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MAE WEST was photographed at a Tinseltown gathering in 1933 with Francis Lederer, situated at the same table. Perhaps he was seated there because he could converse a bit with Mae in German.
• • Francis Lederer [6 November 1899 — 25 May 2000] • •
• • Born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic] as Frantisek Lederer in a simple family on 6 November 1899, the handsome young man yearned for a glamourous route to success. He began honing his dramatic skills in the theatre. He found employment as an actor in Moravia and, eventually, all over Central Europe with foreign-born thespians such as Peter Lorre.
• • A German actress friend Henny Porten and her producer husband made some helpful introductions. By 1928 he was in a silent film. At this time, the dapper six-footer still only spoke German and would never completely lose his accent, which narrowed his choices onscreen.
• • From 1928 — 1971, Francis Lederer would participate in 61 projects for TV and motion pictures.
• • In 1958, he began an acting workshop that became the American Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Francis Lederer said: "My theory about acting was created by the fact that I had the good fortune immediately to play important parts on the stage and on the screen with these big stars, and I acquired a a theory that I still pursue, and that is concentration on what the whole situation, what the whole scene is about."
• • Francis Lederer died in Palm Springs, California on Thursday, 25 May 2000. He was 100. As Mae does, the actor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• • On Friday, 24 May 1918 in Variety • •
• • In their issue dated for Friday, 24 May 1918, Variety Magazine announced that "Mae West, known in vaudeville for some seasons as a 'single,' is going into Arthur Hammerstein's forthcoming musical play 'Sometime,' which starts rehearsals in July." Variety added this odd [incorrect] note: "It will be her first appearance [sic] in the legitimate."
• • Mae, age 25, played an enticing flapper Mayme Dean who couldn't land a man. One of Mae's musical numbers — — written by Rida Johnson Young — — was "Vampire with No One to Vamp." Mae West learned a lot about comic timing by observing Ed Wynn.
• • On Friday, 24 May 1929 • •
• • It was 1929 and Broadway star Mae West was feeling fine, touring from coast to coast with "Diamond Lil" — — specifically on Friday, 24 May 1929. And when a news man for a Midwestern tabloid approached, she agreed to an interview. She told him that she had performed with Van Tenni's Arab Acrobatic Troupe. "I lifted three of the Arabs in the pinwheel formation," Mae affirmed, "and did other acts which required great strength." She credited the hands-on training in gymnastics and acrobatics she received, coached by her father to develop her strength to the point where (she would claim later on) she was able to lift 500 pounds and support three athletes.
• • On Saturday, 24 May 2003 in the Sun Sentinel • •
• • Sun Sentinel staffer Ivette M. Yee wrote: "Red Grooms delved in 3-D, and his celebrities often appear like caricatures in a pop-up book. In Mae West Visits New England, the voluptuous bombshell's breasts protrude from a slinky dress, drawing more attention then her sparkling diamond necklace. ..."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'll keep talking myself out of marriage as long as I'm in the pictures."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about superstitious Hollywood stars mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Loses Title — — Lederer's Fads" • •
• • Mae West has lost the title of being Hollywood's most superstitious star. It has gone to Francis Lederer.
• • Mae believes six to be her lucky number, and has arranged matters so that her phone, car licence, dressing room, and apartment numbers add up to that figure. Actor Francis Lederer has topped this by surrounding himself with nothing but the digits themselves. The licence number of the gentleman's car contains nothing but sixes. His dressing room number is 66. ...
• • Source: News Item in The Mail (Adelaide); published on Saturday, 1 August 1936
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2656th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in Hollywood • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
A busy character actor worked with MAE WEST in "She Done Him Wrong" [1933] but was often uncredited despite being cast in over 100 motion pictures.
• • Fred Santley [20 November 1887 — 14 May 1953] • •
• • Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on 20 November 1887 as Frederic Mansfield, Fred was the brother of the Hollywood actor/director Joseph Santley. He began his silent movie career in 1907 with a number of short comedies; he often played a continuing character named Bertie. In talkies, his rich tenor voice won him cinema roles such as Radio Announcer as well as a pawnbroker, pedestrian, boatman, councilman, doorman, juice vendor, reporter, and ticket clerk.
• • Between 1907 — 1953, Santley was seen in 125 films.
• • In the motion picture "She Done Him Wrong," the popular 1890s ballad "She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured" was sung in Gus Jordan's Bowery saloon by 45-year-old Fred Santley, who was billed as "the tenor" in the credits.
• • Active until the end of his life, Santley's last credit was for "The Farmer Takes a Wife" [1953]. In this big budget musical, Santley was reunited with Frank Mills, who had played a barfly in Gus Jordan's saloon in "She Done Him Wrong." The 1953 cast of "The Farmer Takes a Wife" also brought Santley in touch with two others who had once had the privilege of working with Mae West: Paul Kruger and Lee Phelps.
• • Bit parts player Fred Santley died in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, 14 May 1953. He was 65.
• • On Wednesday, 23 May 1928 • •
• • An article in Variety discussed the costumes designed by Dolly Tree for Mae West.
• • Variety wrote about Mae's lingerie for her boudoir scenes, those daring nighties of "heavy cream lace and yellow chiffon flounces" . . .
• • Source: Article: "Diamond Lil'' written by the Drama Desk of Variety; published on Wednesday, 23 May 1928.
• • On Monday, 23 May 1949 in Life • •
• • Actress Sarah Churchill had the cover of Life Magazine's issue dated for 23 May 1949 but inside there was a grand pictorial devoted to Mae West — — all this for 20 cents.
• • The article "America's favorite hussy comes back again as Diamond Lil" began on page 104. Life featured rarely seen half-tones from the 1920s: Mae onstage in "Sex"; Mae with the cast in court; Mae shaking hands with the prison warden of Welfare Island; Mae pointing to "the pie wagon" she rode in after her arrest as she explains prison life to a group of society women; etc. Life included photos of Mae as a Hollywood star, too.
• • Life wrote: "At 55 Mae is handsomer than ever," emphasizing this point with a colorful full-page portrait of the Broadway icon costumed for her show in a black, gray, and white gown rimmed with gray fur and crowned with a saucy hat, so heavy that she must steady it with a gray-gloved hand. A portrait fit for a Bowery queen.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I never enter a room — — either on social or business duties — — without letting the man across from me know that he is talking to a woman."
• • Mae West said: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The L.A. Times mentioned Liberace's borrowing of a Mae West quote for "Behind the Candelabra," which will air this Sunday on HBO
• • Liberace [16 May 1919 — 4 February 1987] • •
• • Meredith Blake wrote: "Too much of a good thing is wonderful," declares Liberace in the closing minutes of "Behind the Candelabra." The line, borrowed from Mae West, is a fitting description of the late pianist's famously over-the-top aesthetic: In his long-running Las Vegas show, Liberace was known to make his grand entrance via bedazzled Rolls-Royce limousines and for wearing glitzy ensembles like star-spangled hot pants or a sequin-lined, white fox coat with a 16-foot train.
• • Meredith Blake continued: For the film's costume designer Ellen Mirojnick and production designer Howard Cummings, tasked with re-creating Liberace's "palatial kitsch" on a tight budget and even tighter schedule, it was more like, "Too much of a good thing can be a whole lot of work." ...
• • Source: "Re-creating Liberace's dress-for-excess world" written by Meredith Blake for The Los Angeles Times; published on Friday, 10 May 2013
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2655th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1932 on the set • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST starred in "Goin' to Town" [1935] and Jules Cowles was one of the cowboys.
• • Jules Cowles [7 October 1877 — 22 May 1943] • •
• • Born in Farmington, Connecticut on 7 October 1877, Julius D. Cowles launched his screen career in 1914 at the age of 37. During the silent era, he played featured roles and was credited as J.D. Cowles, Julius D. Cowles, Mr. Cowles before settling on Jules Cowles.
• • From 1914 — 1943, Jules Cowles would participate in 107 motion pictures during his 30 years in Tinseltown, mostly as an extra who was used onscreen as a bartender, churchgoer, doorman, gambler, inmate, passenger, spectator, Man at Kissing Booth, etc.
• • When he was in a scene with Mae West, he was already 58. That's a pretty senior buckaroo.
• • Active in filmland until the end of his days, Jules Cowles showed his kindly, pudgy face (as Man in Hallway) in "Lost Angel" [1943]; on the set, he rubbed shoulders with several actors who were fortunate to work with Mae such as Donald Meek, Gino Corrado, Edward Hearn, Al Hill, Lee Phelps, and Charles Sullivan.
• • Jules Cowles died in Hollywood, California in May — — on 22 May 1943. He was 65.
• • On Monday, 22 May 1978 in Time • •
• • In May 1978, Time Magazine printed these felicitous remarks by resident movie critic Gerald Clarke: And her new movie, Sextette, is so bad it's good. Opening her mouth so wide that the pink of her gums shows, Mae West taps her teeth with her fingernails. "See that," she says proudly. "All my own. Not a false one there." Then, holding out her arms so that her wrists protrude from her jacket, she adds, "I've never had any face lifts either. You can tell by my hands and wrists. They can't operate on your hands. I've never had anything done, and I look the way I did when I was 22." You can't argue with a lady, and when the lady will be 85 this summer, who would want to? Sixty years ago Mae West looked in the mirror and ordered the clock stopped. So far as she is concerned, it has never dared to start again ....
• • Source: "Show Business: At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West" by Gerald Clarke, Time Magazine, issue dated for the week beginning on Monday, 22 May 1978.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Women like forceful men — but not the kind who beat them — supposedly to show their affection."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in California mentioned Mae West.
• • Check out a wide array of classic vehicles, including cars once owned by Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor and Steve McQueen, at the Marin Sonoma Concours d'Elegance. ...
• • Source: Marin Independent Journal; published on Sunday, 19 May 2013
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2654th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
