Mae West

Mae West
Mae West in I'm No Angel.jpg
Mae West in I'm No Angel (1933)
Born Mary Jane West
August 17, 1893(1893-08-17)
Bushwick, New York, US
Died November 22, 1980 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California, US
Spouse(s) Frank Wallace
(1911-1942)
Guido Deiro
(1914-1920)
Domestic partner(s) Paul Novak aka Chester Ribonsky aka Chuck Krauser (1923-1999)
(1954-1980)

Mae West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol.

Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedian, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. One of the more controversial stars of her day, West encountered many problems including censorship.

When her cinematic career ended, she continued to perform on stage, in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded Rock and Roll albums.

Contents

Biography

Early life

She was born Mary Jane West in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City.[1][2][3] She was the daughter of John Patrick West and Matilda "Tillie" Doelger (also spelled Delker).[4]

Her father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West" who later worked as a "special policeman" and then as a detective who ran his own agency.[5] Her mother was a former corset and fashion model.[6] The family was Protestant, although West's mother has been reported as being Jewish,[7][8] German immigrant. Her Roman Catholic paternal grandmother, who was Irish, as well as other relatives who were Roman Catholic, and the aunt who helped deliver her, disapproved of her career and its choices.[9]By some accounts, West's paternal grandfather, John Edwin, may have been an African American who passed for white.[10]

Her sister and brother were Mildred Katherine "Beverly" West (December 8, 1898 – March 12, 1982) and John Edwin West (February 11, 1900 – October 12, 1964).[11] During her childhood, West's family moved to various parts of Woodhaven, Queens, Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn, and possibly attended Erasmus Hall High School.[12]

Career

West was only five years old when she first entertained a crowd, at a church social, and started appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She often won prizes at local talent contests.[13] She began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Clarendon Stock Company in 1907 at the age of fourteen.[14] West first performed under the stage name Baby Mae,[15] and tried various personas including a male impersonator[16], Sis Hopkins, and a blackface coon shouter.[17] Her trademark walk was said to have been inspired or influenced by female impersonators Bert Savoy and Julian Eltinge, who were famous during the Pansy Craze. [18] West had special eight-inch platforms attached to her shoes to increase her height and enhance her stage presence. Her first appearance in a legitimate Broadway show was in her former dancing teacher, Ned Wayburn's, 1911 revue A La Broadway. The show folded after just eight performances.[19] She then appeared in a show called "Vera Violetta," whose cast featured another newcomer, Al Jolson.[20] In 1912 she also appeared in the opening performance of "A Winsome Widow" as a 'baby vamp' named La Petite Daffy.[21]

"Ev'rybody Shimmies Now" sheet music cover with portrait, 1918

Her photograph appeared on an edition of the sheet music for the popular number "Ev'rybody Shimmies Now" in 1918. She was encouraged as a performer by her mother, who, according to West, always thought that whatever her daughter did was fantastic.[22]

In 1918, after exiting several high-profile revues, West finally got her break in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, opposite Ed Wynn.[23] Her character Mayme danced the shimmy.[24] Eventually, she began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name Jane Mast.[25] Her first starring role on Broadway was in a play she titled Sex, which she also wrote, produced, and directed. Though critics hated the show, ticket sales were good. The notorious production did not go over well with city officials and the theater was raided with West arrested along with the cast.[26]

She was prosecuted on morals charges and, on April 19, 1927, was sentenced to ten days for "corrupting the morals of youth".[27] While incarcerated on Welfare Island (now known as Roosevelt Island), she was allowed to wear her silk underpants instead of the scratchy prison issue and the warden reportedly took her to dinner every night. She served eight days with two days off for good behavior. Media attention to the case enhanced her career.[27] Her next play, The Drag, was about homosexuality and alluded to the work of Karl-Heinrich Ulrichs. It was a box office success but it played in New Jersey because it was banned from Broadway. West regarded talking about sex as a basic human rights issue and was also an early advocate of gay and transgender rights. West's theatrical treatments of gender and gender performativity were advanced, considering the times, and she deftly poked fun at society's strictures.

West continued to write plays including The Wicked Age, Pleasure Man and The Constant Sinner. Her productions were plagued by controversy and other problems. The controversy ensured that West stayed in the news and most of the time resulted in packed performances. Her 1928 play, Diamond Lil, about a racy, easygoing lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit. This show enjoyed an enduring popularity and West would successfully revive it many times throughout the course of her career.

Motion pictures

"Diamond Lil" returning to New York from Hollywood, 1933

In 1932, West was offered a motion picture contract by Paramount Pictures. She was 38, unusually advanced for a first movie, especially for a sex symbol (though she kept her age ambiguous for several more years). West made her film debut in Night After Night starring George Raft. At first, she did not like her small role in Night After Night, but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite her scenes. In West's first scene, a hat check girl exclaims, "Goodness, what lovely diamonds." West replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."[28] Reflecting on the overall result of her rewritten scenes, Raft is said to have remarked, "She stole everything but the cameras."[28]

She brought her Diamond Lil character, now renamed Lady Lou, to the screen in She Done Him Wrong (1933).[29] The film is also notable as one of Cary Grant's first major roles, which boosted his career. West claimed she spotted Grant at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead.[30] The film was a box office hit and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.[29][31] The success of the film most likely saved Paramount from bankruptcy.[32]

Cary Grant and Mae West in I'm No Angel (1933)

Her next release, I'm No Angel (1933), paired her with Grant again. I'm No Angel was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was a tremendous financial blockbuster. By 1933, West was the eighth largest U.S. box office draw in the United States,[33] and by 1935, the second highest paid person in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst).[34] However, the frank sexuality and steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath of moralists. On July 1, 1934, the censorship of the Production Code began to be seriously and meticulously enforced, and her screenplays were heavily edited. Her tactical response was to increase the number of double entendres in her films, expecting the censors to delete the obvious lines and overlook the subtle ones.

West's next film was Belle of the Nineties (1934). It was originally titled It Ain't No Sin but the title was changed due to the censor's objection. Other tentative working titles were That St. Louis Woman, Belle of St. Louis, and Belle of New Orleans. Her next film, Goin' To Town (1935), revealed the hypocrisy of the privileged rich class. It was another big financial hit.

Her next film, Klondike Annie (1936), concerned religion and hypocrisy and was very controversial. Many critics have called this film her screen masterpiece.[35] That same year, West played opposite Randolph Scott in Go West, Young Man. In this film, she adapted Lawrence Riley's Broadway hit Personal Appearance into a screenplay. The film, directed by Henry Hathaway, was one of the rare times when West starred in a role not originally conceived for her. This was another financial success for West. After this film, West starred in Every Day's a Holiday (1937) for Paramount before their association came to an end.

In 1939, Universal Pictures approached West to star in a film opposite W. C. Fields. The studio was eager to duplicate the success of Destry Rides Again starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart with a vehicle starring West and Fields.[36] Having left Paramount eighteen months earlier and looking for a comeback film, West accepted the role of Flower Belle Lee in the film My Little Chickadee (1940).[36][37] Despite onset tension between West and Fields (West, who was a teetotaler, disapproved of Fields drinking[38]) and fights over the screenplay,[36] My Little Chickadee was a box office success outgrossing Fields' previous films You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and The Bank Dick (1940).[39] Universal was delighted with its success and offered West two more movies to star with Fields, but she refused, citing the difficulty of working with Fields.

West's next film was The Heat's On (1943) for Columbia Pictures. She initially didn't want to do the film but after producer and director Gregory Ratoff pleaded with her and claimed he would go bankrupt if she didn't, West relented.[40] The film opened to bad reviews and failed at the box office. West would not return to films until 1970.[41]

Quips

Mae West remains notable for a large number of quips, some firmly tied to herself and her characters, and others widely borrowed for very different settings. A famous Mae West quip, "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?".[42] She made this remark in February 1936, at the railway station in Los Angeles upon her return from Chicago, when a Los Angeles police officer was assigned to escort her home.[43] She first delivered the line on film in She Done Him Wrong, and again to George Hamilton in her last movie, Sextette (1978).

Another line allegedly seducing a prospective boyfriend: "My left leg is Christmas; my right leg is Easter; why don't you come up and visit me between the holidays?"

Likewise, "When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better", from I'm No Angel, is generally quoted with its original, faintly disreputable meaning. Conversely, however, some quips have been widely adapted to very different settings and meanings. For example, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful" has been applied to many settings, including Warren Buffett (as a sound principle of informed financial investing).[44]

Radio

On December 12, 1937, West appeared in two separate sketches on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's radio show The Chase and Sanborn Hour.[45] Appearing as herself, West flirted with Charlie McCarthy, Bergen's dummy, utilizing her usual brand of wit and risqué sexual references. West referred to Charlie as "all wood and a yard long" and commented that his kisses gave her splinters. [46]Even more outrageous was a sketch written by Arch Oboler that starred West and Don Ameche as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She told Ameche in the show to "get me a big one...I feel like doin' a big apple!"[46]

Days after the broadcast, NBC and received letters calling the show "immoral" and "obscene".[47] Women's clubs and Catholic groups admonished the show's sponsor, Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company, for "prostituting" their services for allowing "impurity [to] invade the air".[45] The FCC later deemed the broadcast "vulgar and indecent" and "far below even the minimum standard which should control in the selection and production of broadcast programs.[48] NBC personally blamed West for the the incident and banned her (and the mention of her name) from their stations.[49] West would not perform in radio for another twelve years until January 1950, in an episode of The Chesterfield Supper Club hosted by Perry Como.[50]

Personal life

West was married on April 11, 1911, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Frank Wallace, a fellow vaudevillian whom she first met in 1909. She was 17, he was 21.[51] West kept the marriage a secret.[52] But in 1935, after West had made several hit movies, a filing clerk discovered West's marriage certificate and alerted the press.[53] An affidavit was also uncovered that West made in 1927, during the Sex trial, in which she had declared herself married.[54] At first, West denied ever marrying Wallace but finally admitted in July 1937, in reply to a legal interrogatory, that they had been married.[55] Even though the marriage was a reality, she never lived with Wallace as man and wife. She insisted they have separate bedrooms and she soon sent him away in a show of his own in order to get rid of him. She obtained a legal divorce on July 21, 1942, during which Wallace withdrew his request for separate maintenance, and West testified that she and Wallace had lived together for only "several weeks."[56] The final divorce decree was granted on May 7, 1943.[57]

West may have also had another secret marriage. In August 1913, she met an Italian-born Vaudeville headliner and star of the piano-accordion, Guido Deiro. Her affair went "very deep, hittin' on all the emotions. You can't get too hot over anybody unless there's somethin' that goes along with the sex act, can you?"[58] Deiro fell in love with West and arranged his bookings so that the two traveled together. They became engaged late in 1913 or perhaps early in 1914.[59][60] Some sources reported the pair were married.[61][62][63] During a 1935 radio broadcast Walter Winchell incorrectly reported that Mae West had been married to Guido's brother, Pietro. Walter Wincher, a writer for Accordion News magazine, corrected the error: "In a recent radio broadcast, Walter Winchell conveyed the information that Pietro Deiro had been married to Mae West for four years. As one Walter to another, I must set him right. Pietro was never married to the 'come up and see me sometime' girl. Guido Deiro, his brother, was supposed to be the fortunate accordionist."[64]

West made no statements indicating that she had been married to Deiro. She referred to him simply as "D" in her autobiography. West's biographers state that the two never married.[65][66][67][68][69][70] If they were married, this would have constituted bigamy as West was legally married to Frank Wallace at the time. West and Deiro split in 1916.[71][72][73] According to Deiro's biographer, West filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery on July 14, 1920. The divorce was granted by the Supreme Court of the State of New York on November 9 of that year.[74] West later said, "Marriage is a great institution. I’m not ready for an institution yet."[75]

Mae West remained close to her family throughout her life. She was devastated by her mother's death in 1930.[76] After West moved to California and began her movie career, her sister, brother, and father followed her there. West provided them with nearby homes and also jobs and sometimes financial support.[77] Another person whom West spent her life with was lawyer James Timony. She met Timony, who was fifteen years her senior, in 1916 when she was a vaudeville actress. They became romantically involved and he also began to act as her manager. By the mid-Thirties when West was an established movie actress, they were no longer a couple. However, they remained extremely close, living in the same building, working together, and providing support for each other, until Timony's death in 1954.[78] A year later, when she was 67, Mae West became romantically involved with one of the musclemen in her Las Vegas stage show: wrestler, former Mr. California and former merchant marine Chester Rybinski.[79] He was thirty years younger than West, and later changed his name to Paul Novak. He soon moved in with her and their romance continued until West died at the age of 87.[80] Novak once commented, "I believe I was put on this earth to take care of Mae West." [81] West also had many other boyfriends throughout her life. One was boxing champion William Jones, nicknamed Gorilla Jones. When the management at her apartment building discriminated against this African-American boxer and barred his entry, West solved the problem by buying the building.[82]

Middle years

After appearing in The Heat's On in 1943, West remained active during the ensuing years. Among her stage performances was the title role in Catherine was Great (1944) on Broadway, in which she spoofed the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an "imperial guard" of tall, muscular young actors.[83] The play was produced by Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances.[84] In the 1950s, she also starred in her own Las Vegas stage show, singing while surrounded by bodybuilders.[85] Jayne Mansfield met and later married one of West's muscle men, a former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay.[86]

When casting the role of Norma Desmond for the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder offered West, then nearing 60, the role. West turned down the part. Wilder later said, "The idea of [casting] Mae West was idiotic because we only had to talk to her to find out that she thought she was as great, as desirable, as sexy as she had ever been."[87] Gloria Swanson was eventually cast in the role.[88]

In 1958, West appeared at the Academy Awards and performed the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rock Hudson.[89] In 1959, she released her autobiography entitled Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, which went on to become a best seller.[90]

Later career

West made some rare appearances on television, including The Red Skelton Show in 1960. In 1964, she guest starred on the sitcom Mister Ed.[91] In order to keep her appeal fresh with younger generations, she recorded two rock and roll albums, Way Out West and Wild Christmas in the late 1960s.[92] She also recorded a number of parody songs including "Santa, Come Up and See Me Sometime," on the album Wild Christmas.[93]

Arriving in diamonds at the Cinerama Dome for the opening of her last film

After a 26-year absence from motion pictures, West appeared as Leticia Van Allen in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (1970) with Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck in a small part. The movie was a deliberately campy[94] sex change comedy that was both a box office and critical failure. Vidal later called the film "an awful joke".[95] Despite Myra Breckinridge's mainstream failure, it did find an audience on the cult film circuit where West's films were regularly screened and West herself was dubbed "the queen of camp".[96]

West recorded another album in the 1970s on MGM Records titled Great Balls of Fire, which covered songs by The Doors among others.[97] and her autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, was updated and republished.

In 1976, she appeared on the The Dick Cavett Show[98] and that same year began work on her final film, Sextette (1978). Adapted from a script written by West, daily revisions and disagreements hampered production from the beginning.[99] Due to the numerous changes, West agreed to have her lines fed to her through a microphone concealed in her wig.[100] Despite the daily problems, West was, according to Sextette director Ken Hughes, determined to see the film through.[100] In spite of her determination, Hughes noted that West sometimes appeared disoriented and forgetful and found it difficult to follow his directions.[100] Her now failing eyesight also made navigating around the set difficult.[100] Hughes eventually began shooting her from the waist up to hide the out-of-shot production assistant crawling on the floor, guiding her around the set.[101] Upon its release, Sextette was a critical and commercial failure.[102]

Final years

West family crypt with West at top, her sister, brother and parents below at Cypress Hills Cemetery.

In August 1980, West tripped while getting out of bed. After the fall, West was unable to speak and was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles where test revealed that she had suffered a stroke.[103] She remained in the hospital where, seven days later, she had a diabetic reaction to the formula in her feeding tube. On September 18, she suffered a second stroke which left her right side paralyzed and developed pneumonia. By November, West's condition had improved, but the prognosis was not good and she was sent home.[103]

She died there on November 22, 1980 at age 87.[104] West is entombed with her family in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City.[102] For her contribution to the film industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood.

In popular culture

During World War II, Allied soldiers called their yellow inflatable, vest-like life preserver jackets "Mae Wests" partly from Cockney rhyming slang for "breasts"[105] and partly because of the resemblance to her curvaceous torso.[106]

A "Mae West" is also a type of round parachute malfunction which contorts the shape of the canopy into the appearance of an extraordinarily large brassiere, presumably one suitable for a woman of West's generous proportions.[107]

West has been the subject of songs, such as in the title song of Cole Porter's Broadway musical Anything Goes and in "You're the Top", from the same show.[108]

West's name has been incorporated into nomenclature for a number of items. A Mae West slot canyon is one that is too narrow at the bottom to traverse on foot. Instead, one uses chimneying techniques to negotiate above the floor. A "Mae West Hold" is a term used to describe a United States Senate procedure that in effect stops a bill dead in its tracks, usually in secret. The Mae West version of the Senate hold occurs when the senator behind the objection is open to negotiation, inviting the author to "come up and see me sometime."

MAE-West was also the name of the Metropolitan Area Exchange West, one of the first Internet tier-one hubs to connect all the major TCP/IP networks that made up the Internet in 1992. It is not documented whether the founders of MAE-West named this early Internet Exchange after the actress.

One of the most popular objects of the surrealist movement was the Mae West Lips Sofa, which was completed by artist Salvador Dalí in 1938 for Edward James.[109]

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1932 Night After Night Maudie Triplett
1933 She Done Him Wrong Lady Lou
I'm No Angel Tira
Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 Herself Short subject
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5 Herself Short subject
1934 Belle of the Nineties Ruby Carter
1935 Goin' To Town Cleo Borden
The Fashion Side of Hollywood Herself Short subject
1936 Klondike Annie The Frisco Doll/Rose Carlton/Sister Annie Alden
Go West, Young Man Mavis Arden
1937 Every Day's a Holiday Peaches O'Day
1940 My Little Chickadee Flower Belle Lee
1943 The Heat's On Fay Lawrence
1970 Myra Breckinridge Leticia Van Allen
1978 Sextette Marlo Manners/Lady Barrington

Broadway stage

Date Production Role Other notes
September 22-30, 1911 A La Broadway Maggie O'Hara
November 20, 1911-February 24, 1912 Vera Violetta West left show during previews
April 11-September 7, 1912 A Winsome Widow Le Petite Daffy West left show after opening night
October 4, 1918-June 1919 Sometime
August 17-September 10, 1921 The Mimic World of 1921
April 26, 1926-March 1927 Sex Margie LaMont Written by Jane Mast (West)
January 1927 The Drag closed during out-of-town tryouts (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
credited only as writer
November 1927 The Wicked Age Evelyn ("Babe") Carson
April 9-September 1928 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil
October 1-2, 1928 The Pleasure Man credited only as writer
September 14 - November 1931 The Constant Sinner Babe Gordon
August 2, 1944-January 13, 1945 Catherine Was Great Catherine II
1945-1946 Come On Up Tour
September 1947 - May 1948 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (Revival) United Kingdom and Scotland
February 5-26, 1949
September 7, 1949-January 21, 1950		 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (2nd Revival) until West broke her ankle on the latter date.
The play resumed as a "return engagement"
September 14 - November 10, 1951 Diamond Lil Diamond Lil (3rd Revival)
July 7, 1961 - closing date unknown Sextette Edgewater Beach Playhouse

Other plays As writer

Year Play Other notes
1921 The Ruby Ring Vaudeville playlet
1922 The Hussy Unproduced
1930 Frisco Kate Unproduced
1933 Loose Women Performed in 1935 under title Ladies By Request
1936 Clean Beds Sold treatment to George S. George], who produced
an unsuccessful Broadway play of West's treatment

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 20. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  2. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 10. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  3. ↑ West, Mae (1959). Goodness Had Nothing to Do With it. Prentice-Hall. pp. 1. 
  4. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 23. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  5. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 12. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  6. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 21. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  7. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 23-24. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  8. ↑ Gross, Max (2004-02-06). "Playwright Examines Mae West’s Legal Dramas". forward.com. Retrieved on 2008-11-22.
  9. ↑ Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. p. 20. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  10. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 18. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  11. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 12, 289. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  12. ↑ "The Rumble: An Off-the-Ball Look at Your Favorite Sports Celebrities". New York Post (2006-12-31).
  13. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 16, 18. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  14. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2005). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. pp. 9-10. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  15. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West : A Biography. Morrow. pp. 23, 170. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  16. ↑ Eells, George; Musgrove, Stanley (1982). Mae West : A Biography. Morrow. pp. 38, 170. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  17. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 23, 28, 194. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  18. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 122-3. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. ,Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 18. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  19. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 32-33. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  20. ↑ "Mae West, Stage and Movie Star Who Burlesqued Sex, Dies at 87," New York Times Magazine, November 23, 1980, http://www.nytimes.com/specials/magazine4/articles/west1.html
  21. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 50, 452. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  22. ↑ Biery, Ruth, "The Private Life of Mae West: Part One," Movie Classic, January 1934, pages 106-108
  23. ↑ Tuska, Jon (1992). The Complete Films of Mae West. Citadel Press. pp. 25-26. ISBN 0-806-51359-4. 
  24. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 78, 79, 452. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  25. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. pp. 77. ISBN 0-967-91581-3. 
  26. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 88-89. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Bunyan, Patrick (1999). All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities. Fordham University Press. pp. 317. ISBN 0-823-21941-0. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Ashby, LeRoy (2006). With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 224. ISBN 0-813-12397-6. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Smith, Sarah (2005). Children, Cinema and Censorship: From Dracula to the Dead End Kids. I.B.Tauris. pp. 55. ISBN 1-850-43813-7. 
  30. ↑ McCann, Graham (1998). Cary Grant: A Class Apart. Columbia University Press. pp. 73. ISBN 0-231-10885-0. 
  31. ↑ Vogel, Frederick G. (2003). Hollywood Musicals Nominated for Best Picture. McFarland & Co.. pp. 54. ISBN 0-786-41290-9. 
  32. ↑ Starr, Kevin (2002). The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s. Oxford University Press US. pp. 256. ISBN 0-195-15797-4. 
  33. ↑ Pendergast, Tom (2000). St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. St. James Press. pp. 116. ISBN 1-558-62405-8. 
  34. ↑ West, Mae; Schlissel, Lillian (1997). Three Plays by Mae West: Sex, the Drag, the Pleasure Man. Routledge. pp. 24. ISBN 0-415-90933-3. 
  35. ↑ Bavar, Michael (1975). Mae West. Pyramid Communications. pp. 87. ISBN 0-515-03868-7. 
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Louvish, Simon (1999). Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W. C. Fields. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 435. ISBN 0-393-31840-0. 
  37. ↑ Deschner, Donald (1989). The Complete Films of W.C. Fields. Citadel Press. pp. 140. ISBN 0-806-51136-2. 
  38. ↑ Curtis, James (2003). W.C. Fields: A Biography. A.A. Knopf. pp. 399. ISBN 0-375-40217-9. 
  39. ↑ Gehring, Wes D. (1999). Parody as Film Genre: "Never Give a Saga an Even Break". Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 39. ISBN 0-313-26186-5. 
  40. ↑ Tuska, Jon (1992). The Complete Films of Mae West. Citadel Press. pp. 153. ISBN 0-806-51359-4. 
  41. ↑ Dick, Bernard F. (1993). The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 130. ISBN 0-813-11841-7. 
  42. ↑ Shapiro, Fred R.; Epstein, Joseph (2006). The Yale Book of Quotations. Yale University Press. pp. 809. ISBN 0-300-10798-6. 
  43. ↑ Kobal, John. "Mae West." Films and Filming. September 1983, pp. 21-25.
  44. ↑ "Chairman's Letter - 1993." Berkshire Hathaway
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Hilmes, Michele; Loviglio, Jason (2002). Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. Routledge. pp. 137. ISBN 0-415-92821-4. 
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Pendergrast, Mark (2000). Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World. Basic Books. pp. 200. ISBN 0-465-05467-6. 
  47. ↑ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-time Radio. Oxford University Press US. pp. 229. ISBN 0-195-07678-8. 
  48. ↑ Ohmart, Ben (2007). Don Ameche: The Kenosha Comeback Kid. BearManor Media. pp. 50. ISBN 1-593-93045-3. 
  49. ↑ Hilmes, Michele; Loviglio, Jason (2002). Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. Routledge. pp. 138. ISBN 0-415-92821-4. 
  50. ↑ Curry, Ramona (1996). Too Much of a Good Thing: Mae West as Cultural Icon. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 81. ISBN 0-816-62791-6. 
  51. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1997). When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. University of California Press. pp. 15. ISBN 0-520-21094-8. 
  52. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1995). The Queen of Camp: Mae West, sex and popular culture. HarperCollins. pp. 13-14. 
  53. ↑ Watts, Jill. Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press. pp. 201-2. 
  54. ↑ {{cite book |last=Louvish|first=Simon |title=Mae West: It Ain't No Sin| publisher=Macmillan |date=2006|pages=283
  55. ↑ Watts, Jill. Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press. p. 224. 
  56. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 350-1. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  57. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 351. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  58. ↑ West, Mae (1959). Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It. Prentice-Hall. 
  59. ↑ Template error: argument title is required. 
  60. ↑ Template error: argument title is required. 
  61. ↑ Granlund, Nils Thor; Sid Fedder and Ralph Hancock (1957). Blondes, Brunettes, and Bullets. David McKay Company, Inc.. pp. 43. "One of the first big acts Loew ever booked was a girl named Mae West. She had an act with an accordion player named Deiro. She later married him.". 
  62. ↑ Variety magazine printed a notice stating that "Mr. and Mrs. Deiro" were playing at Shea's in Toronto, Canada, for the week beginning November 29th, 1913.
  63. ↑ Laurie, Joe Jr. (1953). Vaudeville: From the Honky-Tonks to the Palace. Henry Holt & Co.. p. 69. "Among the fine accordionists was... Deiro (Mae West's ex-hubby).". 
  64. ↑
  65. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 43-46. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  66. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 79-81. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  67. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 59-61. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  68. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. pp. 53 to 57. ISBN 0-688-00816-X.  Spelled Diero in this book.
  69. ↑ Bergman, Carol (1988). Mae West. Chelsea House. ISBN 1-555546-681-8.  Deiro unmentioned.
  70. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1995). The Queen of Camp: Mae West, sex and popular culture. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-04-440960-5.  Deiro unmentioned.
  71. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 46-47. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  72. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 81. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  73. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 60-61. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  74. ↑ The divorce certificate can be found in the Deiro Archive at the Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. See also Doktorski, The Brothers Deiro.
  75. ↑ Swainson, Bill (2000). Encarta Book of Quotations. Macmillan. pp. 980. ISBN 0-312-23000-1. 
  76. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. pp. 90, 91. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  77. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 168, 187, 188, 207, 288. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  78. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. pp. 55-61, 39-146, 188-191, 241. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  79. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. pp. 249, 250. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  80. ↑ "Paul Novak, 76; 26-Year Companion of Actress Mae West," LA Times, July 15 1999, http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jul/15/news/mn-56251
  81. ↑ Eels, Stanley (1982). Mae West. William Morrow & Co.. p. 293. ISBN 0-688-00816-X. 
  82. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. p. 207. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  83. ↑ Shafer, Yvonne (1995). American Women Playwrights, 1900-1950. Peter Lang Publishing Inc.. pp. 419. ISBN 0-820-42142-1. 
  84. ↑ Bloom, Ken (2004). Broadway: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 480. ISBN 0-415-93704-3. 
  85. ↑ Robertson, Pamela (1996). Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna. I.B.Tauris. pp. 27. ISBN 1-860-64088-5. 
  86. ↑ Strodder, Chris (2000). Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: A Tribute to 101 of the Decade's Defining Women. Cedco Publishing Company. pp. 83. ISBN 0-768-32232-4. 
  87. ↑ Staggs, Sam (2003). Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream. Macmillan. pp. 8. ISBN 0-312-30254-1. 
  88. ↑ Meade, Marion (1997). Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase. Da Capo Press. pp. 245. ISBN 0-306-80802-1. 
  89. ↑ Robertson, Pamela (1996). Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna. Duke University Press. pp. 25. ISBN 0-822-31748-6. 
  90. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. pp. 71. ISBN 0-967-91581-3. 
  91. ↑ Cullen, Frank; Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Routledge. pp. 1188. ISBN 0-415-93853-8. 
  92. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. pp. 73. ISBN 0-967-91581-3. 
  93. ↑ Kashner, Sam; Macnair, Jennifer (2003). The Bad & the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 335. ISBN 0-393-32436-2. 
  94. ↑ "The History of Camp". filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
  95. ↑ Hoberman, J.; Jonathan Rosenbaum (1991). Midnight Movies. Da Capo Press. pp. 268. ISBN 0-306-80433-6. 
  96. ↑ Hamilton, Marybeth (1997). When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. University of California Press. pp. 263. ISBN 0-520-21094-8. 
  97. ↑ Louvish, Simon (2006). Mae West: It Ain't No Sin. Macmillan. pp. 463. ISBN 0-312-34878-9. 
  98. ↑ Yeatts, Tabatha (2000). The Legendary Mae West. Lulu.com. pp. 74. ISBN 0-967-91581-3. 
  99. ↑ Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 309. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  100. ↑ 100.0 100.1 100.2 100.3 Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 310. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  101. ↑ Clarke, Gerald (1978-05-22). "At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West", Time. Retrieved on 2008-11-15. 
  102. ↑ 102.0 102.1 Kashner, Sam; MacNair, Jennifer (2003). The Bad & the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 336. ISBN 0-393-32436-2. 
  103. ↑ 103.0 103.1 Watts, Jill (2003). Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. Oxford University Press US. pp. 313. ISBN 0-195-16112-2. 
  104. ↑ "Mae West, Stage and Movie Star Who Burlesqued Sex, Dies at 87", The New York Times (1980-11-23). Retrieved on 2008-11-15. 
  105. ↑ Elster, Charles Harrington (2006). What in the Word?: Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions about Language. Harcourt Trade. pp. 246. ISBN 0-156-03197-3. 
  106. ↑ Holley, Joe (2005-04-01). "Mae West inventor Andrew Toti dies", Oakland Tribune. Retrieved on 2008-11-22. 
  107. ↑ "Mae West". encarta.msn.com.
  108. ↑ Wortis Leider, Emily (2000). Becoming Mae West. Da Capo Press. pp. 349. ISBN 0-306-80951-6. 
  109. ↑ "Object of the week: the 'Mae West' lip sofa". telegraph.co.uk (2003-10-06). Retrieved on 2008-11-22.

Bibliography

External links

Persondata
NAME West, Mae
ALTERNATIVE NAMES West, Mary Jane
SHORT DESCRIPTION American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol
DATE OF BIRTH August 17, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Queens, New York City
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 1980
PLACE OF DEATH Hollywood, California