W is for Mae West #AtoZChallenge

I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing. ~ Mae West

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Born Mary Jane “Mae” West on August 17, 1893, in Brooklyn, New York, Mae West hit her Hollywood stride in her late 30s, when she might have been considered in her “advanced years” for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty overcame any doubt. The blunt sexuality of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups, but this sexuality is what she is remembered for today.

Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York City before moving to Hollywood to become a comedian, actress, and writer in the motion picture industry. For her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of classic American cinema.

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 in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, and on radio and television, and to record rock and roll albums. Asked about the various efforts to impede her career, West replied: “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.”

West was five when she first entertained a crowd at a church social, and she started appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She often won prizes at local talent contests. She began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Clarendon Stock Company in 1907 at the age of 14. When work was slow, which it often was for many performers in Vaudeville, she would go on the burlesque circuit playing before a predominantly male working-class audience, where she thrived and honed her performance skills.

Her first appearance in a Broadway show was in a 1911 revue A La Broadway. The show folded after eight performances, but at age 18, West was singled out and discovered by the New York Times. She got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime. 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.

V is for Vincent Price #AtoZChallenge

Despite Vincent Price being irrevocably regarded as one of the most iconic and beloved horror movie actors in the world, he actually got his start as a dramatic actor. His tall, lanky frame and distinctive voice lent themselves nicely to character parts. He appeared on stage, television, radio, and in over one hundred films. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, and one for television. His career spanned many genres, including film noir, drama, horror, mystery, thriller, and comedy.

The “Master of Menace” was born on May 27, 1911, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of four children born to an upper-middle-class family. Price was educated in private schools, studied art history and English at Yale University, and then traveled to England to pursue the fine arts at University of London.

As any fan of classic horror movies knows, the name Vincent Price is synonymous with elegance, humor, and charm. Throughout his over 60-year movie and TV career, Price established himself as one of the most popular actors–beloved by both his fans and his peers.

Price’s remarkable career began on Broadway opposite Helen Hayes and ended in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands with Johnny Depp. One of Price’s most famous early roles was in the film noir classic Laura (1944) which was directed by Otto Preminger and also starred Gene Tierney.

Price delved into disturbing territory with the 3D hit House of Wax (1953), in which he plays a deranged and disfigured artist who makes wax sculptures using real people. In the 1960s, he appeared in a number of Roger Corman’s low-budget scare-fests. He also starred in several film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories, including The Masque of the Red Death and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Part of Price’s appeal as a villain was the humor he could inject into those sinister roles. His distinctive voice also contributed to his ability to create tension in films. He spoke in rich, deep tones, which sometimes had an eerie and unsettling quality. Price thought nothing of his famous speech patterns. “To me, I sound like everybody else in Missouri. I think I sound like Harry Truman,” he once said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Price enjoyed success in many arenas outside of cinema; he made many television appearances, ranging from The Brady Bunch to Batman to The Muppets. In the 1980s, he hosted the PBS series Mystery. His voice added the ominous air to Michael Jackson’s 1983 Thriller video in an opening monologue.

A lifelong art aficionado, Price wrote several books on his passion. A popular lecturer on art, Price also donated some of his art collection to establish the Vincent Price Gallery at East Los Angeles College. Also a devoted gourmet, Price co-wrote several cookbooks.

About the same time Price was filming Edward Scissorhands, he discovered that he had lung cancer. He died of the disease on October 25, 1993, at his Los Angeles home.