LEGEND: Mae West

Mae West: Featured legend of Red Hots Burlesque

A woman that even inspired Marilyn Monroe, Red Hots Burlesque loves this woman. Our legend of the week is…

MAE WEST
d. November 22, 1980

One of the world’s most recognizable bombshells, Mae West began her career in vaudeville at age 14 impersonating adult vaudeville and burlesque performers, dancing and singing more adult themes than the average teenager. Her mother, a former corset model, encouraged West as a performer. She moved from vaudeville to the New York stage, writing plays that she starred in. West was sensational, starring in the 1926 play titled “Sex.” Many conservative critics took issue with it, and the play was raided and West was sentenced to ten days in jail for “corrupting the morals of youth.” (She served eight, and was out for good behavior.) A supporter of gay rights, West also wrote a play that never saw the stage “The Drag.” She began her motion picture career at nearly 40, keeping her age a mystery as she took the rolls of sexpots half her age. Her 1933 film “She Done Him Wrong” was an immediate success, making Cary Grant a star and pulling Paramount out of bankruptcy. West became known for her infamous line in the film “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?” This platinum blonde has a couple of marriages and many romances, and is credited with originating the shimmy, and possibly being the inspiration for the shape of the Coca Cola bottle. World War II Allied aircrew named life vests “Mae Wests” because of how they resembled her va-va-voom physique. By 1954, West had moved to the nightclub scene, performing song-and-dance numbers that recalled her early career. This woman had so much to say and we can’t quote her enough: “When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I’ve never tried before.” West passed away at the age of 87 in Hollywood.