Friday, May 31, 2013

Mae West: Non-negotiable

MAE WEST was receiving threats in May 1934. To help her out, an item appeared in "Behind The Scenes in Hollywood," a syndicated column, on Thursday, 31 May 1934.
• • Harrison Carroll wrote: The D. A.'s office here is checking on a man who has been making inquiries as to whether Mae West can raise enough cash to pay a $60,000 premium on an annuity policy, figuring there might be some connection between this and the phone and letter threats Mae has been receiving.
• • Harrison Carroll added: Anyone curious about it may learn here that Mae West couldn’t raise more than purse money should her life depend on it. She never cashes her paycheck.
• • "Non-negotiable" • •
• • Harrison Carroll continued: Her investment advisors, Murray Ellman, Murray Feil, and James Timony, turn her salary into non-negotiable insurance policies and bonds, keeping out only enough money for current bills and Mae's "mad money."
• • Source: Syndicated column “Behind the Scenes in Hollywood” written by Harrison Carroll; printed in The Daily Iowan (Iowa City); published on Thursday, 31 May 1934.
• • On Monday, 31 May 1999 • •
• • There was a 30-minute episode "Mae West" on TV's E! Mysteries and Scandals: Season 2, Episode 14. It aired on Monday, 31 May 1999.
• • On Tuesday, 31 May 2011 • •
• • On the BBC's "The World Accordion to Phil," Scots accordionist Phil Cunningham featured the vaudeville accordionist who secretly married Mae West. This TV episode was first broadcast on Tuesday, 31 May 2011, in the UK. You can watch it online.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Beauty may only be skin deep, but it's what's underneath that makes the skin beautiful. Keep healthy, and you'll keep good looking."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The L.A. Times mentioned Mae West.
• • Mark Savage wrote: Dorothy Barrett stood in front of her beginning acting students, ranging in age from 7 to 20, and gave them the benefit of wisdom gained during a career that has ranged from performing in major studio films to coaching future television stars. "It's not what you say, but how you say it," she tells her 40 students, echoing Mae West. "It's not what you do, but how you do it. You must project yourself to your audience." ...
• • Source: Article: "For the Love of Their Craft" by Mark Savage for The L.A. Times; published on Monday, 24 October 1994
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2661st 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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• • Mae West in Hollywood

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Mae West: Charles B. Dillingham

As a child, MAE WEST heard fascinating recollections about New York City's Chinatown and the Bowery. Aware of the attractiveness of these lively locales, authors found creative ways to situate their narratives in these neighborhoods.
• • Charles H. Hoyt, for instance, wrote the immensely popular musical comedy "A Trip to Chinatown." The story focuses on a widow who connives and contrives to bring romance to several couples and herself in a big city restaurant [think of "Hello, Dolly!"].
• • Still capitalizing on the "Trip to Chinatown" craze, clever showmen reworked the play again and presented it under a new title: "A Winsome Widow."
• • Nineteen-year-old brunette Mae West was featured in the show "A Winsome Widow" as La Petite Daffy in 1912.  This musical was produced by Charles B. Dillingham and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
• • This box office smash was presented at the Moulin Rouge, then located at 1514 — 1516 Broadway [West 44th Street], New York, NY. This showplace was demolished in 1935.
• • Charles Bancroft Dillingham [30 May 1868 — 30 August 1934] • •
• • Born in Hartford, Connecticut — in late May on Saturday, 30 May 1868, Charles Bancroft Dillingham became very fond of the dramatic arts. He secured employment in NYC as a theater reviewer for the New York Evening Post.  Gradually, he increased his influence and became an impresario, a director, producer, and theatre operator.
• • From 1902 — 1934, C.B. Dillingham either produced shows on The Great White Way or participated via talent management or leasing the auditorium for the production.
• • Charles Bancroft Dillingham died in New York, New York on 30 August 1934.  He was 66.
• • On Wednesday, 30 May 2007 • •
• • Christie's held this auction of a Mae West movie collectible in New York City, Rockefeller Plaza on Wednesday, 30 May 2007.
• • A costume design for Mae West, circa 1970s, by Edith Head possibly for "Sextette" [1978]. The sketch of this elegant pink gown is pictured in the auction booklet. A collector paid $900 to possess it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I have been in love at various points in my career, but as long as my mother lived I shied from marriage. When she died, it released the only governor of possible marriage inclinations."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Australian news item from 1939 mentioned Mae West.
• • "Conditions Delay Mae West Greetings" • •
• •  It may not be possible after all for film star Mae West to send her greeting to the opening of Jack Lester's 'Ziegfeld Follies' at His Majesty's Theatre tonight.
• • Protracted negotiations were successfully concluded with the actress during the week, but the scheme was threatened by unfavourable atmospheric conditions over the trans-Pacific radio link. ... This was despite the fact that at 7:49 AM (Perth time) successful two-way contact was made between His Majesty's Theatre and Hollywood. Arrangements were completed for Mae West to talk later in the day. ...
• • Source: Article: The Daily News (Perth, Australia); published on Friday, 8 December 1939
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2660th 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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• • Mae West 1912

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Mae West: Jack Kennedy

An enormous international cast was assembled to do justice to MAE WEST's ambitious screenplay "Now I'm a Lady" centered around the horsey set. The motion picture was released by Paramount Pictures under the new title "Goin' to Town." Jack Kennedy was used in one scene.
• • Jack Kennedy [4 February 1888 — 27 May 1964] • •
• • Born in Comanche, Texas on 4 February 1888, John G. Kennedy desired a career in the budding film industry. By 1927 he was in California portraying a hard-hearted henchman in his first motion picture when he was 39 years old. Calling himself Jack Kennedy now, he transitioned into talkies and scored a half-dozen featured roles, invariably as a character with an Irish surname such as Gilligan or Mike O'Flaherty. 
• • But then the casting agents got stuck in a groove.  For the next ten years, he would play a law officer (detective, deputy, sheriff, police desk sergeant, etc.) almost two dozen times onscreen. Whew.
• • From 1927 — 1943, Jack Kennedy participated in 59 motion pictures.
• • In "Goin' to Town" [1935] he was seen as "Man Outside Saloon." Other non-policeman roles included a banker, stationmaster, theatrical agent, sailor, saloon owner, bar proprietor, cafe owner, politician, and stagecoach driver.
• • Jack Kennedy was seen as Officer O'Toole in his final film "The Underdog" [1943]; he enjoyed working with character actor Frank Ellis, who had played a role opposite Mae West in "My Little Chickadee" [1940] just three years earlier.
• • Jack Kennedy died in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday, 27 May 1964. He was 76.
• • On Tuesday, 29 May 1917 • •
• • "Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It" was Mae West's letter to the world. Released in hardcover more than fifty years ago by the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey imprint Prentice Hall, this meaty memoir was reprinted as a paperback by Avon Books [December 1959].
• • Hollywood publicist Frank Liberman helped promote the bio in 1959.  Mr. Liberman, who had Parkinson's disease, died of pneumonia in September 2009 at Providence Tarzana Medical Center. He was 92.
• • A native New Yorker like Mae, he was born in The Big Apple on Tuesday, 29 May 1917 and was raised in White Plains.
• • On Wednesday, 29 May 1935 in Variety • •
• • Frank Wallace timed his wedding revelations to coincide with the release of his former spouse's latest motion picture. Bad publicity had already paved this road, thanks to Joseph Breen's tantrums over the screenplay for "Goin' to Town" — — and Mae West watchers probably cared less about Wallace's wailing than the Hollywood hatchet man's cuts. Could Breen have ruined the movie?  Thanks to Mae's large and loyal fan base, "Goin' to Town" did big box office, reported Variety on Wednesday, 29 May 1935.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I have my own parties and entertain people I like."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A news item on Arthur Mayer [28 March 1886 — 14 April 1981] mentioned Mae West.
• • Demopolis son and American film pioneer Arthur Mayer will be saluted Friday during a free showing of the 1975 Oscar-nominated film “Arthur and Lillie.” The Southern Literary Trail and other partners are sponsoring the screening. ...
• • Arrhur Mayer handled advertising campaigns for films starring Mae West and Marlene Dietrich. When Zukor fired Mayer over a dispute about how to promote a Mae West film, Mayer was given the Rialto Theatre in Times Square as his severance deal.
• • During his operation of the Rialto, Mayer became known as “the Merchant of Menace,” since the theater showcased low budget horror films featuring Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein and the Wolfman. ...
• • Source: Article: "Evening to honor Arthur Mayer, native son and film pioneer" by Staff Reports for Demopolis Times; published on Tuesday, 14 May 2013
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2659th 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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• • Mae West 1935 in Hollywood

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