Mae West: With Lorgnette

MAE WEST needed reading glasses and did her best to hide that fact from her fans. It was frowned upon, at that time in Tinseltown, for an actress to don a pair of eyeglasses in public. Here is just one of the occasions when she used a lorgnette to read in public in 1934.
• • Motion Picture wrote: At a banquet held in honor of Emanuel Cohen, Paramount executive, Mae West surprised all those present by drawing a lorgnette from her purse and using it to read her speech. Leave it to Mae to do something startling every time.
• • Motion Picture added: The picture on page 36 [of Motion Picture], taken at the dinner, shows Emanuel Cohen, Mae West, and Gary Cooper and they seem to be enjoying a good laugh.  Perhaps it is over the intriguing lorgnette episode. Or Mae may have put over a new witticism.
• • Source: Item from Motion Picture; issue published in December 1934.
• • On Monday, 27 June 1949 • •
• • Richard Coogan was still appearing on Broadway in the role of Captain Cummings opposite Mae West in "Diamond Lil" when he auditioned for a TV series.  Coogan was cast as Captain Video on the DuMont Television Network on Monday, 27 June 1949.
• • On Sunday, 27 June 1954 • •
• • On Sunday night, 27 June 1954, Mae West delighted the Las Vegas club goers — —  and the female patrons stormed the stage — — when the bodybuilders in "The Mae West Revue" filed into the Sahara's Congo Room.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West replied, examining the script through a bejeweled lorgnette. She referred the attorney to Larry Lee, her secretary since the late 1920s, for an explanation.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:   "I have had to do my share of outsmarting men through necessity."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • Photoplay Magazine Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Cal York wrote: After this, anything's likely to happen. You don't have to imagine Mae West with a lorgnette — you can see her with one.
• • Cal York added: Hollywood got its first glimpse of the haughty article at Emanuel Cohen's recent testimonial dinner — when Mae impressively eyed the assembled guests through it.  She says she always has carried one — but maybe she was bashful before.  Hollywood, slowly recovering, expects a monocle any day now.  . . .
• • Source: Item in Cal York's column "Gossip" for Photoplay; published in January 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 3,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eleven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3473rd 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 1934 • •
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