Well Done Bill!

Mae West it is.

Wow!

That was a stab in the dark. I knew that she was a silent era actress, and that she was on the Sgt. Pepper's album cover. I have no idea what other album featured her.

She had quite a career and was risque almost from the start. In 1926 she wrote, produced and directed herself in her first broadway starring role in the play SEX. That led to a police raid and prosecution for "corrupting the morals of youth." She chose to serve her 10 day sentence rather than have it suspended for the publicity value. Interesting that she often wrote, directed, and produced her work in this early era.

Her Hollywood career began in the 30's. West's films in the early 30's were very successful. However, the Hays Code that took effect in 1934 severely cramped her style and resulted in more and more censorship of her work and she stopped making films in 1943. At this point she turned to working nightclubs and stage shows.

West got in trouble with the censors on radio as well. On two separate appearances on Edgar Bergen's radio show with Charlie McCarthey, West referred to Charlie as "all wood and a yard long" and commented, "Charles, I remember our last date, and have the splinters to prove it!"

Those two rock albums were made in 1966 and 1972 when she was in her 70's. The first was titled Way Out West and the second Great Balls of Fire and covered songs by The Doors among others. She was on the cover of Sgt Pepper's as well.

Here's Mae singing the Doors' Light My Fire:

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQxFm9EeniQ

What would we do without YouTube?

Thanks Arthur.

Awaiting your first three clues, Bill ...

1. I was born in Hove, Sussex, England.

2. I attended a boarding school in Derbyshire.

3. I later attended the Corona Academy drama school.

Peter O’Toole?

Not Mr. O'Toole.

4. I formed my first band in 1972.

Freddie Mercury?

Not Farrokh.

5. Five years earlier, I was in a movie starring Sidney Poitier. Not my big screen debut, but my first credited rôle.

You don't mean Lulu, do you? I know she sang "To Sir With Love."

Not Lulu.

6. After my first band broke up I moved to Los Angeles and formed a second band.

Peter Frampton?

Not Peter.

7. My second band broke up in 1979. Three years later . . . you guessed it! . . . I formed a third band.

I like the Lulu guess.

How about Marianne Faithful?

Graham Nash?

Neither Marianne nor Graham.

8. In 1984 I starred in a horror/comedy film.

David Bowie?

Not Ziggy Stardust, but I like the guess.

9. In 1985 I filled in for Robert Palmer in . . . wait for it! . . . another band.