Comprehensive information and links about Mae West

Mae West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol.

Famous for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville, burlesque and on the legitimate stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to conquer and make her unforgettable place among the great performers of the motion picture industry.

One of the most controversial stars of her day, West encountered many obstacles, including early censorship, but her indomitable spirit, coupled with an indefinable drive, made her persevere.

When her movie career ended, she continued to perform on stage, in Las Vegas, England, on radio and television, even recording a few Rock and Roll albums. In her old age, she returned to the silver screen, starring in two final movies in the 1970s.

table in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of John Patrick West (1865-1935) and Matilda "Tillie" Delker-Doelger (1870-1930). Her sister and brother were Mildred Katherine "Beverly" West (1898-1982) and John Edwin West (1900-1964).

Her father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West" who later worked as a policeman. He was later a detective who ran his own agency. Her mother was a former corset and fashion model.

The family was Protestant, despite the Jewish heritage of West's mother, who was a Bavarian German immigrant, her Catholic paternal grandmother, who was Irish, as well as other distant relations who were Roman Catholic, including the woman who helped deliver her (and whose disapproval of her career Mae was made well aware of).

Career

West began performing in vaudeville at the age of five. By the time she was 12, she was doing burlesque under the name "The Baby Vamp." Though she had not yet grown into her generous curves, the slinky, dark-haired Mae was already raising eyebrows with a lascivious "shimmy" dance.

Her famous walk was said to have originated in her early years as a stage actress. West had special eight-inch platforms attached to her shoes to increase her and enhance her stage presence.

Eventually, she began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name "Jane Mast." Her first starring role on Broadway was in a play she titled , which was written, produced and directed by West. Though critics hated the show, ticket sales were good. The notorious production did not go over well with city officials, however. The theatre was raided and West was arrested along with everyone else in the cast.

She was prosecuted on morals charges and, on April 19, 1927, was sentenced to 10 days in jail for public obscenity. While incarcerated on Welfare Island, she was allowed to wear her silk panties instead of the scratchy prison issue. She served eight days, with two days off for good behavior.

Her next play was about homosexuality and was titled . It was a box-office success, but audiences had to go to New Jersey to see it because it was banned from Broadway. West regarded talking about sex as a basic human rights issue, and was also an early advocate of gay rights. Pleading against police brutality to homosexuals, she said, "A homosexual is a woman's soul in a man's . Her productions were plagued by controversy and other problems, however. If they did not get shut down for indecency, they closed because of slow ticket sales.

For her next adventure into theatre she had a Broadway hit, (1928), about a racy, easygoing lady of the 1890s. The show struck box-office gold and heralded the brazen, wisecracking blonde to new s of fame. It enjoyed an enduring popularity and West would successfully revive it many times throughout the course of her career.

In 1932, West was offered a motion picture contract by Paramount. She signed and went to Hollywood to appear in starring George Raft. Upon her arrival, she moved into an apartment in the Ravenswood at 570 North Rossmore Avenue, not far from the studio on Melrose. She maintained a residence at the Ravenswood, her preferred abode, for the rest of her life, although she also owned a beach house and property in the Valley.

At first, she did not like her small role in , but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite her lines. In West's first scene, a hat check girl exclaimed, "Goodness, what lovely diamonds." West became an instant sensation when she replied, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."

She brought (1933), personally selecting Cary Grant for the male lead, a role that made him a star. The movie was a huge success and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Her next release was , saved Paramount from bankruptcy along with 1,700 of their theaters.

In 1934, the censorship of the Production Code began to be seriously and meticulously enforced and her s began to be heavily edited. Her answer was to increase the double entendre.

West's next movie was

West starred in three other movies for Paramount before their association came to an end. Two years later, she starred opposite W.C. Fields in (1940) at Universal. West and Fields, who were both accustomed to working with supporting players and not co-stars, did not get along and she would not tolerate his drinking.

Radio

On December 12, 1937, West appeared in two separate sketches on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's radio show that shocked both the listening audience and NBC executives. She appeared as herself, flirting very heavily with Charlie McCarthy, Bergen's dummy, utilizing her usual brand of sexy wit and risqué sexual references.

Even more outrageous was a sketch earlier in the show, written by Arch Oboler, that starred West and Don Ameche as Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden. The conversation between the two was considered so risqué, bordering on blasphemous, she was banned from being featured, or even mentioned, on the NBC network. She did not appear on radio for another 31 years.

Divorce

West was apparently married April 11, 1911, in Milwaukee, to Frank Wallace, a fellow vaudevillian who, in 1937, showed up in Hollywood with a marriage certificate seeking a share of "their" community property.

Although West denied ever marrying Wallace, and it was proven she never lived with him, she still found it necessary to obtain a legal divorce on July 21, 1942.

During World War II, Allied soldiers called their inflatable life jackets "Mae Wests" because of the resemblance to her curvaceous torso.

A "Mae West" is also a type of round parachute malfunction which contorts the shape of the canopy into the appearance of an extraordinarily large brassier, presumably one suitable for a woman of Mae West's proportions.

She also starred in her own Las Vegas stage show surrounded by builders and singing to delighted crowds, which included a large number of gay men. Many celebrities attended West's show, including Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Louis Armstrong, Liberace, and Jayne Mansfield (who met, and later married, one of West's muscle men, Mickey Hargitay, getting him fired).

When Billy Wilder offered West the role of Norma Desmond in , she refused and pronounced herself offended at being asked to play a "has-been," similar to the responses he received from Mary Pickford and Pola Negri, so ultimately the more amenable and realistic Gloria Swanson was cast in the role, which became immortal on celluloid.

In 1958, West appeared at the televised presentation of the Academy Awards and performed the song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

West also appeared on television, guest starring as herself on the popular series , about a talking horse, in 1964.

In order to keep her appeal fresh with younger generations, she recorded two Rock and Roll albums, , was a big success for her and the album itself was a very good seller. She also recorded a number of parody songs, including "Santa, Come Up and See Me Sometime," in her successful album

After an absence of 26 years from the silver screen, she appeared in the role as Leticia Van Allen in Gore Vidal's (1970) with John Huston, Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck in a small part. It failed miserably at the box-office, but soon became a camp classic (notably among gay men, due to its sex change theme).

West recorded another rock album in the 1970s on MGM Records titled , which covered songs by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, among others, and her autobiography, , was updated in a new version and republished.

In 1976, she appeared on the Dick Cavett TV talk show and gave an exclusive interview about her life and career, along with insights into her proclivity toward vulgar humor and her battle with censorship.

At the age of 85, West returned in her last movie, (1978) with Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper, George Hamilton, Rona Barrett, and Walter Pidgeon. She was with George Raft, as well, in this last movie appearance, just as she had been in her first, was another box-office failure. It did not do well despite the fact that before its release large photographs of her reclining on a chaise longue went up on billboards all over Hollywood proclaiming, "Mae West Is Coming."

The movie was the source of several "urban legends." One such persistent claim is that West could remember none of her lines and had to wear a concealed earpiece under her wig to have her lines fed to her. Dom Deluise, Timothy Dalton and other principal players have rebutted the rumor. Their denials might be truthful, or merely gallantry toward a great lady; West's ears are covered and there is often an awkward pause before she speaks.

West continued to surround herself with virile muscle men for the rest of her life, employing companions, guards and chauffeurs. She would occasionally make appearances at Hollywood parties and have luminaries and friends in to visit at her apartment in the Ravenswood.

In the late summer of 1980, she suffered a mild stroke and was rushed to the hospital. She rallied, but suffered another stroke in November. The prognosis was not good and she was sent home. She died at her apartment on North Rossmore Avenue in Hollywood at age 87.

Mae West is entombed with her family in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood.