Let me tell you about Mae West, a woman who loved nothing more than being the center of attention. At just 7 years old, this precocious talent stepped onto the stage at the Royal Theatre in her Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood. It was a talent contest, and Mae wasn’t about to let anyone forget her presence.
She wrote in her autobiography about this moment: “I looked up angrily at the spotlight man in the balcony, stamping my foot. ‘Where is my spotlight?’” She didn’t just demand it—she got it. “I stamped my foot again, and the spotlight moved across the stage, landing directly on me.” That's Mae West for you—determined and unapologetic.
Of course, she won the contest. And from that day forward, Mae West made sure the spotlight never left her—not for a single moment. She’s remembered today as a glamorous actress with a razor-sharp wit, delivering one-liners like, “Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.” But there’s so much more to her story.
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Behind the Scenes: The Woman Who Broke Boundaries
Mae wasn’t just a performer; she was a trailblazer behind the scenes as well. Even into her 80s, she remained a magnetic figure, thanks in large part to her relentless focus on crafting her image. She wrote plays that were tailor-made for her—plays that sometimes got her into trouble. In fact, two of them landed her in jail on obscenity charges. But that didn’t stop her from pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms.
“It wasn’t just about fame,” says author Jill Watts, who wrote Mae West: An Icon in Black and White. “She was out there with dangerous art, questioning what society thought about women and the double standard women were subjected to.” Mae was all about empowerment, and she used her platform to make a statement.
A Bold Spirit That Never Faded
Whether she was demanding silk underwear while in jail or starring alongside Cary Grant in Hollywood, Mae always stayed true to herself. She was one of the first stars to perform in Las Vegas, surrounded by bodybuilders, and she broke new ground every step of the way. “I created myself,” she once said. “It didn’t happen all at once. At the start, I did some tinkering.”
Coming from the daughter of a former corset model and a prizefighter, Mae’s tinkering began early. At 14, she started performing on the vaudeville stage. By 17, she had married fellow entertainer Frank Wallace, but she quickly realized marriage wasn’t for her. “Being married was a liability for a woman who wanted to work,” Watts explains. Mae left him soon after, joking later that she never remarried because “I found too many Mr. Rights.” But there was more to it than that. “A woman becomes a different person when she gets married,” Mae said. “She lives for her husband and family. I wanted to live for myself.”
From Stage to Screen: A Career That Evolved
In 1926, Mae began writing plays under the pseudonym Jane Mast. Her first play, Sex, featured her as a waterfront prostitute and got her arrested for indecent performances. She spent eight days in jail but didn’t let it faze her. When asked by the warden if she wanted anything, she replied, “I want to wear my silk underwear!” Throughout the Depression, she continued writing provocative plays, including Diamond Lil, which eventually brought her to Hollywood. There, she starred in She Done Him Wrong with an up-and-coming Cary Grant.
“If he can talk, I’ll take him,” Mae famously said after spotting Cary on the studio lot. Hollywood made her rich—she earned nearly as much as newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. As she aged, Mae didn’t slow down. She reinvented herself, playing Catherine the Great on stage and later opening a review in Vegas, where she met Paul Novak, a bodybuilder who became her companion until her death at 87.
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“He stayed loyal to her and understood her,” Watts notes. “I think he was the love of her life.” In one of her last interviews, Mae summed up her long, fulfilling life: “Everything’s in the mind. Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it.” Mae always knew she wanted that spotlight—and boy, did she get it.
