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Kohuke is a Toa of Stone, a member of the Toa Toiri who joined the Toa Rangi to help them complete their mission. Tasked with the protection and large-scale maintenance of Le-Metru Moto-Hubs and Chute Stations, Kohuke is an easygoing and friendly Toa. He's always eager to help and provide his insight, and is the "heart" of the Toa Toiri, often serving as a mediator between Tinoro and Kōpera.
He's an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, enhancing his blows with his Crystal Blasters which are capable of creating and shooting pure elemental energy as well as creating crystal and gem-like protodermis formations. His Great Tipu, Mask of Growth, is especially powerful and allows him to have total control of the battlefield.
Mask of Growth by @rothanaki
Symmetrical Flames by Vahki6
A cross between the Shih Tzu and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the Cava Tzu is an excellent companion! Not only are Cava Tzus absolutely adorable with their big eyes and floppy ears, but they also have easy-going, people-loving personalities and get along well with children and other dogs! Cava Tzus love to cuddle and don’t require a lot of exercise.
Part of the images that the amazing Adon Magazine didnt use.
And thanks to the amazing, easygoing and stunningly handomse Pawel Attig and to my friend, amazing artist and accomplise on crime Mary Torres
Here is my Instagram @tim_asato
You can check the complete article in www.adonmagazine.com/editorials/adon-exclusive-model-pawe...
I always dream to be feature by this juggernaut of a magazine. Thank you so muchhhh Adon Magazine
And thanks to the amazing, easygoing and stunningly handomse Pawel Attig and to my friend, amazing artist and accomplise on crime Mary Torres
Here is my Instagram @tim_asato
You can check the complete article in www.adonmagazine.com/editorials/adon-exclusive-model-pawe...
Very rare and old breed from the Czech Republic. Originally bred as carriage horse, but nowadays also used as a dressage horse. One of the characteristics of this breed is that they are really easygoing and cooperative. Besides that you can also recognize them quite easily because of their Roman nose (convex face).
June 18.
I met with a lawyer yesterday to start the process of incorporating. I've been supporting myself through graphic design for a while now and incorporating will save me a lot of money on taxes. I've thought about this decision for years and finally decided it was time to take the plunge.
The studio name is something I came up with an hour before my meeting with the lawyer. Nomenclature is not my strong suit (I wrestled for 2 or 3 days earlier this year before finally deciding to name my computer's hard drives after Roman goddesses). "Blue Chalk Studio" feels approachable and easygoing. Which seems like a good fit. Also, after years of spelling my own name for people in various business and personal contexts, I am happy to have settled on a studio name I don't have to spell.
I was crossing the intersection and took a photo of this worker when she was facing forward. Standing about four feet from her, she must have felt my presence. Suddenly, she look at me and smile, and at this very moment I took this picture. After, I asked her if it was okay - She replied yeah, in an easy going way! P7900
I always dream to be feature by this juggernaut of a magazine. Thank you so muchhhh Adon Magazine
And thanks to the amazing, easygoing and stunningly handomse Pawel Attig and to my friend, amazing artist and accomplise on crime Mary Torres
Here is my Instagram @tim_asato
You can check the complete article in www.adonmagazine.com/editorials/adon-exclusive-model-pawe...
I always dream to be feature by this juggernaut of a magazine. Thank you so muchhhh Adon Magazine
And thanks to the amazing, easygoing and stunningly handomse Pawel Attig and to my friend, amazing artist and accomplise on crime Mary Torres
Here is my Instagram @tim_asato
You can check the complete article inwww.adonmagazine.com/editorials/adon-exclusive-model-pawel-attig-by-tim-asato
Sorry for so many uploads today. I'm feeling so inspired and everything is clicking so I don't want to stop. :) This time...beach grass. Oh how I love beach grass like this. It relaxes me and reminds me of lazy days spent at the shore with family.
I always dream to be feature by this juggernaut of a magazine. Thank you so muchhhh Adon Magazine
And thanks to the amazing, easygoing and stunningly handomse Pawel Attig and to my friend, amazing artist and accomplise on crime Mary Torres
Here is my Instagram @tim_asato
You can check the complete article in www.adonmagazine.com/editorials/adon-exclusive-model-pawe...
A wonderful easygoing shoot with Gareth Wyn Hazzelby. We’ve known each other from the local neighbourhood for years, so it was brilliant to finally get to meet properly and chat in depth.
FLIPP – Mesh Hair by Vladdy
Clean sectioning meets carefree motion — Flipp is a short-to-mid dread style with a soft, flipped-out edge and detailed loc texture. Designed for avatars who stay laid-back but locked in.
It’s not doing too much — just enough to stand out.
✔️ Unrigged & resizable
✔️ HD textured locs
✔️ Includes tintable hairbase
✔️ Two finish options (Black & Silver Star pack)
✔️ Built for confident, easygoing looks
Low effort. High impact.
Available now at the mainstore and on Marketplace.
🚕 Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vladdy/153/127/2000
Vladdy Original.
© 2025 Vladdy LLC. All rights reserved.
Kohuke is a Toa of Stone, a member of the Toa Toiri who joined the Toa Rangi to help them complete their mission. Tasked with the protection and large-scale maintenance of Le-Metru Moto-Hubs and Chute Stations, Kohuke is an easygoing and friendly Toa. He's always eager to help and provide his insight, and is the "heart" of the Toa Toiri, often serving as a mediator between Tinoro and Kōpera.
He's an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, enhancing his blows with his Crystal Blasters which are capable of creating and shooting pure elemental energy as well as creating crystal and gem-like protodermis formations. His Great Tipu, Mask of Growth, is especially powerful and allows him to have total control of the battlefield.
Mask of Growth by @rothanaki
Symmetrical Flames by Vahki6
Tangelo is a gorgeous buff-orange longhaired young guy (1 year old), who is friendly to people and other cats and quite relaxed/easygoing. We didn't think he'd last long - and he did go home 21 March 2017.
(This is the best face shot in the "shutter speed up to 800" category rather than "frozen at 1600" category (to get enough not-blurred photos for the shelter to upload to Petfinder.) Not as sweet, much more intense. Better photo. ... decisions, decisions... sent both to the 'upload to Petfinder' folks.)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1542/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.
Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.
At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.
In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..
In 2002 Spirit became the first Montana Grizzly to be placed at the Center. As a six-year-old, mother of two, Spirit was known by Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists as "Easy" because of her easygoing personality and was often seen roaming the beach or golf course near the community in Whitefish, Montana. She obtained some human food and was passing on this behavior to both her cubs. Although she never was involved with aggressive tendency toward humans, it was only a matter of time before a dangerous situation became a reality. Spirit was relocated six times, but continued to return to the golf community even after intensive aversive conditioning with the use of Karelian Bear Dogs, cracker shells and rubber bullets. After one of her cubs was killed by a car, officials decided to remove the other cub by placing it in captivity at the Denver Zoo, and then to remove Spirit from the wild forever. Soon after arriving at the Center, this bear received the name Spirit in honor of the spritual signigicance of grizzlies to many Native American people.
Top Ten Signs That City Life Isn't For You:
1. You aren't prepared to pay high rent costs.
2. You don't like the idea of public transporation.
3. You dislike crowds.
4. You prefer a slow, easygoing lifestyle over the hustle and bustle of city life.
5. You don't like following the newest trends.
6. You prefer nature to artificial environments.
7. You don't feel safe around city crime.
8. You love animals, but would need a lot of space to own them.
9. You get lost in a crowd easily.
10. You find the Eye of Az'cthernezh unsettling.
It's been six weeks or so since I used my DSLR.
This morning was the ripe time to dust it off and take some easygoing snaps at sunrise on Durban Beachfront.
No heavy processing like I'm used to and love - only my standard Lightroom preset.
Great to get out and play with the Nifty-Fifty (50 mm).
I was tagged by Roz first ...
1 - I am mystified that I so consistently seem to piss people off just by being me.
2 - I truly believe that I am looking more and more like Snoopy each passing day of my pregnancy.
3 - When I was a kid I believed Snoopy was "real" ... I still do.
I wanted to replace Charles M Schulz when I grew up but respected and admired him for wanting Peanuts to retire with him rather than risk corruption by profit minded individuals.
4 - I used to be jealous of my brother for being SO easygoing and good at everything, now I congratulate him for it, that's personal growth!
5 - I worry I will be a terrible parent. I am still disappointed the gender surprise was ruined.
6 - I am old enough that I had to use food products to dye my hair funny colours "back in the day" I look terrible with green hair and one day I will post the proof.
7 - I am incapable of a celebrity crush. Sure, I can think so and so is cute or talented but beyond that, not at all.
8 - I still miss Brownguy like crazy. Sherman rocks but Brownguy was my true soul mate.
9 - At least once a week I am amazed by the generosity of "internet" friends. I believe they are "real" too.
10 - I procrastinate far too much.
11 - I thought I would be far wealthier by this point in my life and I'm pissed about it!
12 - I almost never vomit ... no matter HOW bad I feel. Not sure this is a good thing.
13 - I used to hate my hair when I was a kid, now I hate aging and my bizarre post accident chin.
14 - I love to eat and will eat just about anything. I cut the spoiled bits off of food and eat it anyway. -- obviously (I hope) I don't actually EAT spoiled food. I sniff test first! I get upset just thinking about the volume of food which goes uneaten in the western world when so many are starving.
15 - I am a classic underachiever.
16 - when I first got into Blythes even I didn't think I would still love them this much 3 years later.
bonus - Pi is my true love though. I think everybody knows that which is why it is not in my "16"
Not only is the Beagle an excellent hunting dog and loyal companion, it is also happy-go-lucky, funny, and thanks to its pleading expression cute. They were bred to hunt in packs, so they enjoy company and are generally easygoing.
The Scandola Nature Reserve (19.19 km²: 9.19 km² land; 10 km² marine), established in December, 1975, is located on the French island Corsica, within Corsica Regional Park. The park and reserve has been recognized by the United Nations as a Natural World Heritage Site, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
The Scandola Reserve is situated on the central western coast of Corsica between Punta Muchillina and Punta Nera and includes Cape Girolata and Cape Porto.
The reserve has two sectors, the Elpa Nera inlet and the peninsula of Scandola. The jagged and sheer cliffs contain many grottos and are flanked by numerous stacks and almost inaccessible islets and coves, such as Tuara. The coastline is also noted for its red cliffs, some 900 metres high, sand beaches, and headlands.
(Wikipedia)
-----
We spent a day hiking close to the Scandola nature reserve visiting isolated hamlet of Girolata that may only be reached on foot or by boat, however not with a car - it is really a tranquil, remote and easygoing place offering remarkable picturesque views during the walk.
So I've seen some people who do self portraits do the alphabet which I thought was a great idea in helping me come up with ideas. Although I was already stumped with A, so we'll see how this goes.
Texture used: www.flickr.com/photos/my3peas/2417052136/in/s et-721576040...
I want to be kinder. I want to feel at peace with myself and my decisions. I want to live more honestly and spontaneously. I want to be more mindful.
Drunk on wine or feelings or words. Restless at sunset and fulfilled under a starry sky. I want to be kicked out of my comfort zone, I want to feel cold and rough and alive before I return to the comfort of home. I want to be more gentle with myself, recognizing that it is okay if on some days, I am none of these things — Not motivated, not inspired, not easygoing and spontaneous. Bundled up in feelings, wrapped up in a blanket of cloudy thoughts. I need these days, too. Crying is always good (except for when the headache kicks in). It brings out heavy feelings, and it loosens that knot in my stomach. It is honest, and vulnerable, and I want to be that more than I want to pull myself together.
More moments by myself. In the rain on my way home. In the corner of a cosy coffee shop. In the safe space of my car. In the forests of my youth and open fields of what’s to come. Finding myself, again and again and again.
I want to wear my heart on my sleeve. I need to find what makes me feel complete again, so that I can focus on human connections more. I miss some friendships so badly and it hurts to realize that I am the one who is helping the distance grow. I want to get excited again. About anything. Traveling, seeing people, creating, even just getting up in the morning. I miss being excited.
I want to do things even if I can’t explain why I want to do them. I want to know what it feels like when everything is quiet except for my own thoughts. I want to explore who I am when no one else is around.
I want to create more. Imperfectly, spontaneously, better done in any way I can today than not at all.
I want to fall deeply into people’s minds. I want to be open and welcoming for thoughts that don’t match my own. I want to be able to set my own feelings aside and be there for others. I don’t want my feelings to be so heavy they don’t leave room for anything else.
I want to find out why I do what I do. I want to do what I decide to keep doing with all of my heart.
Even though it doesn’t feel quite right, sometimes being kind and hurting others can go hand in hand. I wish being kind to myself would mean being kind to others. But it doesn’t always work this way and sometimes I am just trying to listen to myself more.
"Beethoven is called a genius. But we need to be aware that his genius was based on incredibly strenuous effort. It all comes down to hard work, to tenacious efforts. You cannot become a person of the highest caliber if you have a casual, easygoing attitude, thinking things will somehow just fall into place. Accordingly, Beethoven's motto was 'No day without a line.' Every day without fail, he wrote music. He would not let even a single day pass" [zui gi sho setsu]
The Sandy River Bridge at the edge of Troutdale, OR was constructed in 1914. This steel truss bridge is the western most gateway of the Historic Columbia River Highway. Crossing the span leads the easygoing traveler to many of Oregon’s most noteworthy waterfalls.
British postcard by Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1369. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.
Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.
At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.
In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..
Dortmund, April 2014
It was one of the first warm days here in Dortmund, everybody was like "let's get in the sun, let's get something to drink, let's go in the park, fast fast fast!"
Then I saw this man. Black coat, long jeans, hands crossed behind his back, walking very slowly like he didn't care about all the stress.
Thanks for the favs,views and following me!
Kohuke is a Toa of Stone, a member of the Toa Toiri who joined the Toa Rangi to help them complete their mission. Tasked with the protection and large-scale maintenance of Le-Metru Moto-Hubs and Chute Stations, Kohuke is an easygoing and friendly Toa. He's always eager to help and provide his insight, and is the "heart" of the Toa Toiri, often serving as a mediator between Tinoro and Kōpera.
He's an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, enhancing his blows with his Crystal Blasters which are capable of creating and shooting pure elemental energy as well as creating crystal and gem-like protodermis formations. His Great Tipu, Mask of Growth, is especially powerful and allows him to have total control of the battlefield.
Mask of Growth by @rothanaki
Symmetrical Flames by Vahki6
In 2012 while passing through Tamworth I located the main regional base for Cleanaway and dropped in to say g’day to hopefully a friendly manager and easygoing depot staff. It worked out no bosses were there and instead only a young office lady was around to greet me, who was very kind to take myself out the back and provide a look at the trucks, allowing me the opportunity to snap some photos. She didn’t know if she was supposed to do what she did, and with my experience and what I know, it’s very likely she probably wasn’t supposed to escort me onsite, but luckily she was a very kind individual and a top chick to accommodate my intentions. One part of the fleet I got to lay eyes on was the group of side loaders utilised for the Tamworth City Council domestic collections contract. As seen here there are five Superior Pak Iveco side loaders which were put to work in 2009, plus a sixth which rocked up after I took this photo. I imagine it equates to something along the lines of 3 for garbage, 2 for recycling and 1 for garden organics. You can’t miss that older ACCO on the far end of the line up, which I imagine was a spare truck alongside a 4x2 MJE/Hino being most likely ex-ACT, but no idea where the International came from, probably interstate though.
The Scandola Nature Reserve (19.19 km²: 9.19 km² land; 10 km² marine), established in December, 1975, is located on the French island Corsica, within Corsica Regional Park. The park and reserve has been recognized by the United Nations as a Natural World Heritage Site, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
The Scandola Reserve is situated on the central western coast of Corsica between Punta Muchillina and Punta Nera and includes Cape Girolata and Cape Porto.
The reserve has two sectors, the Elpa Nera inlet and the peninsula of Scandola. The jagged and sheer cliffs contain many grottos and are flanked by numerous stacks and almost inaccessible islets and coves, such as Tuara. The coastline is also noted for its red cliffs, some 900 metres high, sand beaches, and headlands.
(Wikipedia)
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We spent a day hiking close to the Scandola nature reserve visiting isolated hamlet of Girolata that may only be reached on foot or by boat, however not with a car - it is really a tranquil, remote and easygoing place offering remarkable picturesque views during the walk.
Kohuke is a Toa of Stone, a member of the Toa Toiri who joined the Toa Rangi to help them complete their mission. Tasked with the protection and large-scale maintenance of Le-Metru Moto-Hubs and Chute Stations, Kohuke is an easygoing and friendly Toa. He's always eager to help and provide his insight, and is the "heart" of the Toa Toiri, often serving as a mediator between Tinoro and Kōpera.
He's an experienced hand-to-hand combatant, enhancing his blows with his Crystal Blasters which are capable of creating and shooting pure elemental energy as well as creating crystal and gem-like protodermis formations. His Great Tipu, Mask of Growth, is especially powerful and allows him to have total control of the battlefield.
Mask of Growth by @rothanaki
Symmetrical Flames by Vahki6
This is a view as we left Mooney Falls and worked our way north down Havasu Creek on the way to Beaver Falls. A paradise. Just north of here we enterred an area of incredible grape vines filling the whole canyon.
Here is my triplog of the adventure hikearizona.com/x.php?I=4&ZTN=58&UID=21152
For additional information I highly recommend "Exploring Havasupai - A guide to the heart of the Grand Canyon" by Greg Witt with photos by Derek von Briesen. www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=exploring+havasupa...
“One summer I started off to visit for the first time the city of Los Angeles. I was riding with some friends from the University of New Mexico. On the way we stopped off briefly to roll an old tire into the Grand Canyon. While watching the tire bounce over tall pine trees, tear hell out of a mule train and disappear with a final grand leap into the inner gorge, I overheard the park ranger standing nearby say a few words about a place called Havasu, or Havasupai. A branch, it seemed, of the Grand Canyon.
“What I heard made me think that I should see Havasu immediately, before something went wrong somewhere. My friends said they would wait. So I went down into Havasu—fourteen miles by trail—and looked things over. When I returned five weeks later I discovered that the others had gone on to Los Angeles without me.
“That was fifteen years ago. And still I have not seen the fabulous city on the Pacific shore. Perhaps I never will. …
“But Havasu. Once down in there it’s hard to get out. … I bought a slab of bacon and six cans of beans at the village post office, rented a large comfortable horse and proceeded farther down the canyon… to the ruins of an old mining camp five miles below the village. There I lived, mostly alone except for the ghosts, for the next thirty-five days.
“There was nothing wrong with the Indians. The Supai are a charming cheerful completely relaxed and easygoing bunch, all one hundred or so of them. But I had no desire to live among them unless clearly invited to do so, and I wasn’t. Even if invited I might not have accepted. I’m not sure that I care for the idea of strangers examining my daily habits and folkways, studying my language, inspecting my costume, questioning me about my religion, classifying my artifacts, investigating my sexual rites and evaluating my chances for cultural survival.
“So I lived alone.” Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire [196-7]
IMGP0701
British Real Photograph postcard, no. 68.A. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.
Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.
At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.
In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..
Emerald is named after her gorgeous eyes but her lovely dilute calico markings don't hurt one bit. She is affectionate and easygoing with her people. She found a new home 3 January 2015.
Finnish summer lasts about three months, but sometimes it extend a bit further to autumn depending on your luck. During the summer time there's a plenty of light because the country is situated on both sides of polar circle. This also means that during the summer time the sun doesn't set at all in the northern Finland. We happen to live in southern Finland so we get some sunsets and few hours of dark every night even during the summer. Photographically speaking this provides great opportunities as the golden hour extends over many hours, but you have to be ready to stay up for bit longer as the best light usually comes around 11 close to midnight at midsummer. Naturally this shifts earlier as we proceed to autumn and the dark starts earlier.
Today I'm sharing a small set of Finnish summer scenes which hopefully give you a some sort idea how it looks here during the summer (which will soon be over). I have not roamed on any national sceneries as I think there is are always those available elsewhere. Instead I just decided to 'collect' some sceneries where we've been during the summer and use them as a sort of average of Finnish summer. These pictures include some sceneries from Åland islands, eastern Finland and my home town Tampere. Nothing mind blowing, but more of the usual which is still very nice.
While collecting these kind of sceneries I was also pretty surprised to found out how much I actually preferred Loxias for this type of shooting. The sceneries seldom jump around which of course makes them easy targets for manual focusing lenses, but there is something very nice with Loxias when focusing manually and taking your time to plan a shot - perfect lenses for easygoing shoots and great size wise as well, if you ask me. Considering the optical characteristics their contrast driven rendering also suits very well for landscape work, and when stopped down to f/8 or F/11 the Loxia 2/50 and 2/35 draw just beautifully in a way which is more than just 'better corner performance'. I know it sounds odd, but with Loxias I've developed a new kind of taste for using smaller apertures as the pictures just look tasty with plenty of 'something' which I hesitate to call 'micro-contrast' or similar as I think using trendy catch words just guide one's eyes away from the real aesthetic experience. Instead I would suggest, if you have a chance, to shoot few hundred frames with Loxias and just try to get a feeling of them. Many have fallen love with them with reasons that some might call 'too subjective in a way that doesn't align with chart tests', but like a taste for wines, the subjective feeling is really the best argument for choosing a lens for your own photography. When it comes to my taste, I know there is something in the Loxia that I prefer over Batis-lenses. Maybe it's the overall concept, 'tradition' or shooting experience which just calls me to use these lenses, I don't know.
So, how's the summer been this year in Finland? To be honest, I was hoping a bit more sunny days as there were some weeks when the sky was just clouded. Couple of years back we got a crazy heat wave with over 50 days of hot weather (over 25 degrees of Celsius or 77 Fahrenheit) continuously. Don't get me wrong, there were hot days in this summer too, but like I said, I was kind of hoping of that heat wave again.
Days of Zeiss: www.daysofzeiss.com
Dutch collectors card in the series 'Filmsterren: een Portret' by Edito Service, 1992. Photo: Universal / The Kobal Collection. Mae West in My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940).
Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.
Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.
At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.
In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..
Despite the coffee cup, Jeff had just walked out of a bar. I asked him if I could take his picture. He was good-humored about it, chuckling "uhhhh, sure" and stood against the corner of Georgetown Records, for me. After I'd taken a few frames, he asked me to explain what I was doing taking pictures of random people. After I described my project and how it's a hands-on way for little old me to get better at portraiture, he smiled and said "that works for me". I know I'm supposed to get to know a little about people for the project, but Jeff seemed like a no-nonsense person, I wasn't going to pepper him with chit-chat while it was raining.
Despite the serious look on his face in the other picture, Jeff seemed like an easygoing guy (a no-nonsense, easygoing person). He was laughing during my fourth and final frame. I like the way he looks taking a drag on his cigarette, here. It's a just go ahead and do your thing, man look. I've included a redux because I like seeing his entire face, especially the pepper in his beard.
postscript: I've got to be completely honest. I can't remember if Jeff's name is actually Jeff, or John. It's something that starts with a J. This makes me so mad at myself, details are important to me. I'm going to go with Jeff since it seems like the name "Jeff" gets a bad rap, sometimes. I even have a cousin Jeff who's a ruffian and has spent some time in prison. When we were kids, he had a three-wheeler that he rode very dangerously and selfishly around the yard while us chaste, "good" cousins could only watch with our mouths hanging wide-open with envy.
Michael Pollan is a writer, journalist, and thought leader whose work explores the intersections of food, nature, culture, and consciousness. Through his bestselling books, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and How to Change Your Mind, he has challenged conventional wisdom about what we eat and how we think.
I photographed Pollan on April 20, 2022, at his home and in his lush Berkeley garden. The setting was perfect—his deep connection to the natural world was evident in the verdant surroundings, a living testament to his philosophy on food and the environment. Dressed entirely in blue denim, he carried himself with a relaxed presence that mirrored the easygoing nature of our conversation.
We spoke at length about the state of modern food systems and how they have shaped human health, culture, and the environment. Pollan has long argued for a return to more traditional foodways, encouraging a diet centered around whole, minimally processed foods. His insights into the industrial food system, the politics of agriculture, and the consequences of factory farming have made his work essential reading for anyone interested in how food shapes our world. He remains a vocal advocate for sustainable farming, biodiversity, and the importance of reconnecting with the sources of our nourishment.
Beyond food, Pollan has turned his attention to the science and history of psychedelics. His work in How to Change Your Mind explores how substances like psilocybin and LSD have played a role in shaping human consciousness and how they might be used therapeutically in modern medicine. The book has helped reignite public interest and scientific research into the benefits of psychedelics for mental health treatment, particularly in addressing depression, anxiety, and PTSD. His ability to distill complex topics into compelling narratives has brought these discussions to a wider audience, fostering new conversations about mental health and neuroscience.
Pollan’s ability to synthesize complex ideas into accessible narratives has made him one of the most influential writers of our time. Whether guiding readers through the industrial food system or the science of consciousness, he challenges us to think more deeply about our choices. Thoughtful, funny, and always engaging, Pollan continues to shape public discourse with his insightful storytelling and clear, humane voice. His work stands at the crossroads of science, philosophy, and everyday life, urging readers to reconsider their relationship with food, nature, and their own minds.
Just a bunch of random shots.
Interesting how much more easygoing Daisy has become regarding my public picture taking. I wouldn't say she's exactly loving it....but at least she doesn't flip out over it anymore. 😉
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.
Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared in The Lucky Dog (1921), but were not teamed at the time. They first appeared together in a short film in 1926, when they signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach film studio. They officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared in the silent short Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with Roach until 1940, and then appeared in eight B movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their film commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing stage shows, and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. They made their last film in 1950, a French–Italian co-production called Atoll K.
They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including in the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936. On December 1, 1954, they made their sole American television appearance, when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, their works have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of professional comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is The Sons of the Desert, after a fictional fraternal society in the film of the same name.
History as Laurel and Hardy
Hal Roach
Hal Roach recounted how Laurel and Hardy became a team: Hardy was already working for Roach (and others) when Roach hired Laurel, whom he had seen in vaudeville. Laurel had very light blue eyes, and Roach discovered that, due to the technology of film at that time, Laurel's eyes wouldn't photograph properly—blue photographed as white. This problem is apparent in their first silent film together, The Lucky Dog, where an attempt was made to compensate for the problem by applying heavy makeup to Laurel's eyes. For about a year, Roach had Laurel work at the studio as a writer. Then panchromatic film was developed; they tested Laurel, and found the problem was solved. Laurel and Hardy were then put together in a film, and they seemed to complement each other. Comedy teams were usually composed of a straight man and a funny man, but these two were both comedians; however, each knew how to play the straight man when the script required it. Roach said, "You could always cut to a close-up of either one, and their reaction was good for another laugh."
Style of comedy and characterizations
The humor of Laurel and Hardy was highly visual, with slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments (in character) which were quite complex and involved a cartoonish style of violence. Their ineptitude and misfortune precluded them from making any real progress, even in the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy involves "milking" a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis for multiple, ongoing gags without following a defined narrative.
Stan Laurel was of average height and weight, but appeared comparatively small and slight next to Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) and weighed about 280 lb (127 kg; 20 st 0 lb) in his prime. Details of their hair and clothing were used to enhance this natural contrast. Laurel kept his hair short on the sides and back, growing it long on top to create a natural "fright wig". Typically, at times of shock, he simultaneously screwed up his face to appear as if crying while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted on his forehead in spit curls and he sported a toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat-footed walk, Laurel removed the heels from his shoes. Both wore bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a flattened brim. The characters' normal attire called for wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a necktie which he would twiddle when he was particularly self-conscious; and Laurel, a bow tie. Hardy's sports jacket was a little small and done up with one straining button, whereas Laurel's double-breasted jacket was loose-fitting.
A popular routine was a "tit for tat" fight with an adversary. It could be with their wives—often played by Mae Busch, Anita Garvin, or Daphne Pollard—or with a neighbor, often played by Charlie Hall or James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone's property, and the injured party would retaliate by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After calmly surveying the damage, one or the other of the "offended" parties found something else to vandalize, and the conflict escalated until both sides were simultaneously destroying items in front of each other. An early example of the routine occurs in their classic short Big Business (1929), which was added to the National Film Registry in 1992. Another short film which revolves around such an altercation was titled Tit for Tat (1935).
One of their best-remembered dialogue devices was the "Tell me that again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he came up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would then try to repeat the idea, but, having instantly forgotten it, babble utter nonsense. Hardy, who had difficulty understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly, would then understand the jumbled version perfectly. While much of their comedy remained visual, humorous dialogue often occurred in Laurel and Hardy's talking films as well. Examples include:
"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led." (Laurel, Brats)
"I was dreaming I was awake, but I woke up and found meself asleep." (Laurel, Oliver the Eighth)
"A lot of weather we've been having lately." (Hardy, Way Out West)
In some cases, their comedy bordered on the surreal, in a style Laurel called "white magic". For example, in the 1937 film Way Out West, Laurel flicks his thumb upward as if working a lighter. His thumb ignites and he matter-of-factly lights Hardy's pipe. Amazed at seeing this, Hardy unsuccessfully attempts to duplicate it throughout the film. Much later he finally succeeds, only to be terrified when his thumb catches fire. Laurel expands the joke in the 1938 film Block-Heads by pouring tobacco into his clenched fist and smoking it as though it were a pipe, again to Hardy's bemusement. This time, the joke ends when a match Laurel was using relights itself, Hardy throws it into the fireplace, and it explodes with a loud bang.
Rather than showing Hardy suffering the pain of misfortunes, such as falling down stairs or being beaten by a thug, banging and crashing sound effects were often used so the audience could visualize the mayhem. The 1927 film Sailors, Beware! was a significant one for Hardy because two of his enduring trademarks were developed. The first was his "tie twiddle" to demonstrate embarrassment. Hardy, while acting, had received a pail of water in the face. He said, "I had been expecting it, but I didn't expect it at that particular moment. It threw me mentally and I couldn't think what to do next, so I waved the tie in a kind of tiddly-widdly fashion to show embarrassment while trying to look friendly." His second trademark was the "camera look", where he breaks the fourth wall and, in frustration, stares directly at the audience. Hardy said: "I had to become exasperated, so I just stared right into the camera and registered my disgust." Offscreen, Laurel and Hardy were quite the opposite of their movie characters: Laurel was the industrious "idea man", while Hardy was more easygoing.
Catchphrases
Laurel and Hardy's best-known catchphrase is, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" It was earlier used by W. S. Gilbert in both The Mikado (1885) and The Grand Duke (1896). It was first used by Hardy in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case in 1930. In popular culture, the catchphrase is often misquoted as "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into", which was never spoken by Hardy—a misunderstanding that stems from the title of their film Another Fine Mess. When Hardy said the phrase, Laurel's frequent, iconic response was to start to cry, pull his hair up, exclaim "Well, I couldn't help it...", then whimper and speak gibberish.
Some variations on the phrase occurred. For example, in Chickens Come Home, Ollie impatiently says to Stan, "Well...", and Stan continues for him: "Here's another nice mess I've gotten you into." The films Thicker than Water and The Fixer Uppers use the phrase "Well, here's another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in!" In Saps at Sea, the phrase becomes "Well, here's another nice bucket of suds you've gotten me into!" The catchphrase, in its original form, was used as the last line of dialogue in the duo's last film, Atoll K (1951).
In moments of particular distress or frustration, Hardy often exclaims, "Why don't you do something to help me?", as Laurel stands helplessly by.
"OH!" (or drawn out as "Ohhhhh-OH!") was another catchphrase used by Hardy. He uses the expression in the duo's first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) when his character's wife smashes a record over his head.
Mustachioed Scottish actor James Finlayson, who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films, used a variation: "D'oh!" The phrase, expressing surprise, impatience, or incredulity, inspired the trademark "D'oh!" of character Homer Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) in the long-running animated comedy The Simpsons.
Films
Laurel's and Hardy's first film pairing, although as separate performers, was in the silent The Lucky Dog. Its production details have not survived, but film historian Bo Berglund has placed it between September 1920 and January 1921. According to interviews they gave in the 1930s, the pair's acquaintance at the time was casual, and both had forgotten their initial film entirely. The plot sees Laurel's character befriended by a stray dog which, after some lucky escapes, saves him from being blown up by dynamite. Hardy's character is a mugger attempting to rob Laurel. They later signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach Studios, and next appeared in the 1926 film 45 Minutes From Hollywood.
Hal Roach is considered the most important person in the development of Laurel's and Hardy's film careers. He brought them together, and they worked for Roach for almost 20 years. Director Charley Rogers, who worked closely with the three men for many years, said, "It could not have happened if Laurel, Hardy, and Roach had not met at the right place and the right time." Their first "official" film together was Putting Pants on Philip, released December 3, 1927. The plot involves Laurel as Philip, a young Scotsman who arrives in the United States in full kilted splendor, and suffers mishaps involving the kilts. His uncle, played by Hardy, tries to put trousers on him. Also in 1927, the pair starred in The Battle of the Century, a classic pie-throwing short involving over 3,000 real pies; only a fragment of the film was known to exist until the first half resurfaced in the 1970s; a more complete print was discovered in 2015 by historian Jon Mirsalis.
Laurel said to the duo's biographer John McCabe: "Of all the questions we're asked, the most frequent is, how did we come together? I always explain that we came together naturally." Laurel and Hardy were joined by accident and grew by indirection. In 1926, both were part of the Roach Comedy All Stars, a stock company of actors who took part in a series of films. Laurel's and Hardy's parts gradually grew larger, while those of their fellow stars diminished, because Laurel and Hardy had superior pantomime skills. Their teaming was suggested by Leo McCarey, their supervising director from 1927 and 1930. During that period, McCarey and Laurel jointly devised the team's format. McCarey also influenced the slowing of their comedy action from the silent era's typically frantic pace to a more natural one. The formula worked so well that Laurel and Hardy played the same characters for the next 30 years.
Although Roach employed writers and directors such as H. M. Walker, Leo McCarey, James Parrott, and James W. Horne on the Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel, who had a considerable background in comedy writing, often rewrote entire sequences and scripts. He also encouraged the cast and crew to improvise, then meticulously reviewed the footage during editing. By 1929, he was the pair's head writer, and it was reported that the writing sessions were gleefully chaotic. Stan had three or four writers who competed with him in a perpetual game of 'Can You Top This?' Hardy was quite happy to leave the writing to his partner. He said, "After all, just doing the gags was hard enough work, especially if you have taken as many falls and been dumped in as many mudholes as I have. I think I earned my money." Laurel eventually became so involved in their films' productions, many film historians and aficionados consider him an uncredited director. He ran the Laurel and Hardy set, no matter who was in the director's chair, but never asserted his authority. Roach remarked: "Laurel bossed the production. With any director, if Laurel said 'I don't like this idea,' the director didn't say 'Well, you're going to do it anyway.' That was understood." As Laurel made so many suggestions, there was not much left for the credited director to do.
Their 1929 silent Big Business is by far the most critically acclaimed. Laurel and Hardy are Christmas tree salesmen who are drawn into a classic tit-for-tat battle, with a character played by James Finlayson, that eventually destroys his house and their car. Big Business was added to the United States National Film Registry as a national treasure in 1992.
Sound films
In 1929 the silent era of film was coming to an end. Many silent-film actors failed to make the transition to "talkies"—some, because they felt sound was irrelevant to their craft of conveying stories with body language; and others, because their spoken voices were considered inadequate for the new medium. However, the addition of spoken dialogue only enhanced Laurel's and Hardy's performances; both had extensive theatrical experience, and could use their voices to great comic effect. Their films also continued to feature much visual comedy. In these ways, they made a seamless transition to their first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) (whose title was a play on the familiar phrase, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking"). In the opening dialogue, Laurel and Hardy began by spoofing the slow and self-conscious speech of the early talking actors which became a routine they would use regularly.
The Music Box (1932), with the pair delivering a piano up a long flight of steps, won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject. The Music Box remains one of the duo's most widely known films.
Laurel and Hardy were favorites around the world, and Hal Roach catered to international audiences by filming many of their early talkies in other languages. They spoke their dialogue phonetically, in Spanish, Italian, French, or German. The plots remained similar to the English versions, although the supporting actors were often changed to those who were fluent in the native language. Pardon Us (1931) was reshot in all four foreign languages. Blotto, Hog Wild and Be Big! were remade in French and Spanish versions. Night Owls was remade in both Spanish and Italian, and Below Zero and Chickens Come Home in Spanish.
Feature films
Just as Laurel and Hardy's teaming was accidental, so was their entry into the field of feature films. In the words of biographer John McCabe, "Roach planned to use the MGM set [built for The Big House] for a simple prison-break two-reeler but MGM suddenly added a proviso: Laurel and Hardy would have to do a picture for them in exchange. Roach would not agree so he built his own prison set, a very expensive item for a two-reeler. So expensive was it indeed that he added four more reels to bring it into the feature category and, it was hoped, the bigger market." The experiment was successful, and the team continued to make features along with their established short subjects until 1935, when they converted to features exclusively.
Sons of the Desert (1933) is often cited as Laurel and Hardy's best feature-length film. The situation-comedy script by actor-playwright Frank Craven and screenwriter Byron Morgan is stronger than usual for a Laurel & Hardy comedy. Stan and Ollie are henpecked husbands who want to attend a convention held by the Sons of the Desert fraternal lodge. They tell their wives that Ollie requires an ocean voyage to Honolulu for his health, and they sneak off to the convention. They are unaware that the Honolulu-bound ship they were supposedly aboard is sinking, and the wives confront their errant husbands when they get home.
Babes in Toyland (1934) remains a perennial on American television during the Christmas season. When interviewed, Hal Roach spoke scathingly about the film and Laurel's behavior. Roach himself had written a treatment detailing the characters and storyline, only to find that Laurel considered Roach's effort totally unsuitable. Roach, affronted, tried to argue in favor of his treatment, but Laurel was adamant. Roach angrily gave up and allowed Laurel to make the film his way. The rift damaged Roach-Laurel relations to the point that Roach said that after Toyland, he didn't want to produce for Laurel and Hardy. Although their association continued for another six years, Roach no longer took an active hand in Laurel and Hardy films.
Way Out West (1937) was a personal favorite of both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. A satire of the Gene Autry musical westerns sweeping America at the time, the film combines Laurel and Hardy's slapstick routines with songs and dances performed by the stars.
It appeared that the team would split permanently in 1938. Hal Roach had become dissatisfied with his distribution arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had begun releasing his films through United Artists. He still owed MGM one last feature, and made the Laurel and Hardy comedy Block-Heads, with the announcement that this would be Laurel and Hardy's farewell film. Stan Laurel's contract with Roach then expired, and Roach did not renew it. Oliver Hardy's contract was still in force, however, and Roach starred Hardy solo in the antebellum comedy Zenobia (1939), with Harry Langdon as Hardy's comic foil. This fueled rumors that Laurel and Hardy had split on bad terms.
After Zenobia, Laurel rejoined Hardy and the team signed with independent producer Boris Morros for the comedy feature The Flying Deuces (1939). Meanwhile, Hal Roach wanted to demonstrate his new idea of making four-reel, 40-minute featurettes—twice the length of standard two-reel, 20-minute comedies—which Roach felt could fit more conveniently into double-feature programs. He referred to these extended films as "streamliners". To test his theory, Roach rehired Laurel and Hardy. The resulting films, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea (both 1940), were prepared as featurettes. United Artists overruled Roach and insisted that they be released as full-length features.
Hoping for greater artistic freedom, Laurel and Hardy split with Roach, and signed with 20th Century-Fox in 1941 and MGM in 1942. However, their working conditions were now completely different: they were simply hired actors, relegated to both studios’ B-film units, and not initially allowed to contribute to the scripts or improvise, as they had always done. When their films proved popular, the studios allowed them more input, and they starred in eight features until the end of 1944. These films, while far from their best work, were still very successful. Budgeted between $300,000 and $450,000 each, they earned millions at the box office for Fox and MGM. The Fox films were so profitable that the studio kept making Laurel and Hardy comedies after it discontinued its other "B" series films.
The busy team decided to take a rest during 1946, but 1947 saw their first European tour in 15 years. A film based in the charters of "Robin Hood" was planned during the tour, but not realized. In 1947, Laurel and Hardy famously attended the reopening of the Dungeness loop of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, where they performed improvised routines with a steam locomotive for the benefit of local crowds and dignitaries.
In 1948, on the team's return to America, Laurel was sidelined by illness and temporarily unable to work. He encouraged Hardy to take movie roles on his own. Hardy's friend John Wayne hired him to co-star in The Fighting Kentuckian for Republic Pictures, and Bing Crosby got him a small part in Frank Capra's Riding High.
In 1950–51, Laurel and Hardy made their final feature-length film together, Atoll K. A French-Italian co-production directed by Léo Joannon, it was plagued by problems with language barriers, production issues, and both actors' serious health issues. When Laurel received the script's final draft, he felt its heavy political content overshadowed the comedy. He quickly rewrote it, with screen comic Monte Collins contributing visual gags, and hired old friend Alfred Goulding to direct the Laurel and Hardy scenes. During filming, Hardy developed an irregular heartbeat, while Laurel experienced painful prostate complications that caused his weight to drop to 114 pounds. Critics were disappointed with the storyline, English dubbing, and Laurel's sickly physical appearance. The film was not commercially successful on its first release, and brought an end to Laurel and Hardy's film careers. Atoll K did finally turn a profit when it was rereleased in other countries. In 1954, an American distributor removed 18 minutes of footage and released it as Utopia; widely released on film and video, it is the film's best-known version.
After Atoll K wrapped in April 1951, Laurel and Hardy returned to America and used the remainder of the year to rest. Stan appeared, in character, in a silent TV newsreel, Swim Meet, judging a local California swimming contest.
Most Laurel and Hardy films have survived and are still in circulation. Only three of their 107 films are considered lost and have not been seen in complete form since the 1930s. The silent film Hats Off from 1927 has vanished completely. The first half of Now I'll Tell One (1927) is lost, and the second half has yet to be released on video. The Battle of the Century (1927), after years of obscurity, is now almost complete but a few minutes are missing. In the 1930 operatic Technicolor musical The Rogue Song, Laurel and Hardy appeared as comedy relief in 10 sequences; only one exists. The complete soundtrack has survived.
Radio
Laurel and Hardy made at least two audition recordings for radio, a half-hour NBC series, based on the skit, Driver’s License, and a 1944 NBC pilot for "The Laurel and Hardy Show," casting Stan and Ollie in different occupations each episode. The surviving audition record, "Mr. Slater's Poultry Market," has Stan and Ollie as meat-market butchers mistaken for vicious gangsters. A third attempt was commissioned by BBC Radio in 1953: "Laurel and Hardy Go to the Moon," a series of science-fiction comedies. A sample script was written by Tony Hawes and Denis Gifford, and the comedians staged a read-through, which was not recorded. The team was forced to withdraw due to Hardy's declining health, and the project was abandoned.
Final years
Following the making of Atoll K, Laurel and Hardy took some months off to deal with health issues. On their return to the European stage in 1952, they undertook a well-received series of public appearances, performing a short Laurel-written sketch, "A Spot of Trouble". The following year, Laurel wrote a routine entitled "Birds of a Feather". On September 9, 1953, their boat arrived in Cobh in Ireland. Laurel recounted their reception:
The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply unbelievable. There were hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about. And then something happened that I can never forget. All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song "Dance of the Cuckoos" and Babe (Oliver Hardy) looked at me and we cried. I'll never forget that day. Never.
On May 17, 1954, Laurel and Hardy made their last live stage performance in Plymouth, UK at the Palace Theatre. On December 1, 1954, they made their only American television appearance when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Lured to the Knickerbocker Hotel under the pretense of a business meeting with producer Bernard Delfont, the doors opened to their suite, #205, flooding the room with light and Edwards' voice. The telecast was preserved on a kinescope and later released on home video. Partly due to the broadcast's positive response, the team began renegotiating with Hal Roach Jr. for a series of color NBC Television specials, to be called Laurel and Hardy's Fabulous Fables. However, the plans had to be shelved as the aging comedians continued to suffer from declining health. In 1955, America's magazine TV Guide ran a color spread on the team with current photos. That year, they made their final public appearance together while taking part in This Is Music Hall, a BBC Television program about the Grand Order of Water Rats, a British variety organization. Laurel and Hardy provided a filmed insert where they reminisced about their friends in British variety. They made their final appearance on camera in 1956 in a private home movie, shot by a family friend at the Reseda, California home of Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois. The three-minute film has no audio.
In 1956, while following his doctor's orders to improve his health due to a heart condition, Hardy lost over 100 pounds (45 kg; 7.1 st), but nonetheless suffered several strokes causing reduced mobility and speech. Despite his long and successful career, Hardy's home was sold to help cover his medical expenses. He died of a stroke on August 7, 1957, and longtime friend Bob Chatterton said Hardy weighed just 138 pounds (63 kg; 9.9 st) at the time of his death. Hardy was laid to rest at Pierce Brothers' Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood. Following Hardy's death, scenes from Laurel and Hardy's early films were seen once again in theaters, featured in Robert Youngson's silent-film compilation The Golden Age of Comedy.
For the remaining eight years of his life, Stan Laurel refused to perform, and declined Stanley Kramer's offer of a cameo in his landmark 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1960, Laurel was given a special Academy Award for his contributions to film comedy, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to poor health. Actor Danny Kaye accepted the award on his behalf. Despite not appearing on screen after Hardy's death, Laurel did contribute gags to several comedy filmmakers. His favorite TV comedy was Leonard B. Stern's I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, co-starring John Astin and Marty Ingels as carpenters. Laurel enjoyed the Astin-Ingels chemistry and sent two-man gags to Stern.
During this period, most of his communication was in the form of written correspondence, and he insisted on personally answering every fan letter. Late in life, he welcomed visitors from the new generation of comedians and celebrities, including Dick Cavett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau, Johnny Carson, and Dick Van Dyke. Jerry Lewis offered Laurel a job as consultant, but he chose to help only on Lewis's 1960 feature The Bellboy.[citation needed]
Dick Van Dyke was a longtime fan, and based his comedy and dancing styles on Laurel's. When he discovered Laurel's home number in the phone book and called him, Laurel invited him over for the afternoon. Van Dyke hosted a television tribute to Stan Laurel the year he died.
Laurel lived to see the duo's work rediscovered through television and classic film revivals. He died on February 23, 1965, in Santa Monica and is buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting cast members
Laurel and Hardy's films included a supporting cast of comic actors, some of whom appeared regularly:
Harry Bernard (former vaudeville partner of Charley Chase) played supporting roles as a waiter, bartender, or policeman.
Mae Busch often played the formidable Mrs. Hardy and other characters, particularly sultry femmes fatales.
Charley Chase, the Hal Roach film star and brother of James Parrott, a writer/director of several Laurel and Hardy films, made four appearances.
Dorothy Coburn appeared in nearly a dozen early silent shorts.
Baldwin Cooke (former vaudeville partner of Stan Laurel) played supporting roles as a waiter, colleague, or neighbor.
Richard Cramer appeared as a scowling, menacing villain or opponent.
Peter Cushing, well before becoming a star in Hammer Horror films, played one of the students in A Chump at Oxford.
Bobby Dunn appeared as a cross-eyed bartender and telegram messenger, as well as the genial shoplifter in Tit for Tat.
Eddie Dunn made several appearances, notably as the belligerent taxi driver in Me and My Pal.
James Finlayson, a balding, mustachioed Scotsman known for displays of indignation and squinting, pop-eyed "double takes," made 33 appearances and is perhaps their most celebrated foil.
Anita Garvin appeared in a number of Laurel and Hardy films, often cast as Mrs. Laurel.
Billy Gilbert made many appearances, most notably as bombastic, blustery characters such as those in The Music Box (1932) and Block-Heads.
Charlie Hall, who usually played angry, diminutive adversaries, appeared nearly 50 times.
Jean Harlow had a small role in the silent short Double Whoopee (1929) and two other films in the early part of her career.
Arthur Housman made several appearances as a comic drunk.
Isabelle Keith was the only actress to appear as wife to both Laurel and Hardy (in Perfect Day and Be Big!, respectively).
Edgar Kennedy, master of the "slow burn," often appeared as a cop, a hostile neighbor, or a relative.
Walter Long played grizzled, unshaven, physically threatening villains.
Sam Lufkin appeared several times, usually as a husky authority figure.
Charles Middleton made a handful of appearances, usually as a sourpuss adversary.
James C. Morton appeared as a bartender or exasperated policeman.
Vivien Oakland appeared in several early silent films, and later talkies including Scram! and Way Out West.
Blanche Payson, a former policewoman, was featured in several sound shorts, including Oliver's formidable wife in Helpmates.
Daphne Pollard was featured as Oliver's diminutive but daunting wife.
Viola Richard appeared in several early silent films, most notably as the beautiful cave girl in Flying Elephants (1928).
Charley Rogers, an English actor and gag writer, appeared several times.
Tiny Sandford was a tall, burly, physically imposing character actor who played authority figures, usually policemen.
Thelma Todd appeared several times before her own career as a comic leading lady.
Ben Turpin, the cross-eyed Mack Sennett comedy star, made two memorable appearances.
Ellinor Vanderveer made many appearances as a dowager, high society matron, or posh party guest.
Music
The duo's famous signature tune, known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was composed by Roach musical director Marvin Hatley as the on-the-hour chime for KFVD, the Roach studio's radio station. Laurel heard the tune on the station and asked Hatley if they could use it as the Laurel and Hardy theme song. The original theme, recorded by two clarinets in 1930, was recorded again with a full orchestra in 1935. Leroy Shield composed the majority of the music used in the Laurel and Hardy short sound films. A compilation of songs from their films, titled Trail of the Lonesome Pine, was released in 1975. The title track was released as a single in the UK and reached #2 in the charts.
Influence and legacy
Laurel and Hardy's influence over a very broad range of comedy and other genres has been considerable. Lou Costello of the famed duo of Abbott and Costello, stated "They were the funniest comedy team in the world." Most critics and film scholars throughout the years have agreed with this assessment; writers, artists, and performers as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau Steve Martin, John Cleese, Harold Pinter, Alec Guinness, J. D. Salinger, René Magritte and Kurt Vonnegut among many others, have acknowledged an artistic debt. Starting in the 1960s, the exposure on television of (especially) their short films has ensured a continued influence on generations of comedians and fans.
Posthumous revivals and popular culture
Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released again in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals (broadcast, especially public television and cable), 16 mm and 8 mm home movies, feature-film compilations and home video. After Stan Laurel's death in 1965, there were two major motion-picture tributes: Laurel and Hardy's Laughing '20s was Robert Youngson's compilation of the team's silent-film highlights, and The Great Race was a large-scale salute to slapstick that director Blake Edwards dedicated to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy". For many years the duo were impersonated by Jim MacGeorge (as Laurel) and Chuck McCann (as Hardy) in children's TV shows and television commercials for various products.
Numerous colorized versions of Laurel and Hardy features and shorts have been reproduced by several studios. The process was introduced in 1983 by Colorization, Inc. in partnership with Hal Roach Studios, then a Canadian concern licensing its name and films from Hal Roach. Early efforts were the famous Laurel & Hardy films Helpmates, Way Out West, and The Music Box, which were released to television and issued on VHS videocassettes. Most of the Laurel & Hardy sound shorts were ultimately colorized for distribution in Europe; The pixel-based color process and the conversion from the American NTSC system to the European PAL system often affected the sharpness of the image, so since 2011 video distributors have issued the original, more accurately rendered black-and-white editions.
There are three Laurel and Hardy museums. One is in Laurel's birthplace of Ulverston, England and another is in Hardy's birthplace of Harlem, Georgia, United States. The third is located in Solingen, Germany. Maurice Sendak showed three identical Oliver Hardy figures as bakers preparing cakes for the morning in his award-winning 1970 children's book In the Night Kitchen. This is treated as a clear example of "interpretative illustration" wherein the comedians' inclusion harked back to the author's childhood. The Beatles used cut-outs of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A 2005 poll by fellow comedians and comedy insiders of the top 50 comedians for The Comedian's Comedian, a TV documentary broadcast on UK's Channel 4, voted the duo the seventh-greatest comedy act ever, making them the top double act on the list.
Merchandiser Larry Harmon claimed ownership of Laurel's and Hardy's likenesses and has issued Laurel and Hardy toys and coloring books. He also co-produced a series of Laurel and Hardy cartoons in 1966 with Hanna-Barbera Productions. His animated versions of Laurel and Hardy guest-starred in a 1972 episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1999, Harmon produced a direct-to-video feature live-action comedy entitled The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in For Love or Mummy. Actors Bronson Pinchot and Gailard Sartain were cast playing the lookalike nephews of Laurel and Hardy named Stanley Thinneus Laurel and Oliver Fatteus Hardy.
Currently, the North American rights to a majority of the Laurel & Hardy library are owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, successor-in-interest to the companies that previously held such rights (Cabin Fever, RHI, Hallmark, and Sonar), while the CCA owns international rights, and Larry Harmon's estate owns the likenesses and trademarks to Laurel & Hardy.
The Indian comedy duo Ghory and Dixit was known as the Indian Laurel and Hardy. In 2011 the German/French TV station Arte released in co-production with the German TV station ZDF the 90-minute documentary Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic. The film, titled in the original German Laurel and Hardy: Die komische Liebesgeschichte von "Dick & Doof", was written and directed by German film-maker Andreas Baum. It includes many movie clips, rare and unpublished photographs, interviews with family, fans, friends, showbiz pals and newly recovered footage. Laurel's daughter Lois Laurel Hawes said of the film: "The best documentary about Laurel and Hardy I have ever seen!". It has also been released as a Director's Cut with a length of 105 minutes, plus 70 minutes of bonus materials on DVD.
Appreciation society
Main article: The Sons of the Desert
The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert, after a fraternal society in their film of the same name (1933). It was established in New York City in 1965 by Laurel and Hardy biographer John McCabe, with Orson Bean, Al Kilgore, Chuck McCann, and John Municino as founding members, with the sanction of Stan Laurel. Since the group's inception, well over 150 chapters of the organization have formed across North America, Europe, and Australia. An Emmy-winning film documentary about the group, Revenge of the Sons of the Desert, has been released on DVD as part of The Laurel and Hardy Collection, Vol. 1.
Around the world
Laurel and Hardy are popular around the world but are known under different names in various countries and languages.
CountryNickname
Poland"Flip i Flap" (Flip and Flap)
Germany"Dick und Doof" (Fat and Dumb)
Brazil"O Gordo e o Magro" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Sweden"Helan och Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)
Norway"Helan og Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)
Spanish-speaking countries"El Gordo y el Flaco" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Italy"Stanlio e Ollio" also as "Cric e Croc" up to the 1970s
Hungary"Stan és Pan" (Stan and Pan)
Romania"Stan și Bran" (Stan and Bran)
The Netherlands, Flemish Belgium"Laurel en Hardy", "Stan en Ollie", "De Dikke en de Dunne" (The Fat [One] and the Skinny [One])
Denmark"Gøg og Gokke" (Roughly translates to Wacky and Pompous)
Portugal"O Bucha e o Estica" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro"Stanlio i Olio" (Cyrillic: Станлио и Олио)
Slovenia"Stan in Olio"
Greece"Hondros kai Lignos" (Χοντρός και Λιγνός) (Fat and Skinny)
India (Marathi)"जाड्या आणि रड्या" (Fatso and the Crybaby)
India (Punjabi)"Moota Paatla" (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)
India (Telugu)"Lamboo Jamboo" (లంబూ జంబూ) (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)
FinlandOhukainen ja Paksukainen (Thin one and Thick one)
Iceland"Steini og Olli"
Israel"השמן והרזה" (ha-Shamen ve ha-Raze, The Fat and the Skinny)
Vietnam (South)"Mập – Ốm" (The Fat and the Skinny)
Korea (South)"뚱뚱이와 홀쭉이" (The Fat and the Skinny)
Malta"L-Oħxon u l-Irqiq" ("The Fat and the Thin One")
Thailand"อ้วนผอมจอมยุ่ง" ("The Clumsy Fat and Thin")
Biopic
A biographical film titled Stan & Ollie directed by Jon S. Baird and starring Steve Coogan as Stan and John C. Reilly as Oliver was released in 2018 and chronicled the duo's 1953 tour of Great Britain and Ireland. The film received positive reviews from critics, garnering a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For their performances, Reilly and Coogan were nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award respectively.
Yup - another 7 hour photo shoot! But this one was immense fun!
Are people afraid of leaving comments? Given the high number of views it would be lovely to get some feedback!
Obviously a super large thanks to my models who were easygoing, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with.
With special thanks to Canberra BDSM for their hospitality, expert advice, and loan of "props" and wardrobe.
Big huge thanks also to NathanaelB for his support, assistance, humour and tolerance!
Also thanks to Matt Stewart for the loan of his vivitars and cactus while I wait for mine to be delivered.
And I'd like to thank my mum, and ... and... and...
strobist:
* vivitar 285 with 2 blue gels behind cage and slightly to right
* vivitar 285 with shoot through umbrella immediately left of photographer
* canon 430ex with shoot trhough umbrella further left of photographer
Not only is the Beagle an excellent hunting dog and loyal companion, it is also happy-go-lucky, funny, and thanks to its pleading expression cute. They were bred to hunt in packs, so they enjoy company and are generally easygoing.
British postcard by Film-Kurier, London, no. 22. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.
Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.
At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.
In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
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