Mae West
Also Known As: Mary Jane West
Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades. Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of all time. One of the more controversial movie stars of her day, West encountered many problems including censorship. When her cinematic career ended, she continued to perform on stage, in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded rock and roll albums. She used the alias Jane Mast early in her career. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mae West, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Adult: No
Birthday: August 16, 1893
Age: 131 years old
Gender: Female
Deathday: November 22, 1980
Popularity:
Known For:
The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays
Overview: Part of acclaimed filmmaker Frank Capra's "Wonders of Life" series of science-based films (which won an Emmy Award for Best Editing) teaches kids about the power of gamma rays and radiation.
Genres: Animation Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-10-25
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I'm No Angel
Overview: The bold Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent need of money, she agrees to a risky new number: she'll put her head into the lion's mouth! With this attraction, the circus makes it to New York and Tira can pursue her dearest occupation— flirting with rich men and accepting expensive presents.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-10-06
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Myra Breckinridge
Overview: Myron Breckinridge flies to Europe to get a sex-change operation and is transformed into the beautiful Myra. She travels to Hollywood, meets up with her rich Uncle Buck and, claiming to be Myron's widow, demands money. Instead, Buck gives Myra a job in his acting school. There, Myra meets aspiring actor Rusty and his girlfriend, Mary Ann. With Myra as catalyst, the trio begin to outrageously expand their sexual horizons.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-06-24
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My Little Chickadee
Overview: While on her way by stagecoach to visit relatives out west, Flower Belle Lee is held up by a masked bandit who also takes the coach's shipment of gold. When he abducts Flower Belle and they arrive in town, Flower Belle is suspected of being in collusion with the bandit.
Genres: Comedy Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-02-09
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She Done Him Wrong
Overview: New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine. One of them is a vicious criminal who’s escaped and is on the way to see “his” girl, not realising she hasn’t exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-02-09
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Becoming Cary Grant
Overview: For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2017-05-23
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Goin' to Town
Overview: Cleo Borden grew up in a saloon, loves the men—and the men love her—but her aspirations lead her to enter into a contract to marry a wealthy man. When he dies and leaves her all of his fortune, she soon learns that although she has money, she is not yet a lady, so she embarks on a journey to become one. She has no desire to change herself, but the man she sets her sights on does—so she obliges.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-04-25
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Night After Night
Overview: A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-10-29
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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Overview: Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Genres: Documentary Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1983-02-25
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Go West Young Man
Overview: Mavis Arden is a sensational movie star. Her following spans the world and her personal appearance tours prove her popularity. On her way home from one such appearance, Arden's car breaks down. She orders her publicity man to find her a place to stay, suspicious that he planned the break down to keep her away from a man. However, she soon finds herself mooning over an attractive repairman in town and listening to his ideas about inventing equipment for film.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-11-18
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Belle of the Nineties
Overview: Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-09-21
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The Heat's On
Overview: Broadway star Fay Lawrence (West) is a temperamental diva who is reluctantly persuaded by a Broadway producer (Gaxton) to star in his latest production.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-12-02
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Klondike Annie
Overview: A San Francisco singer flees Chinatown on murder charges and poses as a missionary in Alaska.
Genres: Comedy Drama Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-02-21
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Hollywood Blue
Overview: A collection of vintage erotica from Hollywood movies is intercut with street interviews and newsreel footage.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-11-18
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Every Day's a Holiday
Overview: When a turn-of-century confidence trickster poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest, she manages to expose the crooked police chief and smooth the path for the reform mayoral candidate.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-12-18
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Sextette
Overview: Glamorous silver screen sex symbol Marlo Manners is enjoying her honeymoon with Sir Michael Barrington, husband number six. As luck would have it, an international conference is at the same hotel and the Russian delegate is threatening to derail negotiations unless he can have one more fling with Marlo. Adding to the complications is a tape Marlo has made detailing all of her affairs and scandals, which her manager is desperately trying – and failing – to destroy.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-03-03
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Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons
Overview: From the A&E "Biography" series, a review of the birth, development and cinematic history of Betty Boop, the flapper cartoon character who has been a popular icon since the 1930s.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1995-01-01
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Going Hollywood: The '30s
Overview: Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-01-01
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Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
Overview: Comedian Lloyd Hamilton escorts a group of beauty contest winners to various Hollywood night spots.
Genres: Documentary Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-12-01
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Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man
Overview: A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1988-06-05
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Anthony Quinn: An Original
Overview: Born in Mexico, Anthony Quinn became the family's main provider when his father died in an accident. Thus began the story of a man who had a thousand jobs before acting in a Cecil B. DeMille film…
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1990-09-10
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The Best of Laurel and Hardy
Overview: Compilation of the mismatched but immortal pair's various films and shorts.
Genres: TV Movie Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-12-14
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The Fashion Side of Hollywood
Overview: Compilation of lighting and costume tests from various films, most notably Sternberg's "The Devil Is a Woman" (1935).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-11-04
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Overview: Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
Genres: Documentary History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-08-06
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Complicated Women
Overview: Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-05-06
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The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful
Overview: A documentary reflecting on women in film and the entertainment industry through the ages led and hosted by some of its most beloved female icons.
Genres: Documentary History TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1996-03-17
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Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Overview: A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934.
Genres: Documentary History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2008-03-03
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Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Overview: Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2007-05-23
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The Women Who Run Hollywood
Overview: The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy, the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote screenplays for the Hollywood Star Mary Pickford and won two Oscars, Dorothy Arzner was the most powerful film director in Hollywood. And what do all of them have in common? They are all women and they have all been forgotten. Incredibly, it also took until 2010 for the first woman, Kathryn Bigelow, to win the Oscar for Best Director. Even if underrepresented women have always played a big part in Hollywood and it is this part of the film history left untold that this documentary sets out to uncover.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 2016-05-16
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Hollywood Uncensored
Overview: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Peter Fonda host an examination of the history of decency standards for movies from the early 1920s onwards.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-12-01
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Mae West: Dirty Blonde
Overview: Mae West achieved great acclaim in every entertainment medium that existed during her lifetime, spanning eight decades of the 20th century. A full-time actress at seven, a vaudevillian at 14, a dancing sensation at 25, a playwright at 33, a silver screen ingénue at 40, a Vegas nightclub act at 62, a recording artist at 73, a camp icon at 85 - West left no format unconquered. She possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s and still rare today. Though a comedian, West grappled with some of the more complex social issues of the 20th century, including race and class tensions, and imbued even her most salacious plotlines with commentary about gender conformity, societal restrictions and what she perceived as moral hypocrisy. Mae West: Dirty Blonde is the first major documentary film to explore West's life and career, as she "climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong" to become a writer, performer and subversive agitator for social change.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2020-06-16
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Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Overview: As the first "blonde bombshell," Mae West reigned supreme and changed the nation's view of women, sex and race — on stage, in films, on radio and television.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1994-08-09
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Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Overview: A two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-01-01
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Hooray for Hollywood
Overview: A celebration of Hollywood in the 1930s, featuring a compilation of clips from features and newsreels of the era.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-01-01
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