Mae West Movies and Career Information

Mae West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol. 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. 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. West was born Mary Jane West in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, daughter of John Patrick West and Matilda "Tillie" Doelger (also spelled Delker). Her father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West" who later worked as a "special policeman" and then as a private investigator who ran his own agency. Her mother was a former corset and fashion model. The family was Protestant, by some accounts West's mother was reported as Jewish immigrant from Bavaria. Her Irish Catholic paternal grandmother, as well as other relatives who were Roman Catholic, disapproved of her career and her