Though known for her hourglass figure, Mae West is most beloved for her favourite figure of speech, the double entendre. Her blunt sexuality, stunning physical beauty, and witty wisdom are what she is remembered for today. She wrote 9 of the 13 films in which she starred.
West was more of a lone wolf. She didn’t drink, smoke, or dwell too much on sadness. Mae was secretly married at age 17, but only lived with her husband for a few weeks. They didn’t legally divorce until 31 years later. Her long-term partner Paul Novak was 30 years her junior.
Mae West (born August 17, 1893, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. – died November 22, 1980, Los Angeles, California) made her debut with a Brooklyn stock company about 1901. By 1907 she had become a performer on the national vaudeville circuit and her entertainment career spanned seven decades. By 1935, West was the highest-paid star in Hollywood — and the second highest-paid person in the United States.
Salvador Dali considered Mae West a muse. His painting “The face of Mae West” imagines the bombshell as an apartment. In the painting, Dali designed the face like a room where each facial feature was an element in a living room. He later designed a surrealist sofa called “Mae West Lips.” Now you can see the two works as one in the Mae West Room at the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain.
Mae West was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, comedian, and sex symbol. In 1999, the American Film Institute posthumously voted Mae West the 15th greatest female screen legend of classic American cinema.
Here are some of Mae West’s wittiest phrases from her movies. She was marvelous, she wrote all of them herself.
“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
“There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.”
“Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from.”
“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.”
“Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand.”
“When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
“I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.”
“I’m single because I was born that way.”
“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”
“I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing.”
“Ladies who play with fire must remember that smoke gets in their eyes.”
“It’s not the men in your life that matters; it’s the life in your men.”
“Don’t cry for a man who’s left you–the next one may fall for your smile.”
“All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.”
“Sex is an emotion in motion.”
“I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.”
“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.”
“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!”
“It is better to be looked over than overlooked.”
“I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.”
“Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.”
“Don’t keep a man guessing too long – he’s sure to find the answer somewhere else”
“Women like a man with a past, but they prefer a man with a present.”
“You are never too old to become younger!”
“Look your best – who said love is blind?”
“A woman in love can’t be reasonable – or she probably wouldn’t be in love.”
“To err is human – but it feels divine.”
“I have found men who didn’t know how to kiss. I’ve always found time to teach them.”
“If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!”
“Getting married is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.”
“I didn’t discover curves; I only uncovered them.”
“Men are my hobby, if I ever got married I’d have to give it up.”
“When women go wrong, men go right after them.”
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
“Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.”
“I never loved another person the way I loved myself.”
“Keep a diary and one day it’ll keep you.”
“The score never interested me, only the game.”
“An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.”
“One more drink and I’ll be under the host.”
“Love isn’t an emotion or an instinct – it’s an art.”
“No one can have everything, so you have to try for what you want most.”
“I’ve been in more laps than a napkin.”
“Don’t marry a man to reform him – that’s what reform schools are for.”
“Men are like linoleum floors. Lay ’em right and you can walk all over them for years.”
“If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
“Men are all alike – except the one you’ve met who’s different.”
“Brains are an asset, if you hide them.”
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and rich is better.”
