Mary Jane " Mae " West August 17, β November 22, was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned over seven decades. West was one of the most controversial movie stars of her day; she encountered problems especially with censorship. She once quipped, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it. When her film career ended, she wrote books and plays, continued to perform in Las Vegas and London and on radio and television, and recorded rock and roll albums.
In , the American Film Institute posthumously voted her the 15th-greatest female screen legend of classic American cinema. West's parents married in Brooklyn on January 18, , to the pleasure of the groom's parents and the displeasure of the bride's, and raised their children as Protestants. West was five when she first entertained a crowd at a church social, and she started appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She often won prizes at local talent contests.
She used the alias "Jane Mast" early in her career. Her trademark walk was said to have been inspired or influenced by female impersonators Bert Savoy and Julian Eltinge , who were famous during the Pansy Craze. The show folded after eight performances, [ 28 ] but West was discovered and singled out for praise by a New York Times reviewer, [ 29 ] who wrote that a "girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and snappy way of singing and dancing".
West next appeared in a show called Vera Violetta , whose cast featured Al Jolson. West developed her career in vaudeville , appearing in such circuits or "wheels" as that run by Gus Sun of Ohio, which was considered bottom of the barrel but gave her experience. They are all reported as having disapproved of her career and her choices. Although conservative critics panned the show, ticket sales were strong. The production did not go over well with city officials, who had received complaints from some religious groups, and the theater was raided and West arrested along with the cast.
Though West could have paid a fine and been let off, she chose the jail sentence for the publicity it would garner. West got great mileage from this jail stint. Following her release, West told reporters that her play was "a work of art". Her next play, The Drag , dealt with homosexuality, and was what West called one of her "comedy-dramas of life". West explained, "The city fathers begged me not to bring the show to New York because they were not equipped to handle the commotion it would cause.
