Mae West: Empress Of Sex
New York: Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing, 1992. First edition. Hardcover. Fine in fine dust jacket. First edition/printing. Hardcover. 422 pp. with index. Illustrated with photographs. Biography. Blonde and bosomy, dripping with diamonds, and with a wisecrack permanantly on her lips , she twisted men around her little finger---Mae West (about whom a co-star George Raft once said, "She stole everything but the cameras." The Brooklyn-born Mary Jane "Mae" West (1893-1980) began her carrer on the stage in vaudeville at age fourteen under the stage name "Baby Mae"; at age 18, she received a positive notice for her perfoemance in a short-lived revue by the New York Times and gained some minor Broadway roles. Her breakout came when in 1926 she wrote, directed, and starred in the Broadway play "Sex", which got her arrested and sentenced to a 10-day jail sentence (she she accepted for the publicity value rather than paying a fine). West went to Hollywood in 1932; her unique on-screen persona catapulted her into one of the most bankable (and notorious) stars of the day--by 1933 she was the highest piad woman in the United States. Cary Grant co-starred with her in two of his earliest roles and some of her most memorable performances came with W.C. Fields in such films as "My Little Chickadee" and "The Bank Dick" Fine / fine. Item #E25271
ISBN: 1559721510
Price: $13.95