Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Mae West: John R. Brinkley

MAE WEST made an impression on a prominent man from North Carolina born on July 8th.
• • John Romulus Brinkley [8 July 1885 — 26 May 1942] • •
• • John R. Brinkley wrote this in his diary: 3 August 1935 — — went to “Black Horse Beer" brewery. Saw Mae West in “Goin' to Town” . . .
• • Born in North Carolina on Wednesday, 8 July 1885, John Romulus Brinkley was a physician and scientist who experimented, in American clinics, with transplanting goat testicles into men as a means of curing male impotence.  Brinkley, who changed his middle name to Richard, was an ambitious advertising and radio pioneer, too.  Eventually, his controversial practices got his medical license terminated in Kansas (and elsewhere). All the same, Brinkley remained popular and set about launching two campaigns for the Kansas governorship.       
• • Source: Detail from in "The Bizarre Careers of John R. Brinkley" edited by R. Alton Lee; published in 2015.
• • On Sunday, 8 July 1928 in the Journal American • •
• • A reporter from the Journal American visited Mae West backstage after a performance of "Diamond Lil." He wrote a lengthy account of Mae West's formula for writing a play: "hire a room in a hotel, lock yourself in and go to work for as many hours as you can stand the pace. Then you grab a little sleep, get up and resuscitate yourself with a few tons of cold water and start all over again.  And so on until ...." The Journal American published this long article in their hefty weekend edition dated for Sunday, 8 July 1928.
• • On Monday,  8 July 1946 • •
• • Mae West's wisecracks delighted the critic for the Chicago Herald-American Copeland C. Burg. 
• • On Monday, 8 July 1946, writing about her sense of humor in the play "Come On Up," Burg observed:  "We never knew how vulgar we were until we saw Mae West in this new play.  Laughing with Miss West may be vulgar, yet it is honest vulgarity, and there's nothing wrong with that." 
• • In 1947, when Jim Timony realized that "Come On Up" would not go to Broadway (as they hoped), he began to make plans for a European tour for Mae West, who would reprise her role as Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery for her fans overseas.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • As Mae West might say, “He who hesitates is a damned fool.ˮ
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'm not married. I'm still a bachelor girl — and that's all there is to it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A fan magazine mentioned a former leading man who played opposite Mae West.
• • Rifts in Tinseltown — — For David Newell, former Broadway leading man for Mae West and Ethel Barrymore, and Katharine Lewis, Hollywood actress
• • Source: Item in Photoplay;  published in the issue dated for October 1935 
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,200 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3217th 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 • in 1948

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