The Original: Mae West

She practically started everything, was a champion of gay rights before it was fashionable or "commercial", and was well ahead of her time with her risque dialogue in films and on the stage. She wrote stage plays and became a screenwriter when she hit Hollywood. Her quips became famous and hold up to this day...oh, and when she got  a bit older, she moved into a penthouse apartment in Los Angeles. When she simply wanted her boyfriend to move in with her, the management of the apartment building said no, why? Because her boyfriend was African-American. So what did she do? She bought the building and changed the rules. Wow, that was some lady.

Not sure if this info is still accurate, but it was reported Bette Midler will play Mae West in a movie for HBO, hopefully, it won't be like that awful comedic, cartoonish portrayal like Michael Douglas did of Liberace, my gosh, throw that in the garbage. Mae West has been portrayed before, years ago, by an actress named Ann Jillian, with James Brolin.

Rumor has it Raquel Welch and Mae West didn't like each other during the filming of Myra Breckinridge, a movie no one has seen and it is never shown anywhere, but Raquel believed Mae was really a man in drag, I don't really think that it is true...however, she was much like that sexy star of Country and Pop, Dolly Parton, who are so over the top sexy, and not hiding the fact they like men, yet we never see a husband/boyfriend out publicly with these women. It was reported that during Mae West's first marriage, she and her husband always had separate bedrooms, and Dolly Parton's husband seems more like a hired hand standing in as a convenient husband to keep suitors from banging on her hotel room door and seeing her sans her wigs, makeup and costumes. Just interesting similarities.

Yes, Dolly, cute sayings are fine, but time to live out loud instead of just with that loud mouth. Some need to keep secrets, maybe Mae West was one of them, we will never know for sure, but Dolly still has time, we think. With all that fake hair and morticians grease paint, she looks ready for her final journey.