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Mae West: Sister Honky Tonk

© K Cruver

I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it.
-Mae West

Mae West was born into a comfortable middle-class life in Brooklyn, New York on August 17, 1895 (some sources say 1893). Her father was a prizefighter known as John "Battling Jack" West. His numerous business ventures included a horse stable and a private investigation firm. Her mother, Matilda, was a former vaudeville performer from Germany.

Mae was a self-involved child. She insisted on having her way and she tended to get it. Even when her sister, Beverly and brother, Jack were born, Mae was the center of attention. Her mother encouraged her to pursue show business. Mae later said that if it hadn't of been for her mother, she might not have tried the stage at all.

Mae began performing when she was five. She was known as the "Baby Vamp", and from the beginning, she behaved like a star. When the audience at an amateur show threw coins after her performance, Mae refused to pick them up. Her father and his buddies had to run around the stage to retrieve the money.

During her teen years, Mae developed her sensual and slow-paced style in a series of solo and group vaudeville acts. It was then that she acquired her famous leisurely walk with a hand on one hip. She was a big hit with male audiences, especially soldiers and college men. Though she had not yet grown into her generous curves, slinky, dark-haired Mae was already raising eyebrows with her "shimmy" dance.

At the age of seventeen, Frank Wallace, Mae's partner at the time, convinced her to falsify her age and marry him. She insisted on keeping the union secret as her mother had encouraged her to date a variety of men and not to jeopardize her career by settling down. Mae agreed with her mother and didn't stay with Frank for very long.

When her vaudeville prospects seemed to be on the decline, Mae decided to try legitimate theater. She wrote her first play, under the pen name Jane Mast, and played the lead. From the moment it opened, Sex was a notorious play. The critics despised it, but ticket sales were good. A year into the production, the police raided it and three other productions for indecency.

Along with the principal cast and producers, Mae was sentenced to ten days in jail. She served eight, with two days off for good behavior. She seems to have spent a comfortable conviction; she even convinced the warden to let her wear her own silk underwear instead of the scratchy prison issue variety. Once free, she wrote a magazine article about the experience and donated her $1000 fee to the prison library.

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