Mae West (1) (1893–1980)
Author of Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It
For other authors named Mae West, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Image credit: :) Smile :)
Works by Mae West
Sex 2 copies
The Wit & Wisdom of Mae West 1 copy
Go West Young Man 1 copy
The Fabulous Mae West 1 copy
All'insegna di Goldoni 1 copy
The Drag 1 copy
The Pleasure Principle 1 copy
Associated Works
Screen Couples Spotlight Collection : Charade / Double Indemnity / Pillow Talk / My Little Chickadee (2012) — Actor — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- West, Mary Jane
- Other names
- Mast, Jane (pseudonym)
- Birthdate
- 1893-08-17
- Date of death
- 1980-11-22
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- actor
singer
screenwriter
playwright - Awards and honors
- American Theatre Hall of Fame
- Short biography
- Although Mae West is best known as a Hollywood screen icon, she was also a playwright. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she first made a name for herself in New York and on the vaudeville stage before she ventured into films. As a playwright, she used the pen name "Jane Mast." Her first produced play, in which she also starred, was a racy comedy-drama entitled Sex, which opened on Broadway in 1926. It was popular, but was shut down after 375 performances by the New York Police Department, and West was jailed for 10 days for obscenity and fined $500. The publicity made her famous as a "bad girl." She then wrote The Drag (1927), a drama about homosexuality that was also a success with the public but shut down by the authorities out of town -- it never made it to Broadway. West re-worked The Drag into a 1928 drama/mystery called The Pleasure Man, replacing the lead role with a heterosexual character. However, the New York police raided this show, too, and the entire cast was charged with indecency. Finally, West found success on Broadway with the hit Diamond Lil (1928); she adapted it into the 1933 film She Done Him Wrong.
West also wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for
Every Day's a Holiday (1937),
Goin' to Town (1935),
I'm No Angel (1933),
Klondike Annie (1936), and My Little Chickadee (1940). She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA - Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- California, USA
Members
Discussions
Made Error Combining Author Pages but Can't Correct it in Bug Collectors (May 2012)
Reviews
103/2020. This is the 1932 book of the film of the 1928 play, set on the Bowery in New York during the decadent decade of the 1890s. She Done Him Wrong centres around a character called Diamond Lil, apparently based more on the author's experience of life as a music hall entertainer than on eponymous real historical women such as Honora "Diamond Tooth Lil" Ornstein. The writing is pulp fiction style and it's plotted as a crime novel. Think of this story as the femme fatale ancestress of the show more later Damon Runyon short stories that became Guys n Dolls.
It isn't a surprise that a novel by Mae West, with her many theatre and film script credits, is well written. She easily juggles several subplots, and her feel for character allows her to flesh out urban poor people and career criminals beyond the usual stock stereotypes. I was surprised by the skewering of political corruption, the pro-Chinese anti-racism at a time when the "yellow peril" moral panic was in full cry, the sympathy for drug addicts with blame placed firmly on dealers, and the sex-positive feminism that was ahead of its time by about 60 years. All this in a novel about half the length of most current bestsellers so it packs no padding between the many bangs for your buck. There are plenty of the expected sassy one-liners but also Diamond Lil's penetrating judgments on society and human nature - I don't agree with all of them but as a reader I can fully understand why these characters think the way they do.
(I suppose I should warn for two uses of the n-word, but only as part of the nickname of a successful saloon owner.) show less
It isn't a surprise that a novel by Mae West, with her many theatre and film script credits, is well written. She easily juggles several subplots, and her feel for character allows her to flesh out urban poor people and career criminals beyond the usual stock stereotypes. I was surprised by the skewering of political corruption, the pro-Chinese anti-racism at a time when the "yellow peril" moral panic was in full cry, the sympathy for drug addicts with blame placed firmly on dealers, and the sex-positive feminism that was ahead of its time by about 60 years. All this in a novel about half the length of most current bestsellers so it packs no padding between the many bangs for your buck. There are plenty of the expected sassy one-liners but also Diamond Lil's penetrating judgments on society and human nature - I don't agree with all of them but as a reader I can fully understand why these characters think the way they do.
(I suppose I should warn for two uses of the n-word, but only as part of the nickname of a successful saloon owner.) show less
111/2020. The tale of prohibition era anti-heroine Babe Gordon who climbs the New York social ladder wrong by wrong, using and discarding the people around her as she ascends.
Not nearly as well written as She Done Him Wrong, mostly because the pacing is less tight and satirical humour absent, but there are passably realistic characters and a functional plot, which includes scrutiny of the racist hypocrisies of white culture (and the contemporary construction of "whiteness" as a category).
A show more book for readers who can't get enough pre-war pulp fiction written from an anti-heroine's point of view. show less
Not nearly as well written as She Done Him Wrong, mostly because the pacing is less tight and satirical humour absent, but there are passably realistic characters and a functional plot, which includes scrutiny of the racist hypocrisies of white culture (and the contemporary construction of "whiteness" as a category).
A show more book for readers who can't get enough pre-war pulp fiction written from an anti-heroine's point of view. show less
As the foreword by Kathy Lette tells you, Mae West was an accomplished writer and astute businesswoman, so after that it's no surprise to wholeheartedly enjoy this novel.
Diamond Lil is a classic 'tart with a heart' gangster's moll with expensive tastes. When she finds out about her nightclub owner man's secret sex trade sending young, destitute women to South America, and falls in love with a punter everything has to change.
Great lusty fun, full of action and no padding, an easy and show more fantastic read. show less
Diamond Lil is a classic 'tart with a heart' gangster's moll with expensive tastes. When she finds out about her nightclub owner man's secret sex trade sending young, destitute women to South America, and falls in love with a punter everything has to change.
Great lusty fun, full of action and no padding, an easy and show more fantastic read. show less
A collection of sayings by Mae West and of photographs with a slim biography based on a personal interview. Basically a mass market pot-boiler strictly for fans. West's appeal is historically interesting but little of what she says seems particularly amusing today. The past is another country.
The copyright is apparently for a 1967 book by Joseph Weintraub on the 'wit and wisdom of Mae West' but this version was created for the British market in 1975 and seems to have had material on her role show more in 'Myra Breckinridge' (1970) inserted as if this poorly received film was immediately contemporary. show less
The copyright is apparently for a 1967 book by Joseph Weintraub on the 'wit and wisdom of Mae West' but this version was created for the British market in 1975 and seems to have had material on her role show more in 'Myra Breckinridge' (1970) inserted as if this poorly received film was immediately contemporary. show less
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 29
- Also by
- 14
- Members
- 369
- Popularity
- #65,263
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 7
- ISBNs
- 32
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 2