Monday, June 18, 2012

Mae West: Louis Alter

Louis Alter is behind the theme song "Come Up and See Me Sometime" for MAE WEST. Arthur Swanstrom did the lyrics.
• • Louis Alter was born in Haverhill, Massa­chusetts in the month of June — — on 18 June 1902.  Fascinated by music, the nine-year-old began studying the piano. He was good enough by age 13 to be hired by a local moviehouse, providing accompaniment to silent films.  Instead of relying on the stereotypical fare given to piano players, Alter liked to improvise.
• • In 1924, the 22-year-old took off for The Big Apple and vaudeville star Nora Bayes [1880 — 1928] soon hired the newcomer as her accompanist. (The temperamental diva had just ditched sexy Harry Richman.)  Louis Alter was onstage with her at The Palace and other prestigious venues; they were a team from 1924 through 1928.
• • As successful with writing popular instrumental compositions for orchestra as he was with songs, Alter was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. He died in New York on 5 November 1980.  He was 78.
• • Auction Ends on Monday, 18 June 2012 • •
• • Otto Fenn took this portrait of Mae West costumed as Diamond Lil circa 1950. The gelatin silver print, 14 X 11, is for sale; it is LOT ID: 67705.  Artnet Auctions set an opening bid of $1,500; the sale closes today before lunchtime on Monday, 18 June 2012.
• • Born in Manhattan, Otto Fenn [21 February 1913 — 5 February 1993] was raised in Lincoln Park, NJ. He studied at the New York School of Design and taught painting there.
• • He was often on assignment for a magazine editor;  his photos appeared on many covers during the 1940s and 1950s.  The Four Seasons used one of his pictures on their LP "Big Girls Don't Cry" [1963]. His longtime male partner told The New York Times that the Sag Harbor resident died of heart failure.  He was 79.
• • Edward Eliscu [2 April 1902 — 18 June 1998] • •
• • Performed by Mae West and chorus in "The Heat Is On" in the show "Tropicana" was "Hello, Mi Amigo"; music by Jay Gorney with lyrics by Henry Myers and Edward Eliscu.
• • Romanian-American musician Edward Eliscu was born in New York, New York on 2 April 1902. The son of author Edward Eliscu, he attended City College and began to perform in stage plays. This introduction to theatre led to his career as a lyricist; he went on to create the libretti for shows and Hollywood musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, etc. His lyric writing credits included several Broadway shows, too.  Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, Edward Eliscu died in Newtown, Connecticut in the month of June — — on 18 June 1998.  He was 96.
• • On Thursday, 18 June 1959 • •
• • "You'd have thought that a favorite bootlegger had come back from Atlanta," wrote drama critic Robert Garland in the New York Evening Telegram in his review of "Diamond Lil" published on 5 April 1928. "Mae West makes Miss Ethel Barrymore look like the late lamented Bert Savoy."
• • Born on 15 August 1879, Ethel Barrymore died in the month of June — — on Thursday, 18 June 1959. Praised for her work on the stage, Ethel was an Academy Award-winning screen actress and a member of the famous Barrymore family.
• • On Friday, 18 June 1993 in London • •
• • Israeli artist Itai Doron had a month-long solo show "The Secret Life and Archaic Times of Mr D" at White Cube Gallery on Duke Street from 14 May — 18 June 1993.  Itai Doron created a series of airbrushed photo-montages, cinematic wish-fulfillment, depicting his alter ego, Mr D, winning his way into film stills with screen siren Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, and Marlon Brando, and partaking in gunplay with James Bond, Barbarella, and Travis Bickle. You could have seen it, too, until Friday, 18 June 1993.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about apparel and academia mentioned Mae West.
• • Caroline Evans wrote:  Jane Gallop, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, aka "the post-structuralist Mae West," vamps it up on the lecture circuit — — Jane once gave a lecture on psychoanalysis and the phallus dressed in a skirt made of men's ties stitched together.   ...
• • Source: Article: "What not to wear if you want to get on" written by Caroline Evans for TLS Higher Education section; posted on 18 June 2004 
By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2335th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
 
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo:
• • Mae West • 1950 • •
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  Mae West.

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