Mae West
Birthday: August 17, 1892 in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Birth Name: Mary Jane West
Height: 152 cm
Mae West was born 1892 in Brooklyn, New York, to "Battling Jack" West and Matilda Doelger. She began her career as a child star in vaudeville, and later went on to write her own plays, inclu ...Show More
Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
Too much of a good thing is wonderful.
Too much of a good thing is wonderful.
[on style] It's all right for a perfect stranger to kiss your hand as long as he's perfect.
[on style] It's all right for a perfect stranger to kiss your hand as long as he's perfect.
I only like two kinds of men: Foreign and Domestic.
I only like two kinds of men: Foreign and Domestic.
Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution.
Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution.
Don't marry a man to reform him. That's what reform schools are for.
Don't marry a man to reform him. That's what reform schools are for.
Why don't you come up sometime and see me? I'm home every evening . . . Come up, and I'll tell your Show more
Why don't you come up sometime and see me? I'm home every evening . . . Come up, and I'll tell your fortune. Hide
A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.
A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.
I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it.
I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it.
[on growth] He who hesitates is a damn fool.
[on growth] He who hesitates is a damn fool.
Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I'm tired.
Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I'm tired.
When women go wrong, men go right after them!
When women go wrong, men go right after them!
I wrote the story myself. It's all about a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it.
I wrote the story myself. It's all about a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it.
It's not the man in your life that counts. It's the life in your man.
It's not the man in your life that counts. It's the life in your man.
It ain't sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any.
It ain't sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any.
[on desire] Sex is an emotion in motion . . . love is what you make it and who you make it with.
[on desire] Sex is an emotion in motion . . . love is what you make it and who you make it with.
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
[on love] A man's kiss is his signature.
[on love] A man's kiss is his signature.
I was in the office at Paramount, and they gave me a large book with a lot of photographs of differe Show more
I was in the office at Paramount, and they gave me a large book with a lot of photographs of different leading men, and I was sitting at a table or a desk right near the window and the door, and uh, after I looked at a few I kind of glanced out the window and I saw this good-looking guy walk across the street. So, I said, "That's about the best-looking thing in Hollywood: who is he?" So they looked, and they said, "Oh, that's Cary Grant. We haven't used him in a picture as yet, but we made tests of him with some of the starlets." I said, "Well, if this guy can talk, I'll take him." So they called him in, and we met, and he said, "How d'ya do?" and I said, "OK." And they said, "What part?" and I said, "The lead, of course." So he got the lead. Hide
It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean.
It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean.
Virtue has its own reward, but has no sale at the box office.
Virtue has its own reward, but has no sale at the box office.
It's better to be looked over than overlooked.
It's better to be looked over than overlooked.
[on Marilyn Monroe] The only gal who came near to me in the sex appeal department was pretty little Show more
[on Marilyn Monroe] The only gal who came near to me in the sex appeal department was pretty little Marilyn Monroe. All the others had were big boobs. Hide
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I've never tried before.
When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I've never tried before.
Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else.
Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else.
I'm my own original creation. I concentrate on myself most of the time. That's the only way a person Show more
I'm my own original creation. I concentrate on myself most of the time. That's the only way a person can become a star in the true sense. I never wanted a love that meant surrender of my self-possession. I saw what it did to other people when they loved another person the way I loved myself, and I didn't want that problem. I had to stay in command of my career. Hide
When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better.
When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better.
[on her father, prizefighter Jack West] Cruel . . . I took a dislike to him.
[on her father, prizefighter Jack West] Cruel . . . I took a dislike to him.
Few men know how to kiss well. Fortunately, I've always had time to teach them.
Few men know how to kiss well. Fortunately, I've always had time to teach them.
Almost anything goes, anywhere, if it is good and fast and amusing. Risque material is only offensiv Show more
Almost anything goes, anywhere, if it is good and fast and amusing. Risque material is only offensive if badly done, without style and charm. I brought my own sophisticated ideas and style to the vaudeville stage but I had to adjust it to the standard of each theatre, and even to each night's audience.. The theatre manager, if he was a man with experience and knew his business, could usually tell me what the people in town were like, and what the difference in audiences was on other nights. I usually found that one night a week you would get a top society crowd, and another night you'd get mostly working-class people. Other nights there would be family groups--especially on Friday nights when the kids didn't have to go to school the next day. Saturday nights everybody was out for a good time, so audiences were both mixed and terrific. Hide
My advice for those gals who think they have to take their clothes off to be a star is: baby, once y Show more
My advice for those gals who think they have to take their clothes off to be a star is: baby, once you've boned, what's left to create an illusion? Let 'em wonder .I never believed in givin' 'em too much of me. Hide
I'm not good and tired, just tired.
I'm not good and tired, just tired.
Men are my life, diamonds are my career!
Men are my life, diamonds are my career!
Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit Show more
Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big black space where the audience is. Hide
I always save one boyfriend for a rainy day . . . and another in case it doesn't rain.
I always save one boyfriend for a rainy day . . . and another in case it doesn't rain.
I do all my writing in bed; everybody knows I do my best work there.
I do all my writing in bed; everybody knows I do my best work there.
It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do Show more
It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do it and say it. Hide
Men are easy to get but hard to keep.
Men are easy to get but hard to keep.
[on her popularity within the gay community] They're crazy about me 'cause I give 'em a chance to pl Show more
[on her popularity within the gay community] They're crazy about me 'cause I give 'em a chance to play. My character is sexy and with humor and they like to imitate me, the things I say, the way I say 'em, the way I move. It's easy for'em to imitate me 'cause the gestures are exaggerated, flamboyant, sexy, and that's what they want to look like, feel like. And I've stood up for 'em. They're good kids. I don't like the police abusin' 'em, and in New York I told 'em, "When you're hittin' one of those guys, you're hittin' a woman, 'cause a born homosexual is a female in a male body". Hide
The man I don't like doesn't exist.
The man I don't like doesn't exist.
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing.
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing.
I freely chose the kind of life I led because I was convinced that a woman has as much right as a ma Show more
I freely chose the kind of life I led because I was convinced that a woman has as much right as a man to live the way she does if she does no actual harm to society. Hide
To err is human, but it feels divine.
To err is human, but it feels divine.
A hard man is good to find.
A hard man is good to find.
Mae West's FILMOGRAPHY
All
as Actor (11)
as Creator (2)
