The puzzle was the New Yorker's "Name Drop" yesterday. I like this puzzle. Each weekday there's a set of 6 clues for a famous name. The clues get easier as you go along, and I got Mae West after the second clue: "My silhouette inspired the shape of the bottle for Elsa Schiaparelli’s Shocking perfume, and my lips inspired the shape of a sofa designed by Edward James and Salvador Dalí."
Last night, I happened to watch a Mae West movie, her first, "Night After Night." It was another one of the Criterion Channel's series of pre-code Paramount movies. She has a secondary role and doesn't even show up until the movie is halfway over, and it looks like this, at the door of George Raft's speakeasy:
The character West plays — Maudie Triplett — was based on the real life personage, Texas Guinan. Here's some documentary footage of Guinan in a speakeasy in 1928:According to Wikipedia, George Raft wanted Guinan to play the role that went to West, but "but the studio opted for West since she was nine years younger. Raft believed that the part would have launched a major film career for Guinan (then aged 48), which proved to be the case for West instead. (West was reportedly a fan of Guinan and incorporated some of the flamboyant Guinan's ideas into her own acts)."
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Is Mae West really wearing MTG's white coat, or is that a deep fake too?
No one in Hollywood these days would launch a career for a 39 year old woman, let alone 48.
Hmm. I was certain that it was the Times Crossword because MAEWEST provides a lot of letters that can be used in the middle of words going the other direction.
Ah well, “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!”
“Goodness had nothing to do with it.”
"No one in Hollywood these days would launch a career for a 39 year old woman, let alone 48."
In the switch from silent to talkies, theater actors with good careers were new to movies. Mae West was very successful on Broadway in the 20s, but this 1932 movie was her first film.
Guinan had been in lots of movies, going back to 1917 — silent movies. Guinan was also a real-life character, and the role in "Night After Night" was based on her real-life antics, so that led to the idea that she ought to play "herself": "She is most remembered for the speakeasy clubs she managed during Prohibition. Her clubs catered to the rich and famous, as well as to aspiring talent. After being arrested and indicted during a law enforcement sweep of speakeasy clubs, she was acquitted during her trial."
Guinan was born in 1884 in Waco, Texas: "Growing up on a ranch provided her with basic cowboy skills, and she honed her marksmanship at a local shooting gallery. In 1898, her parents successfully secured her a two-year scholarship to the American Conservatory of Music offered by Chicago businessman Marshall Field. After developing her soprano vocal talents and finishing her studies, she joined a touring actors' troupe that featured American "Wild West" entertainment.... She had achieved a degree of national stardom by 1910. John P. Slocum managed her when she appeared in his multiyear touring production of The Kissing Girl.... Coinciding with the publicity for the tour, Guinan licensed her name and image to be used by W. C. Cunningham for a weight-loss plan. The advertisements that appeared in media across the country claimed Guinan had lost 70 pounds on the plan. Investigative journalism by the Chicago Tribune alleged that Guinan knowingly acted as a shill in perpetrating a fraud upon the public. A subsequent investigation by the postal service revealed it to be a swindle. United States Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson quickly acted to prohibit Guinan from receiving mail through the postal service. Although she continued on the stage, the incident damaged her career, and was a motivating factor in expanding her repertoire by trying her hand in the California film business.... She toured the United States with the Whirl of the World musical comedy in 1915. The tour coincided with her unverified account of being casually approached in Berlin by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who engaged her in conversation as she sat alone reading a book...."
I am sure the Kaiser casualty said, "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?"
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