Mae West Biography

American Actress. Born Mary Jane West on August 17, 1893, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae (spelled May at the time) from an early age. Matilda, also known as "Tillie," was a German immigrant and aspiring actress. But her parents' disapproval in career choices brought her dreams down to a more realistic profession as a garment worker. However, she clandestinely abandoned her seamstress work for the less respectable, though somewhat more glamorous work, as a fashion model and never totally gave up the prospect of having some career in show business.

Mae's father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as "Battlin' Jack" West, not so much for this success in the ring as for his reputation for street brawling. When he wasn't fighting in authorized boxing matches, he was fighting in underground street fights or exhibiting his boxing prowess in pick up fights at Coney Island Amusement Park. Later, after he met Tillie, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective.

Mae West was the oldest of three children, but Mae was her mother's favorite from the beginning. With Mae, Tillie's childrearing was out of step with more the traditional Victorian methods of "children should be seen and not heard." Instead, she preferred to humor and coax Mae, rather than harshly discipline her. Mae quickly obliged with precocious and, at times, obstinate behavior.

West started to show signs of talent at the age of three, mimicking family members and friends, much to the delight of her father and mother. While she was too young to understand the art of impersonation, she learned quickly about the power of commanding an audience. Tillie soon took Mae to plays and vaudeville performances where she was enthralled with the make-believe world of characters, dance, and musical acts. Throughout Mae's life, she would reminisce about the many legendary performers she saw in her youth, but one artist always stood out for her: African-American entertainer Bert Williams, whom she credits as her earliest influence. It was from Williams' performances that she learned the art of innuendo and double entendre, which he used in his act to mask his satire on race relations.

She made her first stage appearance at the age of five at a church social. While her home performances made her father proud, he wasn't too keen on her performing for the public. Tillie blithely ignored his concerns, and enrolled her in dance school at the age of seven. Soon she was appearing at amature night at the local burlesque theaters under the stage name "Baby May." After winning First Place and a $10 prize, her father became an ardent supporter, dragging her costume case to performances and sitting in the audience as her No. 1 fan. In 1907, 14-year-old Mae 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. Tillie was finally in show business as her daughter's manager. Mae's act was a subtle spoof on Victorian innocence and sentimentality. She portrayed a young girl dressed in a pink and green satin dress, a large white hat and pink satin ribbons. But she impersonated adult Vaudeville and burlesque performers, and danced and sang popular songs inflecting sexual overtones.