Come Up and See Me Sometime...
by Tamara McHatton

What do boxing, obsenity charges, Webster's Dictionary, 8 inch heels, and gay rights have in common?

Mae West of course.

Born Mary Jane West, she was the daughter of a prize fighter and corset model. West began performing in vaudeville at the age of five. By the time she was 12, she was being billed as "The Baby Vamp". Though she had not yet grown into her generous curves (39-27-39), the slinky, dark-haired Mae was already raising eyebrows with a lascivious shimmy dance. Her famous walk was said to have originated in her early years as a stage actress. Standing only five feet tall, Mae had special eight-inch platforms attached to her shoes to increase her height and enhance her stage presence. She literally had to walk, one step at a time.

The daughter of a former prize-fighting boxer, Mae went to the gym and boxing ring with him from the time she was four years old. She developed a love for prize fights and champions often came to her stage shows -- such as Jack Dempsey, Heavyweight Champ, who attended the premiere of The Mimic World and went backstage to meet with Mae. The rest of her life Mae could be found at ringside as well as at the racetracks.

Eventually, she began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name Jane Mast. Her first starring role on Broadway was in a play she titled Sex, which was written, produced and directed by her. Though critics hated the show, ticket sales were good. The notorious production did not go over well with city officials, however. The theatre was raided and West was arrested along with everyone else in the cast. She was prosecuted on morals charges and, on April 19, 1927, was sentenced to 10 days in jail for public obscenity. While incarcerated on Welfare Island, she was allowed to wear her silk panties instead of the scratchy prison issue underwaer and the warden reportedly took her to dinner every night. She served eight days, with two days off for good behavior.

Her next play, The Drag, was about homosexuality and alluded to the work of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. It was a box-office success, but audiences had to go to New Jersey to see it because it was banned from Broadway. West regarded talking about sex as a basic human rights issue, and was also an early advocate of gay rights.    more >>