Mae West: Telling it like it is
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 17:15 born: 17-08-1893
birth place: New York, USA died: 22-11-1980
A hard man is good to find.
A man in the house is worth two in the street.
I'm a woman of very few words, but lots of action.
Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can't figure out what from.
Men are all alike, except the one you've met who's different.
The score never interested me, only the game.
Men are my hobby, if I ever got married I'd have to give it up.
Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing.
Women with "pasts" interest men because men hope that history will repeat itself.
The curve is more powerful than the sword. I didn't discover curves; I only uncovered them.
Good women are no fun... The only good woman I can recall in history was Betsy Ross. And all she ever made was a flag.
Love isn't an emotion or an instinct--it's an art.
It's easy to get married, but hard to stay that way.
Kiss and make up--but too much makeup has ruined many a kiss.
The best way to hold a man is in your arms.
Brains are an asset to the woman in love who's smart enough to hide 'em.
Look your best--who said love is blind? Girls, give all your gentlemen friends an even break, even if you have to break them in the attempt.
Love thy neighbor--and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier.
It's all right for a perfect stranger to kiss your hand as long as he's perfect.
The best way to behave is to misbehave. I'm single because I was born that way.
A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.
A man has more character in his face at forty than at twenty--he has suffered longer.
Don't come crawlin' to a man for love--he likes to get a run for his money.
Don't cry for a man who's left you--the next one may fall for your smile.
Don't ever make the same mistake twice, unless it pays.
Oh, Miss West, I've heard so much about you. Yeah, honey, but you can't prove a thing.
Have a boyfriend for a rainy day--and another, in case it doesn't.
It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do it and say it. Come up and see me sometime.
You're never too old to become younger.
A man's kiss is his signature.
Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.
Don't marry a man to reform him - that's what reform schools are for.
He who hesitates is a damned fool.
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
I only have 'yes' men around me. Who needs 'no' men?
I wrote the story myself. It's about a girl who lost her reputation and never missed it.
I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.
If I asked for a cup of coffee, someone would search for the double meaning.
It is better to be looked over than overlooked.
It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean.
It's not the men in my life that count, it's the life in my men.
Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.
Save a boyfriend for a rainy day - and another, in case it doesn't rain.
Sex is emotion in motion.
She's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.
Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I'm tired.
Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.
Virtue has its own reward, but no sale at the box office.
When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.
When women go wrong, men go right after them.
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Mae West was the daughter of a boxer and a corset model, who became a vaudevillian at the age of fourteen. May was born in Brooklyn in 1893. At thirty three, in 1926, she wrote, produced and directed a Broadway show called 'Sex', and landed in jail on obscenity charges. Her next play, ,Drag', was banned on Broadway because it dealt with homosexuality. After wowing Broadway in 'Diamond Lil', she signed with Paramount in 1932 and moved to Hollywood. Her risque 1930s comedies were ground-breaking, in terms of both sexual content and roles for women. Her films included 'Night After Night' and 'She Done Him Wrong', which was the film version of 'Diamond Lil', and broke all existing box-office records, credited with saving Paramount from having to sell out to its rival, MGM. Some people claim the Hays censorship code of 1934 was brought about almost singlehandedly by Mae West. If so, she gave Hays a run for his money in 'I'm No Angel', 'Belle Of The Nineties', and and 'Klondike Annie'. Despite her perseverance, however, she was bucking a huge political and movie-making machine by going up against Hays. Her roles were made tamer, leading her to abandon Hollywood. Of the nine movies she made before her retreat, she shared writer's credit for five of them. West spent the rest of her life producing, writing, and starring in plays and musical revues. She did not return to the silver screen for decades, finally making a brief appearance in 'Myra Brenkenridge' in 1970. Once again, she enjoyed total creative control over her part. Her last film was released in 1978, 'Sextette', when she was eighty five years old. But by then, she was suffering from memory loss, which impaired her famous delivery and caused her dialogue to seem stilted. Mae West died on 22nd November 1980.
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