Mae West
Buxom actress Mae West employed clever double-entendres throughout the course of her long career on stage and screen. More than once she managed to squeeze something suggestive past the eagle eyes and ears of her rigid censors, and her public came to adore her for it. In fact she boasted of the feat, saying, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." Similarly, the titles of West's recordings veered toward the suggestive and risqué. The Rosetta Records release Mae West Sings Sultry Songs includes such numbers as "A Guy That Takes His Time," "Easy Rider," and "Pardon Me for Loving and Running." The compilation I'm No Angel from Jasmine Records, which was named for one of her early films, features the title song and "I Want You, I Need You." The Fabulous Mae West from MCA Records offers "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "All of Me." The Mind's Eye issued a cassette featuring such classic West numbers as "Come Up and See Me Sometime," as well as "Slow Down."
The actress was born Mary Jane West in Brooklyn, NY, in 1893, although some sources say she was born a year earlier. By the age of five she was working the boards in vaudeville. By her early teens her performances had earned her the moniker of "Baby Vamp." She eventually landed on Broadway in Diamond Lil, but not before offending the moral code of the 1920s and earning a short stop in jail for one of the plays she had written, which she titled Sex.
Her fortunes turned around when she went to Hollywood. Outrageous remarks packed with sexual innuendo brought fame and adulation to the five-foot blonde actress with an exaggerated hourglass figure, as well as an Oscar nomination in 1933 for She Done Him Wrong, her second movie. Evidently another of West's oft-quoted remarks was accurate. She said, "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad I'm better." A look at her salary during the early Hollywood years backs up this claim. In 1932, in the midst of the Depression, she was paid $50,000 to make one film. In 1959 the actress published Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, her autobiography. She remained active almost until the end, making her final film, Sextette, just two years prior to her passing. She died in Los Angeles, CA, in 1980, after experiencing a number of strokes. During her life she claimed that she had never taken a husband, and she is given credit for saying, "Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution." However, records indicate that she married a man named Frank Wallace.
Recordings are available of West's radio and television appearances. Mark 56 Records offers recordings of the actress on a 1937 radio broadcast with Edgar Bergen and his puppet, Charlie McCarthy. Other broadcasts include a take from her guest appearance in the '30s on The Rudy Vallee Show and two of her Christmas broadcasts from the early '70s for The American Forces Radio Service. Recordings of her television work span the 1940s to the 1960s and include guest appearances on shows hosted by Perry Como, Red Skelton, and Dean Martin.
© Linda Seida /TiVo
Artistas similares
Discografía
28 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
-
-
The Fabulous Mae West
Ragtime - Editado por Poppydisc el 1 ene. 1955
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
-
BD Music Presents Mae West
Jazz vocal - Editado por BDMUSIC el 25 jun. 2007
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Very Best Of
Jazz vocal - Editado por Master Classics Records el 1 jul. 2009
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
I'm No Angel
Pop - Editado por Rainbow Media OMP el 11 may. 2009
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Alone With The Moon
Pop - Editado por Reminisce Music el 29 may. 2023
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
His Only Recording
Humour/Spoken Word - Editado por Tin Toy el 31 ene. 2014
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
Jazz - Editado por Master Tape Records el 3 oct. 2020
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Nostalgic Memories-The Very Best Of Mae West-Vol. 51
Jazz - Editado por RP-DSP el 24 nov. 2011
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Wild Christmas
Comedias musicales - Editado por Christmas Album el 30 nov. 2018
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
At the Movies
Bandas sonoras de cine - Editado por KEMDISC el 10 jul. 2020
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Ladies of Hollywood 1930s
Ethel Merman, Lyda Roberti, Mae West
Bandas sonoras de cine - Editado por Music Today Records el 25 jun. 2015
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Best of Sex
Jazz vocal - Editado por Screenland Records el 1 ago. 2012
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Sister Honky Tonk
Pop - Editado por Excess Music el 25 ago. 2020
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Film Soundtracks
Humour/Spoken Word - Editado por Red Cab Records el 17 ene. 2011
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
A Guy What Takes His Time
Humour/Spoken Word - Editado por Red Cab Records el 17 ene. 2011
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
The Definitive Mae West Collection
Pop - Editado por Bofm Ltd el 1 ene. 2011
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
100 citat för att njuta av ditt liv (Samling 100 Citat)
Mae West, Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein
Humour/Spoken Word - Editado por Astorg Sweden el 1 ene. 2020
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Brazilionaire
Pop - Editado por Classic Records el 7 ene. 2013
Disponible en16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -