Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars

by Kliph Nesteroff

Mae West played vaudeville nonstop from 1910 through 1926. She had a cult following, but mainstream acceptance eluded her. She cowrote most of her own material, and when she and playwright Adeline Leitzbach put together a play called Sex, it made West the most talked about actor in America. Sex was an action-comedy about a Montreal prostitute. It portrayed gangland slayings, corrupt policemen, seduction, and suicide. Billboard called it a “disgrace to all those connected with it.” The Daily Mirror headline declared, “Monstrosity Plucked From Garbage Can—Destined to Sewer.” And the New York American pleaded, “Wipe Out Those Evil Plays Now Menacing Future of Theatre.” A protagonist whore was too much for New York preachers and police. After forty-one consecutive weeks on the Broadway stage, the NYPD raided the production. The cast was arrested and charged with “giving an immoral performance and maintaining a public nuisance,” stagehands were booked for “corrupting the morals of youth,” and the stage manager faced three years in prison.