Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Mae West: John Daniel Hertz

Movie Classic wrote about a welcome party for John D. Hertz, who was born in the month of April, and how the temperature in the room and sense of decorum changed when MAE WEST turned up in 1932.
• • John Daniel Hertz, Sr. [10 April  1879 — 8 October 1961] was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist. When his friend Robert  Lehman put together the start-up financing for Paramount Pictures, millionaire John D. Hertz would be their connection on Paramount's board.  Mr. Hertz got involved in November 1931. It was short-lived. Unfortunately, "the kingpin" clashed with his colleagues over "the question of authority," and resigned as chairman of the Paramount Publix finance committee in January 1933.   Adolph Zukor then took over.
• • "The startling arrival of Mae West" • •
• • Mae West was the piece de resistance of the Emanuel Cohen "welcome to Hollywood" tea for Paramount's kingpin, Mr. Hertz, of Chicago and New York.  Naturally, all the Paramount stars turned out in their best clothes and best behavior for this formal event and, as one stellar femme reported, the broad "a's" were ankle-deep.  In fact, the entire affair was long on etiquette and ten-dollar words until the startling arrival of Mae West.
• • Evidently, Mae felt the party needed pepping up for she headed for the piano almost immediately after the formalities were over, and started in on some swell, snappy songs.  At first the "dignifieds" didn't know just how to take it, but when the guest of honor and his wife seemed amused and entertained, the ice was broken.
• • As a climax, Mae invited a chosen few into an adjoining room to hear some extra verses of "Frankie and Johnnie."
• • Source: Item in Movie Classic Magazine; issue dated for January 1933.
• • On Friday, 12 April 1929 • •
• • In her popular column "Texas Guinan Says" for The New York Daily News, Texas had playfully mentioned her friend: "Mae's a good girl at heart — — but she's got a bad heart." During the "Pleasure Man" trial readers heard about the Brooklyn bombshell on Friday, 12 April 1929 and other times.
• • On Saturday, 12 April 1930 • •
• • The Wall Street crash in 1929 destroyed the financial security of many families in the entertainment industry. Broadway star Mae West entertained in New York City at the Give-a-Job Benefit on Saturday, 12 April 1930 with many other well-known performers.
• • On Tuesday, 12 April 1949 • •
• • Mae West was at the Park Central Hotel on Seventh Avenue (between West 55th — 56th Streets) in Manhattan on Tuesday, 12 April 1949. News reporters interviewed the actress in her suite.
• • On Sunday, 12 April 1959 • •
• • In April 1959, Mae West told a Hollywood columnist that her autobiography would be published in the autumn — — and its title was going to be Empress of Sex.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The high-average bowlers  in Los Angeles are having more difficulty than Harpo Marx in a bedroom scene with Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:   ”I heard the applause — — applause just for me, and I knew they really liked me, and I knew then there wasn’t any other place I ever wanted to be.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A syndicated columnist mentioned Mae West.
• • Louis Sobol wrote: Later to Mae West's debut at the Latin Quarter — — a hilarious evening, for this lady in her sixties is still one of our top comediennes — — anyone who takes her bawdy routines seriously is out of his mind. Among those who remained to cheer were ex-President Miguel Aleman of Mexico, Shirley Booth, Hope Hampton with Bill Hamilton, Eleanor Holm with Tommy Whelan, Imogene Coca, Georgia Gibbs with Johnnie Ray, Eileen Barton, Benny Fields and Blossom Seeley, Molly and Cholly Berns, LaRae Brown and Joe Eckhouse, Toni and Jan Murray. ...
• • Source: Item in "New York Cavalcade" by Louis Sobol rpt in Desert Sun; published on Monday, 25 October 1954
• • 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 3,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3418th 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 1954

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