Mae West Biography

Often known as Hollywood's first superstar sex symbol, American actress Mae West used her buxom good looks, come-hither voice, and aggressive attitude towards sexuality to make herself famous.In 1926 she received a load of publicity when the first Broadway play, Sex -- which she wrote, produced, and directed -- caused so much scandal that Mae was arrested on obscenity charges and spent a week in jail on Welfare Island.Her play, Drag, produced the following year dealt with the at-the-time risqu topic of homosexuality. It was hugely successful in Paterson, New Jersey, although Broadway made it clear the play was not welcome on its stages.She was catapulted to stardom in 1928 when her play Diamond Lil became a huge Broadway success. She caught the attention of Hollywood moguls and received a small role beside George Raft in 1932's Night After Night where she became the first woman in film to make racy comments.Other movies she appeared in include She Done Him Wrong (1933), I m No Angel (1933), Belle of the Nineties (1934), Go West Young Man (1936), Klondike Annie (1936), Everyday's a Holiday (1937), My Little Chickadee (1940), and The Heat's On (1943).Although Mae was watched carefully by the film censors of the time, she still managed to play with words in such a way that she was able to get a sexual message across without actually saying any of the forbidden words. She became the queen of innuendo and double entendre. By 1935 she was the highest-paid woman in the United States.Mae West was born with the name Mary Jane West in Brooklyn, New York on August 17, 1893 to prizefighter Battlin Jack West (John Patrick West) and corset fashion model Matilda Tillie Delker-Doelger. She also had a sister, Mildred Katherine West and a brother, John Edwin West.She began performing in vaudeville (performances that are similar to variety shows) under the name of The Baby Vamp when she was 12 years old. In 1913 she performed her signature shimmy dance to the song Everybody Shimmies Now. It's been rumored that the five-foot-one star wore special eight-inch platforms attached to her shoes to enhance her stage presence, especially in her early years as a stage actress.On April 11, 1911 Mae supposedly married fellow vaudevillian, Frank Wallace. Once Mae started earning a significant amount of money from films, Frank showed up in Hollywood with a marriage certificate wanting his share of the money.Mae always denied marrying Frank, and it was proven that she never lived with him. Still records show that she obtained a legal divorce from him on July 21, 1942.During the 1960s and 1970s Mae appeared in a few television programs and movies. In 1978 she acted in her final screen performance, Sextette. She was 85-years-old.Two years later she suffered the last of a series of strokes and died in her apartment on November 22, 1980. She is buried with her family in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.