Mae West was born on the 17th August 1893 and the American actress had a career in entertainment that lasted for seven decades. She worked as an actress, singer, writer for both screen and theatre, as well as being lauded as a sex symbol, despite battling against censorship. West started out in the Vaudeville scene, as well as in the New York theatre scene, eventually moving to Hollywood to pursue a film career.
She was very much controversial during her heyday in film, struggling against censorship, whilst trying to make light of it and use it to her advantage, wherever possible. Towards the end of her film career, she moved to write both plays and books, as well as performing in both the US and the UK. One of the iconic women in film was posthumously voted as the 12th greatest female screen legend in classic cinema.
Some of her most famous films including She Done Him Wrong, the first film featuring Cary Grant and effectively saving the film studio from bankruptcy, due to it being a massive hit. She went on to release other films with Cary Grant including I’m No Angel, perhaps the most successful film of her career.
1.Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before
2.It’s not the men in my life that count, it’s the life in my men
3.To err is human, but it feels divine
4.When I’m good I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better
5Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often
6.Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache
7.I like restraint, if it doesn’t go too far
8.I believe that it’s better to be looked over than it is to be overlooked
9.It is better to be looked over than overlooked
10.A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars, that’s subtraction
11.I only have ‘yes’ men around me. Who needs ‘no’ men?
12.She’s the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong
13.I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it
14.He who hesitates is a damned fool
15.Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution
16.A man’s kiss is his signature
17.It ain’t no sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you
don’t break any
18.Sex is emotion in motion
19.A hard man is good to find
20.A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire, women will like him
21.You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough
22.I only like two kinds of men, domestic and imported
23.I never loved another person the way I loved myself
24.Save a boyfriend for a rainy day – and another, in case it doesn’t rain
25.When women go wrong, men go right after them
26.Virtue has its own reward, but no sale at the box office
27.If I asked for a cup of coffee, someone would search for the double meaning
28.Keep a diary, and someday it’ll keep you
29.It’s hard to be funny when you have to be clean
30.Say what you want about long dresses, but they cover a multitude of shins
31.When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before
32.When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad I’m better
33.Too much of a good thing can be wonderful
34.It’s not what I do, but the way I do it. It’s not what I say, but the way I say it
35.He’s the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of
36.I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
37.Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly
38.Don’t marry a man to reform him – that’s what reform schools are for
39.One and one is two, and two and two is four, and five will get you ten if
you know how to work it
40.Love isn’t an emotion or an instinct – it’s an art
41.Too much of a good thing can be taxing
42.An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises
43.I used to be Snow White, but I drifted
44.Whenever I’m caught between two evils, I take the one I’ve never tried
45.I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure
46.Right now I think censorship is necessary; the things they’re doing and saying in films right now just shouldn’t be allowed. There’s no dignity anymore and I think that’s very important.
47Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired
49.The score never interested me, only the game
50.I’m a woman of very few words, but lots of action
51.I didn’t discover curves; I only uncovered them
52.Look your best – who said love is blind?
53.I speak two languages, Body and English
54.I’ve been in more laps than a napkin
55.I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing
56.Personally, I like two types of men – domestic and foreign
57.Cultivate your curves – they may be dangerous but they won’t be avoided
58.Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from
59.Opportunity knocks for every man, but you have to give a woman a ring
60.Any time you got nothing to do – and lots of time to do it – come on up
