Mae West: And The Men Who Knew Her | The Hollywood Collection 

I read her biography - she didn't buy this apartment complex. People thought she did it but it is true that she defended her African American friend.

Certain white folks want you to forget that

She's a badass!

Bravo

How convenient to leave out William Jones, Gorilla Jones. Interesting, they knew each other for 50 years, she employed him as her bodyguard and employed his mother, and not as a maid. Not to mention how he was a devoted friend to her as she was to him, she left him real estate among other things. There's so much history purposely left out or destroyed, just to eliminate undesirable. America's real good for that. I bet she was a sweetheart, I wish I had known her.

I know I was like "well some of you guys aren't exactly prizes yourselves."

Ikr the nerrve

He didn't say anything that wasn't true. We can all see it here.

Oooooh! That's a good one!!

What is figure? Like a bottle?

Your daddy was right smart man she was abroad and I don't mean traveling to a foreign country

This was the best comment 🤣 so far!!!

Hilarious!!!

A!a!!aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa​@@paolamura3497

Thats funny!,😂❤😂😅

Cheeky. Bed over mirror, only hold an umbrella over your head, men as pets

Her interview with dick cavett is awesome! Was 82 and still smart as ever.

Amen 🙏

She was not perfection even though during an interview I was watching she claimed all actors and actresses were GODS and GODESSES… or really people that think these things are full of shit . Many modern actors think they are GODS and Goddeses .NO THEY ARE NOT THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE REST LF US . I HATE AND DESPISE ARROGANCE ..

@@janjbowman Hahahaha! Like you said, Mae called them out! They were so full of themselves! ....and still are! Lol! 😄

Yeah yeah ... the big tv lie ... only live once. Satan wants the masses to consider this life in his temporary kingdom is "all there is". Nope. We're here to prove we deserve Eternity FREE of evils.

​@@janjbowmanA bigger frawd than most can imagine. Folks srldom See what they look at. "Charlie" Chaplain is another piece of work. The Club has requirements, accommodating the Big wealthy ones who created the enterTrainment 'industry'.

@@ANNIET5775 it's a joke and part of the character she made up. Why so heavy?

ABSOLUTELY!

Not to our dear Bob Osborne.

I'm WITH YOU!! Oh if I had a time machine ... !!!

You're funny! She was fat and short! We loved who she was anyway! In fact she faught that stigma her whole life. Check it out, my friend

I hate the fact these men talking on het biography say she wasn't the most beautiful ,they are so full of it ! Mae west was a hell of a gal !!!!! Fyi she grew up in greenpoint in brooklyn a place i was born and raised as she did , and I'm so proud of that ,I used to act like her around my friends in brooklyn in school lol til this day I do a gd impersonation of the late great mae west

@@Chauncey250 She wasn't classically pretty. She learned how to used her brain and had all men interested in her. I'd go into a time machine to meet her if possible. She was a full package but if I just want beauty, she'd be far down my list.

And what "they" forgot was "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"!!!!!😮

@@Chauncey250I agree. She was gorgeous

For sure

Robert Osborne especially!

Not so much with Rex Reed. He read her room better than most.

She wasn't a classic beauty, no. If you saw her down the launderette without make-up and frills you probably would not look twice.

I was thinking the same. She was amazing and strong!

At 52:10 “It was sad to see this terribly terribly old lady” 🙄 Are you kidding me?! God forbid a beautiful legend like Mae in her later years gets to do what she loved most: entertain and have fun! She was phenomenally beautiful until her last breath. There’s nothing wrong with an older woman having a career. She loved being Mae West and she loved her audience. Shame on some of these bitter and sexist men for their comments. Not at all respectful in the slightest.

Mae West was No beauty … more like a drag queen. Sad individual

Breanna I totally agree with you....

@@applesnicolle5144 you must be looking in the mirror! I feel sorry for you....

@@johnryan9626 / Mae West was attractive in a way as All ppl are attractive in their own way but by Hollywood standards she was matronly looking, even rather masculine. I’m not going to glorify a woman so unfeminine, so Not spiritual … she was all about depredating sexuality into the gutter. Yes funny at times but it wears thin…

Apples Nicolle : we all see situations and people differently, to me, it is how you perceive a person or situation and others will perceive it differently than you or me.

J Scho hallmart

J Scho I hadn't heard this one before....among the many I did!! That was just fabulous!!

Brilliant line!

Works both ways!

Frank Sinatra story

Ms. West was my fantasy woman. My Wife is my Dream Woman. She is Everything. The small, catty ones are ignorant of what a real woman is and are lesser creatures for it...

@@jonnyq680 ggvvvv:vvgvvvvvvvvv:vvvvvvvvvgvv:vgvggvgvgvgvvvvv:vvgvgvvvgvvvggv:vgvg:vvvvv:vvggggv¹

@@teresafaulkner5199 miss, i'm just an old country keyboard guy. I am unfamiliar with all this new-fangled tech code stuff the kids like so much. That and a HUGE Mae West fan.

@Patricia Palmer what's Zaftig?

@@teresafaulkner5199 You got it, lady.

YEP...JEALOUSLY....nasty boys...😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

She had WAY too much money to ever be desperate anyway!

@Will Loomis YOU ARE 💯% CORRECT, AND I APPLAUD YOU.BRAVO!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Women Really was Second Class or Slaves Back Then. It's Not All That Great Now.

yea that one even called her an old woman ...i was like wtf that old woman is beautiful and more of a woman than youll ever have or get in your life you pos!

I totally agree with you. Invented a unique classic style, which women could study from, with all do respects, carefully crafted like she performed for her audience. Thank you.

She wrote some of the wittiest (and truest ! ) lines and comebacks that have lasted for many decades now.

Wow! Thank you kindly for the feedback. Sounds like you have done some research on Mae West. She would be a fastinating Hollywood personality to learn more about.

CV CVg

Pl000ll00

Good for her! ♥️

I knew a lady who worked for her as her maid but they were also good friends she said Mae was real cool and did really talk like that and she had a few black lovers.❤❤

I think big cojones sums her up pretty well.

She sure had some of the grandest cojones in da biznaz...😆

Lovely lady, wish I know her ☺

I love when she blows smoke in everyone's faces!

@Robert Gardea Don't worry, I won't!! I don't think she really smoked in real life.

Agreed that guys taste is all in his mouth ! He obviously knows nothing about beauty.

@@peggypeggy4137 YOU'RE right. Mae West never smoke,or drink. Mae West only smoked in her movies. That was her secret, for living so long...💕

She was not only beautiful, but witty and smart!

Mae West was an original and a unique person. She was not a clone of somebody.

I read one time, that of course she had a few face lifts or two, but she did them right, as always looked like herself. She was sure a 'one of a kind' and yes there will never be another like her.

Exactly

This is also a time when a full figured woman with curves wasn't viewed as sexy. Even in 2022, it is still a struggle for woman with curves to be seen as beautiful. I can only imagine what the struggle was back then. But yes, Mae West was gorgeous and definitely opened the door for women to embrace their sexuality and proud of it. It absolutely shows when a woman is confident in herself how amazing it is.

@@kelvinstewart7953 I would say women with curves are in right now. If it wasn't so many women would not be spending large amounts of money to add artificial big breasts or big artificial butts to their bodies.

I agree. I love her and she looked great

Almost no waist. And that's WITH a 1930s girdle. Matronly is correct!

Amen. She showed the world that women had sexual feelings .

@@spmoran4703 / Wrong! Women were more respected then than now… she made women sluts & notice MW never had a happy marriage

agree

@@applesnicolle5144 No, women were far more sexualized back then. True, women were required to dress in a way that pretty much concealed their entire body (even ankles) because men, especially back then, were too lustful.

@@olivia5419 / I’ll take women covered up back then bc they were far more respected… ugh look at the No Class sluts of today’s Hollywood trash? Ugh look at mindless Kardashians

Loved her!!!

Before plastic surgery liposuctiona

Wish the ladies in there 40s and 50s looked half as good today

"Yes she did" !!!

Randall Marsh most of the ones that haven’t succumbed to plastic surgery do look very nice.

As a late bloomer in my life and career, I look up to her! It's never too late to make a splash.

Truth

Actually, there were many strong women on the silver screen (and off it) at that time: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, and Katherine Hepburn, to name just a few. Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood of that time. Sometimes our stereotypes of an era are at odds with the reality.

Is that a rocket in your pocket, or you just happy to see me

Women have always been strong. They operated in their territory and men in theirs. Now we mix it up and women compete with men. But women have retained their destiny, creating the next generation. That brings them their greatest fulfilment. Competing with men is about survival . Having a family and a loyal , hard working husband remains their main goal

@@r5u26d3 yes women want to modernize but still demand men remain traditionally masculine and play their traditional role. Funny how that works.

Stop wasting your energy. We know what a REAL WOMAN is. They want to, but may never will...

She's not pretty and no hot body but very talented. Reminds me of Lady Gaga

I misread that at the end- I thought it read, rip gorgeous male.

Yes, they are being nasty, really. And who is Rex Reed to talk???????

A boss!!!

Ruthless ahaha

Lmao!! That was one of my favorite!!!! Hahhaha! Ya just gotta love that woman!! My new idol!! Lol

This was always a favorite line of hers. Gold!

Funny and witty as hell

What a witty way to tell someone they are stupid..lol

I so agree with you! I think she was lovely and what a figure. You're right, she was a bombshell blonde. ❤

The original BLONDE BOMBSHELL was Jean Harlow. Not Mae West.

@@Spiderman7Bob7 Jean Harlow was gorgeous woman. All we said is that Mae was A blonde bombshell but everyone has their favs 🤩

Robert Anderson Jean Harlow is my grandmothers cousin. And yes, Jean actually was considered the First real ‘bomb shell’ . Both women are nostalgic and interesting

Yes, THE blonde bombshell.

She was MAE, and that was perfect! ❤

💯 agree

They were homosexual hunny BC nobody wants to fk a skeleton i assure u

She sure was and they were just jealous or angry she was being herself and putting them down as that is what they did to women at the time.

They were intimidated by her. She was strong

She was actually 87 years old when she died in 1980

​@imanigabbana6629 they meant their grandmother passed away in 1973. 😊

Kim Wiliams sq

Bow to the Queen, bitches! 😆

Considering all the other very talented women they chewed up and spit out and destroyed where do we start? Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, all those gorgeous actresses of the 30s and 40s that went into retirement at age 40 because there were no parts, exceptional women like John Crawford and Bette Davis who fought like bitches to still have parts in their later years. she’s amazing acting until she’s 80-something. good for her! It might’ve been a bit of vanity project, but who the hell cares? she needed something to do, for god sake’s. Like another amazing comedienne out of the school of vaudeville would say, “let me Telya Ernie, I’ll take a lover when I am 80 and it’s a lot easier for 20 to go in the 80s then for 80 to go into 20!“ LOL OL love her taste in men LOL. P a. Probably the first female started to embrace her gay audience and very forward thinking around sexuality even biracial which at that time was downright dangerous.

And gave middle finger, figuratively, of course, to all the old men in censores...to much of fellow women (and homosexuals) at the times, giggles.

The great barbara stantwck got a great part as a middle age actress in the role playing mother in big valley.my favorite betty hutton said on the phil donahue show.was a actress is pass 40 its over.

@@joanbowden7634 >iu

😄 sweet! How old are you now? I never saw her when she was so popular. I must be a lot younger than you! Tell me what it was like when you were a teen! I'd like to know! How fun! 👍😄

That was great!💕

Aaahahaha.. love this one.

I believe in love at first sight with mae, cos I don't wanna waste time in pleasing her ;-)

One smart lady!!! Beauty and brains!!!

Very bluesy I love voices like that.

She did music with Jazz Legend Duke Ellington

She said , " I intend to grow up disgracefully not gracefully. ' I agree.

Madonna could learn a thing or 3

Having sense of humour and making a joke out of yourself are two different things. She didn't get sad old lady because she was sad since her youth to begin with.

​@@evastar4526 3 I

EdwwC

You babe. You took the words right out of my mouth. To many people are stereotypes. We need more love and compassionate people

All healthy body sizes are beautiful

@@idontgiveafaboutyou thank you. Enjoy you day

Thanks babe. Have many happy time

Thanks babe. Have many great times

Cheers to that. Maes are beautiful

Lovely Actress Today she would still be her self and MORE!!!!

I was shocked at Robert osbourne. Even SNL picked up on this lol

While I agree. Many women called Mae West “filth” “trash” “explicit” so women also kept the status quo going back then. Not just men.

@@tula1433 Oh yes ! Women called her "shameless" and reviled her for being so explicit about something that "should always be kept hidden"- Sex !

Lol unless u were a girl in her chorus line or another girl in Hollywood lol. No problem loving Mae West but let’s not LIE about who and what she was

@@julianakleijn9254 You mean the thing about her being the only blonde in a scene, and surrounding herself with women who weighed more than she did? True, and a lot of her publicity art was obviously photoshopped. (They called it airbrushing then.) But there are things that people don't want to know, or they like to exaggerate. The folklore about her buying The Ravenswood, for example.

Mae Is that a rocket in your pocket. What a Line. I love her

Did you know her?

I knew that was him! R.I.P Tiger

he was one of the few actors she said almost stole a scene from her

I'm so glad someone recognized my favorite actor when I was a little girl. Living in Lakewood WA and being from Tacoma, I was always on the look out at the town center or where Yani and Linda Evans pumped their gas just to catch a glimpse of my comedic hero.

He really did do a great job.

and immortal

Lol, what a Line, I Love it!

"Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me"

@à la claire fontaine When Mae and Raquel Welch made "Myra Breckinridge" together, Mae did everything she could to diss Raquel. One way, really old school, was to make hash out of Raquel's name, like you did. Mae referred to her as Rachel Walsh or other mistakes, as if Raquel was a nobody, an unknown. "A real star wouldn't have taken that role," Mae proclaimed.

That was the best!

Or iron ovaries

The way she treated men she did it with style & class & she behaved like a lady she would tell the feminists & the Karens today that treating men like dogs will get them nowhere.

@@catspaw3092 I've been feminist since the seventies and none of my contemporaries despise men. We only resent misogynist men AND women. You apparently "educated" yourself on feminism by listening to Fox and/or Limbaugh. You should actually get to know a feminist. Women ought to raise other women up, in my opinion.

Yes 👍

​@@joanodom2104hear..hear...feminist of the 90s gen, i dont know how Fox and Limbaught became voice of feminism? Where the hell these misandrist comes from?

except she didn’t really befriend girls so nice fantasy

@@Elena-er7zp understandable. There is no sisterhood.

After watching may west storie,is not that she was ahead of her time, this is who she is !!,god gave her that personality, so we all could see it, and talk about it today , and have a opinion, a conversation, a thought, what he creates is beyond are imagination, its his world !, we just live in it...she was great🙂

A Legend. Liked her singing She was petite, like a stick of Dynamite

@@Elena-er7zp very true, im not a fan of hers, she was very ordinary looking, not sexy and think she looked awful when older touting the same spiel

So do I!

Yep

We always have

@@ianfromtheotherside5795 And always will.

She was a Badd Bish 💯

Didn't accept the other stuff so I'm doing it again with the microphone. All this seems foreign to me, Irish immigrants raise polish believe it or not. Was'grandfather's into the into the American association of sex educators counselors and therapists AASECT. IN THE SEVENTIES HAD RAPE CASES BUT FATHERS BY FATHERS SORRY USING A MICROPHONE AND STEPFATHERS THERE WAS NOTHING IN SEX BOOKS THEN. Now I know what I would do but I pray that those cases got that they need somewhere they needed somewhere God bless

Anorexic looking stick

I have got a Mae West figure . Big boobs big ass. Blonde / red hair. I get complimented every time I am out.

Not important, but I always heard she was slightly under five feet. Not being contrary. 😃

You had me until you decided to take a swat at “stick figures”. It’s all body positivity until it comes to women who are tall and thin. Forget the beauty industry; it’s been fickle since the concept of an “ideal” woman began since recorded history. She has been tall, short, thin, stocky, long hair, short hair, etc. It differs by culture and changes ideals several times a century. A lot of women minimize my experience because there is a self-anointed arbiter that decides who is allowed to feel insecure or even traumatized by their experiences. It doesn’t matter that I was tormented for my height and weight as a kid and called ugly on a daily basis because some grownups with similar measurements were the ideal of the time. The disparaging comments and treatment continue into my forties. If I have dinner with a group, someone inevitably asks when I excuse myself to use the restroom if I’m going to vomit what I just ate. Every man I ever dated suggested I eat more cheeseburgers because I have “the ass of a ten year old boy”, if they concede I have an ass at all. I’ve been called every basketball player from Larry Bird to Kevin Durant. I didn’t date until college and it was always a man at least ten years older; anyone younger was embarrassed to stand next to me because of my height. I had no control over my height, weight, and features. I ended up with an extra tall gene. My thyroid was overactive and went undiagnosed until I almost died. Even after treatments, I stayed as small. It didn’t matter that my body was a constant source of ridicule (apparently, it still doesn’t), which stung all the more because I wanted to be invisible. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been SA’d by my uncle’s best friend and have to listen to my grandmother, who I was staying with in another state when it began, try to justify it - “It happens to all women. He’s your uncle’s only friend; we can’t tell him to leave”. Five years later, it would happen again; this time by a neighbor and friend of my dad’s, and it was much more violent. The opposite happened this time. My dad almost killed the guy and my family moved out of state so my dad could escape criminal charges. My siblings resented me. The move away from their friends was my fault. One of my sisters even gossiped about it at our new high school. A particularly horrible person would follow me around the halls and sing “R*pe Me” from Nirvana. My sister went to homecoming with him. I hated my body; the last thing I wanted was for anyone to notice it. As an adult, inappropriate comments are made, though more general, typically. Not always. The near guarantee now is it’s other women who believe I’m expendable. I’ve had it so good, ya know, what does it matter if I’m singled out and not allowed under the body positivity umbrella, really? Stick figure. Not every tall, thin woman is part of a patriarchal conspiracy to make other women feel shamed into the absurd attempt to attain the unattainable. I’m certainly not. We are our best when we uplift one another.

@@CindyLouWho77 agree. It’s women who compete with other women and uphold the “toxic beauty standards” that they love to blame men for. Men were fine with us when we had hairy legs and lived in caves. Women created the beauty industry and support it so they can compete with other women!

You have to give us little women some credit.🤣

@@bubblybubbles4023 OMG I just loved your comment. You are so funny.

@@bubblybubbles4023 OMG I love your comment. You are so LMAO. Very original.

That’s why she looked so good in her 50s and beyond !! Look at the great beauties Ava Gardner , and Lana turner, they aged horribly from drink and smoke. Mae was doin it looking great til the end!

she smoked...

Plus, she actually was pretty and did have a good figure! Lol

@@Janellabelle I think she kinda hid just how nice her figure was in order to get by the censors.

@@Janellabelle thats what am saying dude tripping

Exactly !!!

But she had sex appeal and wit....beauty without those is shallow...

ALEXA NICOLE JOEL Another Mae Bonmot!

The men commentators on this platform Doesn't know the taste of a woman How can you make stupid comments about her figure She was beautiful.These never had pussy since pussy had them

“When choosing between two evils, I always choose the one I haven’t tried yet.”

When I learned how to sky dive, a double inflated (not a big smooth full arc) parachute is called a "Mae West". Actually it is very dangerous for the sky diver!!!

@@newenglandgirl9523 In the U.S. Navy we also referred to the old lifejacket as the "Mae West" ;-)

When I joined the Marines in 1977, we called it the same thing.

They were all starch and stuffed shirts. She loved to light a blowtorch in a stuffed shirts face and let 'em feel the burn. She railed against their holier-than-thou chides and insincere hypocrisy.

Very true insight💯

but thats part of her legacy! she was not by extraordinarily beautiful by any standards but she was insanely sexy because of the way she carried herself and her personality

I agree Lola ,to me she was all woman gorgeous a guitar shape snd very pretty face with a sharp mind a triple threat if you will. No matter what one thinks we still talking about her lol

Ikr! They better recognize!! 😀