Mae West: An Interview & Biography
127 pages, 58 photos. Index
Foreword by Leonard Maltin

In 1968, noted film and theatre critic Clive Hirschhorn was a young reporter for the British Sunday Express. In Hollywood on assignment, he heard that the legendary Mae West “loved British accents” and was able to get an interview with the 75-year-old film star. His observations on the “official” Mae and the actual woman behind the public personna provide new insights into this complex, much caricatured, and compelling cultural icon. His book offers a funny, touching, and revealing account of the life of the woman who made it possible to say “sex” in public. Her scripted quips are legendary, and she was able to zing them in real life. When Hirschhorn asked her how she managed to look so uncannily young—at 75 her skin was flawless and her face unlined—she replied:

“No secret. I go to bed early. I meditate. I eat all the correct foods, I don’t smoke or drink, and I believe with a passion in myself. You can only beat nature when you show the bitch who’s boss!”

Leonard Maltin in his Foreward says, “Mae West was an absolute—and resolute—original. There has never been anyone else quite like her. Her reputation has survived the decades. Young people might not know of her, but she is still widely quoted and referred to in articles and books. How many other show business personalities who flourished in the 1920s and 30s can say the same in the first decade of the 21st century?”

About the Author: Clive Hirschhorn is the author of the best-selling The Hollywood Musical, as well as Gene Kelly: A Biography, The Films of James Mason, The Warner Bros. Story, The Universal Story, and The Columbia Story.

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