Mae West

Did you know?!

1. A role that slipped away

   For Billy Wilder's 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard, West received an offer to play Norma Desmond. She said no, since the part's pathos conflicted with her aim of uplifting audiences, and she was still upset about censorship on The Heat's On.

2. 

   First role

   West made her film debut at nearly 40 as Maudie Triplett in Night After Night, a part George Raft suggested and she accepted after being allowed to rewrite her dialogue.

3. 

   Big break

   West said she noticed Cary Grant around the studio and demanded that a Paramount director give him the male lead in She Done Him Wrong, a 1933 film. She said she told the director, "If he can talk, I'll take him!"

4. First role

   West first appeared on Broadway in 1911, when she was 18, in the revue A La Broadway. Ned Wayburn, who had taught her dancing, staged it, and it ran for just eight performances.

5. Beyond film

   West released rock and roll albums in her later years, Way Out West in 1966 and Great Balls of Fire in 1972, the latter including covers of songs by The Doors.

6. Beyond film

   The Beatles used Mae West's likeness on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. She initially declined permission, reportedly asking, "What would I be doing in a Lonely Hearts Club?", but agreed after the band sent a letter expressing admiration for her work.