Mae West: On 17 August 2015

Happy Birthday to MAE WEST, the Brooklyn Bombshell, the Queen of Comedy, who maintained a long career on stage and on screen and also sizzled on the nightclub circuit.
• • Delivered by a local mid-wife, this newborn drew her first lusty breaths in Bushwick on Thursday, 17 August 1893 (under the leonine sign of Leo) in her parents' bedroom. Little Mary Jane West always said: "I was born on a cool night in a hot month so I knew I could expect anything."
• • She trumped the income of every film actress of her generation because Mae was paid as a screenwriter as well as a box office draw.
• • Each day at least one publication in the world mentions her name. [We can verify our claim, too, because we've tracked this a-Mae-zing trend daily for the past decade.]
• • Often imitated but never duplicated, the one and only Mae West endures in our hearts and memories.
• • Darling Mae, to your loyal followers, you don't look a day over twenty-sex!
• • Annual Mae West Tribute in NYC • •
• • Honoring NYC Icon Mae West on 17 August 2015 • •
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorated the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •  
• • On Monday, 17 August 2015 • •

• • Here are two pictures taken in New York City at the annual celebration of Mae West's birthday.  
• • Mae-maven extraordinaire Walter Egielski won a coveted 1928 sketch of Mae as Diamond Lil. 
• • Greenwich Villagers Maura Tobias and Sheldon Silberstein won a rare set of Texas Guinan films.
• • Topaz Lennard left the event and went home like royalty — — in a brand new chauffeur-driven limousine, courtesy of Bill's Limo. Standing next to the energetic cabaret singer is the company's CEO, William Dossena.  

• • More August 17th photos will be posted soon.
• • Find out more about this year's event:
• • Here's the NYPL link — http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/08/17/onstage-outlaws-mae-west-and-texas-guinan-during-lawless-prohibition-era 
• • Here's a fascinating article on speakeasy queen Texas Guinan written by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy — New York's Night Club Queen Was as Big as Texas
• • Here's an interview with Mae-maven LindaAnn Loschiavo — A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • The weekly events magazine Time Out New York recommended this event:
Time Out New York recommends "Onstage Outlaws Mae West and Texas Guinan"
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015 
• • In Her Own Words • • 
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
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• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • event at Jefferson Market Library, formerly a court • •
NYC
Mae West.    

Mae West: August 2015 Events

MAE WEST will have her annual hometown hoe-down in August.
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •
• • New York, NY, July 13, 2015 — During the 1920s, when Mae West was trying to build her career, the building all dramatists and actresses tried to avoid——Jefferson Market Court at 425 Sixth Avenue—— was the very site that made a little-known performer world famous. When N.Y. District Attorney Joab Banton had Mae West arrested and paddy wagoned to Jefferson Market Police Court on February 9, 1927, the controversial Brooklyn entertainer made global headlines for the first time. The actress-writer also served time in Jefferson Jail. At her side, covering the trial for the New York Journal American, was Texas Guinan, Mae’s friend and a frequent passenger in the police department’s Black Maria herself.
• •  In the 1920s, though most Broadway headliners avoided negative publicity, these two diamond-draped divas flouted convention, defied police, and became as well known for being handcuffed as for blazing their way onto theatre marquees. They were “onstage outlaws” during the Prohibition Era.
• •  When Mae West [1893-1980] and Texas Guinan [1884-1933] weren’t being chased by the purity police, they found time to enjoy the speakeasies, bookshops, restaurants, night spots, and theatres in Greenwich Village. In 1907, Texas-born Texas Guinan moved to New York, where she resided at 72 Washington Square South, then at 17 West 8th Street. The speakeasy queen owned bracelets set with 567 diamonds each and a fancy armored car that once belonged to the King of Belgium.
• •  To celebrate Mae West's birthday on August 17, 2015, there will be an illustrated talk: "Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era.” Rare vintage images will show you the buildings around Washington Square as these two headline-makers saw them. Sites include the Village speakeasies where Mae socialized and bent elbows with Texas Guinan, Walter Winchell, Jack Dempsey, George Raft, and Barney Gallant; significant theatres; court rooms where Mae and Texas fought City Hall; and off-beat addresses that made an impact. Rare Texas Guinan silent films will be shown and Mae West’s Jefferson Jail poetry will also be read.
• •  The speaker LindaAnn Loschiavo is a Greenwich Village historian and dramatist; her plays include “Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets” and “Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery.”

        — — — — Who, What, When, Where — — — —
• • What: Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era
• • When: Monday, 17 August 2015 — — from 6:30 — 8:00pm (doors open at 6:00pm)
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th Street)
• • Extra: to celebrate the birthday of Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, on August 3rd and on August 10th, her films will be shown at 6:00pm. The first one, "Sextette" [1978] will be screened on August 3rd. Then "Go West Young Man" [1936] will be screened on August 10th. The August 17th multi-media presentation will feature light refreshments (courtesy of East Village Cheese) and a raffle. You could win rare films starring Texas Guinan. Or maybe a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N. Y. Times illustrator.
• • Refreshment sponsor: East Village Cheese
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Fee: FREE — — no entry fee for the three Mae West events on August 3rd, August 10th, and August 17th, 2015
• • Phone: 212- 243-4334
• • Website for all things Mae West: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Here's the NYPL link — http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/08/17/onstage-outlaws-mae-west-and-texas-guinan-during-lawless-prohibition-era 
• • Here's a fascinating article on speakeasy queen Texas Guinan written by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy — New York's Night Club Queen Was as Big as Texas
• • Here's an interview with Mae-maven LindaAnn Loschiavo — A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • The weekly events magazine Time Out New York recommended this event:
Time Out New York recommends "Onstage Outlaws Mae West and Texas Guinan"
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the court room as any other stage." 
• • Mae West told the jail matron: "Whaddya mean strip? I thought this was a respectable place!"   
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art."
• • Mae West said: "I'd rather be looked over than overlooked."
• • Link to August events
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Source: http://CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
___________________________________________
• • Source: http://courtingmaewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Courting Mae West
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • with Texas Guinan in court, in 1930 • •
NYC
Mae West.