May 1948 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Revival) United Kingdom <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – February 26, 1949 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Second revival) until West broke her ankle on the latter date
The play resumed as a "return engagement". 		<ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – January 21, 1950 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Second revival) as "return engagement" <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – November 10, 1951 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Third Revival) <ref name=IBDB/>
Template:Dts – closing date unknown Sextette Edgewater Beach Playhouse <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other plays as writer
Year Title Notes Ref.
1921 Template:Sortname Vaudeville playlet Template:Sfn
1922 Template:Sortname Unproduced Template:Sfn
1930 Frisco Kate Unproduced, later produced as the 1936 film Klondike Annie Template:Sfn
1933 Loose Women Performed in 1935 under title Ladies By Request Template:Sfn
1936 Clean Beds Sold treatment to George S. George, who produced
an unsuccessful Broadway play of West's treatment 		Template:Sfn

FilmographyEdit

Year Film Role Writer(s) Co-stars Director Studio
1932 Night After Night Maudie Triplett Story: Louis Bromfield
Screenplay: Vincent Lawrence
Continuity: Kathryn Scola
Additional dialogue (uncredited): Mae West 		George Raft
Constance Cummings
Wynne Gibson 		Archie Mayo Paramount Pictures
1933 She Done Him Wrong Lady Lou Screenplay: Harvey F. Thew and John Bright
Based on the play Diamond Lil by Mae West 		Cary Grant
Owen Moore
Gilbert Roland 		Lowell Sherman
I'm No Angel Tira Story, Screenplay and All Dialogue: Mae West
Suggestions: Lowell Brentano
Continuity: Harlan Thompson 		Cary Grant
Gregory Ratoff
Edward Arnold 		Wesley Ruggles
1934 Belle of the Nineties Ruby Carter Mae West Roger Pryor
Johnny Mack Brown
Katherine DeMille 		Leo McCarey
1935 Goin' to Town Cleo Borden Screenplay: Mae West
Story: Marion Morgan and George B. Dowell 		Paul Cavanagh
Gilbert Emery
Marjorie Gateson 		Alexander Hall
1936 Klondike Annie The Frisco Doll
Rose Carlton
Sister Annie Alden 		Screenplay: Mae West
Story: Marion Morgan and George B. Dowell
And material suggested by Frank Mitchell Dazey 		Victor McLaglen
Phillip Reed
Helen Jerome Eddy 		Raoul Walsh
Go West, Young Man Mavis Arden Screenplay: Mae West
Based on the play Personal Appearance by Lawrence Riley 		Warren William
Randolph Scott
Alice Brady 		Henry Hathaway
1937 Every Day's a Holiday Peaches O'Day Mae West Edmund Lowe
Charles Butterworth
Charles Winninger 		A. Edward Sutherland
1940 My Little Chickadee Flower Belle Lee Mae West and W. C. Fields W. C. Fields
Joseph Calleia
Dick Foran 		Edward F. Cline Universal Pictures
1943 The Heat's On Fay Lawrence Fitzroy Davis & George S. George and Fred Schiller Victor Moore
William Gaxton
Lester Allen 		Gregory Ratoff Columbia Pictures
1970 Myra Breckinridge Leticia Van Allen Screenplay: Michael Sarne and David Giler
Based on the novel by Gore Vidal 		Raquel Welch
John Huston
Farrah Fawcett 		Michael Sarne 20th Century Fox
1978 Sextette Marlo Manners
Lady Barrington 		Screenplay: Herbert Baker
Based on the play by Mae West 		Timothy Dalton
Dom DeLuise
Tony Curtis 		Ken Hughes Crown International Pictures

DiscographyEdit

Albums:

  • 1956: The Fabulous Mae West; Decca D/DL-79016 (several reissues up to 2006)
  • 1960: W.C. Fields His Only Recording Plus 8 Songs by Mae West; Proscenium PR 22
  • 1966: Way Out West; Tower T/ST-5028
  • 1966: Wild Christmas; Dragonet LPDG-48
  • 1970: The Original Voice Tracks from Her Greatest Movies; Decca D/DL-791/76
  • 1970: Mae West & W.C. Fields Side by Side; Harmony HS 11374/HS 11405
  • 1972: Great Balls of Fire; MGM SE 4869
  • 1974: Original Radio Broadcasts; Mark 56 Records 643
  • 1987/1995: Sixteen Sultry Songs Sung by Mae West Queen of Sex; Rosetta RR 1315
  • 1996: I'm No Angel; Jasmine CD 04980 102
  • 2006: The Fabulous: Rev-Ola CR Rev 181

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

Written worksEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Citations

Template:Reflist

Works cited

External linksEdit

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Template:Mae West Template:Burlesque Hall of Fame Template:Authority control

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