Sunday, December 04, 2011

Mae West: Walter Walker

Not unlike Kris Humphries, 26, who has decided to seek an annulment of his sham marriage to Kim Kardashian, 31, on the basis of fraud, MAE WEST's storyline for "I'm No Angel" had her character Tira haul a handsome fiance into court for breach of promise.
• • Actor Gregory Ratoff played the prosecutor; Walter Walker, age 69, was the kindly old magistrate; and Cary Grant portrayed Jack Clayton, who is being sued for breach of promise.
• • A box office bonanza, "I'm No Angel" premiered on 14 October 1933 at the Paramount Theatre during the Great Depression.
• • Walter Walker [1864 — 1947] • •
• • Native New Yorker Walter Walker was born on 13 March 1864 and began working in front of the camera in 1917 when he was 53 years old. Over the next three decades, he was featured in 95 motion pictures, often in authority roles. From 1917 — 1947 he would be cast as a mayor, governor, senator, judge, lawyer, physician, Secretary of War, Benjamin Franklin, capitalist, priest, etc.
• • Walter Walker was seen briefly in three different comedies that starred Mae West. In addition to sitting on the bench in "I'm No Angel," he was the New Orleans Admirer in "Belle of the Nineties" [1934], and Andy Kelton in "Go West Young Man" [1936]. Did you recognize the familiar face of "his Honor" in the other two movies?
• • Employed in Hollywood until the very end, Walter Walker died in Honolulu, Hawaii in the month of December — — on 4 December 1947. According to his obit in The New York Times, his wife and a daughter (Mrs. L.H. Riley) survived him. He had been visiting his daughter and her husband, Lieut. Col. Riley, when he passed away. He was 83 years old.
• • In December, Let's Remember Archie Mayo [1891 — 1968] • •
• • Born in New York City, Archie Mayo [29 January 1891 — 4 December 1968] was a stage actor who relocated to the West Coast in 1915 and soon began working as a film director.
• • Mayo directed the speakeasy motion picture "Night After Night" [1932] — — a George Raft vehicle that did more for Mae's career than for the tough guy actor known best for "Scarface."
• • Mayo retired in 1946 — — shortly after completing A Night in Casablanca with the Marx Brothers and Angel on My Shoulder with Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, and Claude Rains.
• • Archie Mayo died in Guadalajara, Mexico in the month of December — — on 4 December 1968. He was 77. Mayo has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• • On 4 December 1888 • •
• • Irish actor Colin Kenny, who was seen with Mae West in "The Heat's On," was born in Dublin on 4 December 1888.
• • On 4 December 1944 • •
• • The photographer Arthur Fellig, more commonly known as Weegee, made his silver gelatin prints sing and knew how to cleverly caption his portraits for large-format magazines such as Life and Look. On 4 December 1944, Weegee took himself downtown to the "poor man's Stork Club" — — i.e., Sammy's Bowery Follies, which somehow became a refuge for him. Sammy employed many old vaudevillians in his nightly stage shows. This was the spot for numerous humanistic and playful images such as a photo he took on December 4th of Sammy's "Mae West" — — the boisterous Bowery entertainer Norma Devine.
• • Mae West would visit her old colleagues at Sammy's place, whenever she was in town.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm no angel."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article by Associated Press mentioned Mae West and her Hollywood attire.
• • A Los Angeles based stringer from AP wrote: Buxom Mae West, colorfully attired in a typical Hollywood outfit of lounging-pajamas, gave a deposition today preliminary to trial of the suit of Frank Wallace, who claims she is his wife.
• • AP noted: Miss West gave the deposition behind closed doors in the office of A. M. Blount, counsel for Frank Wallace. She was dressed in blue lounging pajamas, blue silk sandals, white hat, and carried a white handbag. ...
• • Source: Article: "Buxom Mae West Gives Trial Deposition" written by AP; published on 8 May 1937
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2135th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
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