-- Chronology of Mae West's Life --
August 17, 1893: Mary Jane (Mae) West born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn1901: "Baby Mae" wins amateur contest at Royal Theater, Brooklyn
1907: Appears in stock at Gotham Theatre, Brooklyn
1911: Tours on Columbia burlesque wheel
April 11, 1911: Marries Frank Wallace in Milwaukee
September, 1911: Broadway debut as an Irish maid in A La Broadway
1912-1924: Tours in vaudeville, mainly on the Keith circuit
1916: Meets Jim Timony, longtime manager
October 1918 - June 1919: Does the shimmy in Sometime on Broadway
August 1921: Plays Shifty Liz in The Mimic World of 1921
1922: Writes play The Hussy with Adeline Leitzbach
1926: Creates, co-produces, and stars as Margy LaMont in Sex
January 1927: Mae West's homosexual drama The Drag opens out of town
February 1927: Police raid Sex
April 20, 1927: Sentenced to ten days in jail on Welfare Island
April 1928: A major hit in self-created Diamond Lil, Royale Theatre
October 1928: Second homosexual play, Pleasure Man, raided by the police
1930: Publishes novel about vice in Harlem, The Constant Sinner
1932: Moves to Hollywood; appears with George Raft in Night After Night
1933: Stars as Lady Lou in She Done Him Wrong, with Cary Grant
1933: Stars as Tira in I'm No Angel
1934: Joseph Breen enforces Production Code; cuts Belle of the Nineties
1935: Meets Amelia Earhart; marriage to Frank Wallace disclosed
1936: Stars as Rose Carleton/Sister Annie in Klondike Annie
1936: Paramount fails to renew her contract; she signs with Emanuel Cohen's Major Pictures, which get Paramount distribution
December 12, 1937: Creates a furor in "Adam and Eve" on Edgar Bergen's Chase and Sanborn Comedy Hour (radio)
1938: Every Day's a Holiday, her last picture distributed by Paramount
1939: Co-stars with W. C. Fields in My Little Chickadee
1954: Opens nightclub act with musclemen in Las Vegas
1957: Performs at Academy Awards with Rock Hudson
1959: Publishes autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It
1970: Appears as Leticia Van Allen in Myra Breckinridge
1978: Appears as Marlo Manners in Sextette
November 22, 1980: Dies at her Hollywood Ravenswood apartment