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Mae West: An Icon in Black and White
"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman
who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she
quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice
for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own
African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white.
This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image.
who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she
quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice
for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own
African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white.
This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 19, 2025
Author: Jill Watts
Title: Mae West: An Icon in Black and White
Series:
Cover Rating:
Gold star
Book Rating:
4 stars
About the Book:
"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman
who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she
quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice
for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own
African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white.
This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image.
My Thoughts:
Mae West an icon in black and white could have been written a lot better so that the reader could easily follow but over all its a fantastic book into a woman that rose up in her life and held the public eye with very strong interest. She was sharp witted, sexy and had an influence that spawned a lot of mixed reactions. As a fan of Mae West I loved getting to see the woman behind the face and how her life turned into such a well known phenomena.
Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews purchased a print copy for personal collection. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.
Note:
If any of Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like my post or leave a comment to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!
Title: Mae West: An Icon in Black and White
Series:
Cover Rating:
Gold star
Book Rating:
4 stars
About the Book:
"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman
who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she
quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice
for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own
African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white.
This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image.
My Thoughts:
Mae West an icon in black and white could have been written a lot better so that the reader could easily follow but over all its a fantastic book into a woman that rose up in her life and held the public eye with very strong interest. She was sharp witted, sexy and had an influence that spawned a lot of mixed reactions. As a fan of Mae West I loved getting to see the woman behind the face and how her life turned into such a well known phenomena.
Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews purchased a print copy for personal collection. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.
Note:
If any of Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like my post or leave a comment to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!
February 10, 2024
Even though this book is long, I don’t think I learned a lot about Mae West.
September 5, 2016
Part sexy blonde bombshell, part delusional Norma Desmond, West created an invulnerable, tough-talking, sexually assertive persona, partly to mask insecurities and psychological wounds from early sexual assaults, asserts Watts in this remarkably detailed and well-written biography. West played that indelible character on and off stage the rest of her life, often referring to herself in the third person.
But West (1893-1980) was not just the actress who singlehandedly saved the financially strapped Paramount Pictures with her back-to-back hits in 1933, SHE DONE HIM WRONG and I'M NO ANGEL. She was also a voluminous writer penning not only her films and plays but also three novels and an autobiography. Although now enshrined as a comedic institution, for virtually her entire career West's writing, singing, personality, acting and looks were blisteringly belittled by critics and yet the hard shell she'd created kept her marching confidently forward.
Watts offers outstanding, clear-eyed analysis of West's career and how censorship affected her work. She's on less stable ground with her contention that West had African-American ancestry, which she attempts to prove not through documentation but by noting how West's personality, musical style, taste and interests stemmed from the African-American community. While it certainly appears that West (and others in her era) appreciated and borrowed from black artists and the Harlem Renaissance, it seems a stretch to claim West was attempting to reveal her roots every time a black character or ethnic slang appeared in her work.
Still, West fans will welcome this new, enlightening biography of the enigmatic star, which offers a broader view of her impact on social and cultural history and as a First Amendment champion.
But West (1893-1980) was not just the actress who singlehandedly saved the financially strapped Paramount Pictures with her back-to-back hits in 1933, SHE DONE HIM WRONG and I'M NO ANGEL. She was also a voluminous writer penning not only her films and plays but also three novels and an autobiography. Although now enshrined as a comedic institution, for virtually her entire career West's writing, singing, personality, acting and looks were blisteringly belittled by critics and yet the hard shell she'd created kept her marching confidently forward.
Watts offers outstanding, clear-eyed analysis of West's career and how censorship affected her work. She's on less stable ground with her contention that West had African-American ancestry, which she attempts to prove not through documentation but by noting how West's personality, musical style, taste and interests stemmed from the African-American community. While it certainly appears that West (and others in her era) appreciated and borrowed from black artists and the Harlem Renaissance, it seems a stretch to claim West was attempting to reveal her roots every time a black character or ethnic slang appeared in her work.
Still, West fans will welcome this new, enlightening biography of the enigmatic star, which offers a broader view of her impact on social and cultural history and as a First Amendment champion.
May 28, 2011
I actually liked this book. I have read some biographies, but I usually consider them 2nd class reading because it feels a bit like reading Hola or any other female mag. You're basically invading someone's private life and satisfying some sort of dirty primate need. But I liked this one, because the author has a more professional oriented approach and she basically describes the several multiple setbacks Mae West faced, having been arrested, sued, censored, etc, before she finally got some success in the big screen. It also describes her connections with the underworld and crime and relationships with black americans. I didn't know, for example, that she discovered Louis Armstrong. So I think that, overall, I came to know more about show business and american history by reading this. You also get that feeling of struggle as she sort of gets off her ass everytime a play she performs in ends up being a flop. It is amazing how many productions she failed, there is a producer that even runs away from creditors. The other thing that I liked is that the author doesn't seem too worried about making Mae West look good, I don't see her like a great brave, hero movie star in this book, though I do have to admit that at the end I think she was a brainy woman who was a massive influence in motion pictures and culture.
August 16, 2019
Although a very accessible account of a fascinating figure, I hesitate to call it a good biography if only because Watts often stretches credulity, especially in cases where she attempts to find hidden meanings in flip one-liners and other creative choices. Watts gives a very comprehensive picture West's life, and does a wonderful job of highlighting not only her focus on gender relations as a power struggle but also her deep debt to Black culture.
Watts' notes in great detail how much of West's stage work was directly inspired by or outright copied from Black artists, as well as West's open acknowledgement of that fact. However, she explores much shakier territory by suggesting that possibility that one of West's grandfathers could have been a white-passing Black man as well as underscoring any and every instance of West identifying with Black culture, such as the fact that her signature song "Frankie and Johnny" was based on the story of a biracial woman killing her lover. Watts even goes so far as to ascribe a "subtle attempt to connect with fictional blackness" when discussing a crack of West's about the constellation Cassiopeia vs. Venus, based on nothing but that fact that Cassiopeia was an Ethiopian queen. Suggesting that a line like "What's Cassie got that Venus hasn't?" is anything more than an attempt at a cheap laugh is quite simply beyond the pale. While certainly Watts' most egregious stretch, it's one of many ridiculous attempts on her part to find deeper meaning where there is none. However, while she's reticent to call out West's cultural appropriation for what it was, she does not hesitate to point out that for all West's many positive personal and working relationships with the Black community, West failed to publicly support equality until the 1970's, well after it was controversial to do so, not to mention the racism embedded in much of her work from vaudeville to film. Similarly, Watts' also points out that while West was generally sympathetic to the LGBT community, her ideas have not aged well and her work was sometimes homophobic.
All in all, Watts' paints a very vivid portrait of a complicated icon. The only problem is her frequent tendency to make specious connections and suppositions, presenting them as fact. Although still enjoyable, a dose of skepticism is advised.
Watts' notes in great detail how much of West's stage work was directly inspired by or outright copied from Black artists, as well as West's open acknowledgement of that fact. However, she explores much shakier territory by suggesting that possibility that one of West's grandfathers could have been a white-passing Black man as well as underscoring any and every instance of West identifying with Black culture, such as the fact that her signature song "Frankie and Johnny" was based on the story of a biracial woman killing her lover. Watts even goes so far as to ascribe a "subtle attempt to connect with fictional blackness" when discussing a crack of West's about the constellation Cassiopeia vs. Venus, based on nothing but that fact that Cassiopeia was an Ethiopian queen. Suggesting that a line like "What's Cassie got that Venus hasn't?" is anything more than an attempt at a cheap laugh is quite simply beyond the pale. While certainly Watts' most egregious stretch, it's one of many ridiculous attempts on her part to find deeper meaning where there is none. However, while she's reticent to call out West's cultural appropriation for what it was, she does not hesitate to point out that for all West's many positive personal and working relationships with the Black community, West failed to publicly support equality until the 1970's, well after it was controversial to do so, not to mention the racism embedded in much of her work from vaudeville to film. Similarly, Watts' also points out that while West was generally sympathetic to the LGBT community, her ideas have not aged well and her work was sometimes homophobic.
All in all, Watts' paints a very vivid portrait of a complicated icon. The only problem is her frequent tendency to make specious connections and suppositions, presenting them as fact. Although still enjoyable, a dose of skepticism is advised.
September 19, 2023
It's too bad Mae West is mainly remembered as a campy icon. She was so much more. She was a figure of modern sexuality, and standing out in a society of conflicting values.
She wasn't perfect, though. She rebelled against the times, but was still much a product of it. I didn't know how much she was influenced by black culture, and appropriated it. She struggled a lot, with a of faux pauxs. But she ultimately built on them.
She wasn't perfect, though. She rebelled against the times, but was still much a product of it. I didn't know how much she was influenced by black culture, and appropriated it. She struggled a lot, with a of faux pauxs. But she ultimately built on them.
March 4, 2025
As a biography of Mae West, this book is exhaustively researched, informative, and full of detail. Unfortunately, it is also saddled with many tiresome stretches of strained exegesis that are inordinately preoccupied with race. The constant references to "signification" and "tricksterism" are borderline deranged in their glut - they read like the work of a young person who has just discovered the concepts' existence.
December 13, 2017
Oxford University Press-- but really a standard biography larded with repetitious post modern academic jargon. Take away the pretentious jargon, just a pulp publisher biography.
July 1, 2022
passable.
August 30, 2024
Interesting, not what I thought….
December 26, 2013
I just couldn't make it through. I was looking for an interesting biography on a colorful figure in a time of history I don't know much about, but the writing style was ultimately my brain's demise. Better luck next time.
July 22, 2016
An interesting biography full of fascinating historical facts about Mae West and her vaudeville roots through her better known Hollywood days.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews