West was the epitome of the wisecracking dame, radiating unbridled sexuality while tossing off saucy one-liners. The empress of innuendo, the diminutive platinum blonde with the hourglass figure cannily crafted a stage and screen persona that revolutionized the depiction of women, and men's opinions of them.

Mae West was a pro from day one. She was only five when she first trod the boards in 1898, performing in amateur shows in her native Brooklyn. By the time she was eight, West had turned professional. She joined the vaudeville circuit at thirteen, causing a sensation in her debut, and began a lifelong practice of writing her own lines.

Since she was already penning her own material in other people's work, writing plays was a natural progression for West, and her first effort, which she also produced, opened on Broadway in 1926. Notorious for its daring title and subject matter, "Sex" set the tone for the rest of Mae West's career. It also landed her a $500 fine and a ten-day jail stint after the Society for the Suppression of Vice charged her with putting on a show that "tended to corrupt the morals of youth." Undeterred, she wrote another, even more controversial play, 1928's "The Drag." The first performance was raided, and the entire cast, which included drag queens, was arrested.

Her real breakthrough came with "Diamond Lil," the prototype for every Mae West character. A swaggering saloon singer with an army of male admirers, Lil was the living embodiment of West's famous adage, "When a girl goes bad, men go right after her." It was in "Diamond Lil" that audiences first heard the immortal line, forever linked with Mae West, "Why don't you come up and see me some time?"

In 1932, she made her screen debut alongside George Raft in "Night After Night." Although she only had a bit part, Raft later said of West, "she stole everything but the cameras."

Her first starring role came in "She Done Him Wrong," a thinly disguised rewrite of "Diamond Lil." As her leading man, West cast an unknown actor she'd spotted on the studio lot: Cary Grant. The movie earned Paramount over $3 million in 1933, and West immediately followed up with "I'm No Angel" from her own screenplay, again co-starring Grant. It made even more money. By 1935, Mae West was the highest paid woman in America.

As her popularity increased, Hollywood's morality watchdogs began cracking down on her. She tried to work around the censors by inventing ever more outrageous double entendres. But by the time West made "My Little Chickadee" in 1940 with another comic genius, W.C. Fields, the dialogue was so sanitized that what should have been movie history's greatest comedic pairing turned out to be a major letdown. Seeking greater freedom of expression, West eventually returned to the theater.

She resurrected "Diamond Lil," and toured in a production of "Catherine the Great," protected by an imperial guard of musclemen. In 1954, West developed a successful cabaret act in which her only onstage companions were eight loin-clothed bodybuilders. Although she was 62, her character remained the same: funny, sexy, and irresistible to men.

One member of West's beefcake entourage was Paul Novak, a former circus handyman and ex-Marine. Almost thirty years her junior, Novak became West's constant companion for 26 years, and the great love of her life.

Mae West retired from performing in the mid-1950s, a cult legend and screen icon. But she surprised fans by making a cameo appearance in the 1970 film "Myra Breckinridge." At 77, West was still playing a 40-ish sex siren, lusted after by a bevy of young men. The movie was panned, although it has since been enshrined as a camp classic.

Her last picture, "Sextette," was an even greater flop than its predecessor. Not long after its 1978 release, West suffered a series of strokes. She was faithfully cared for by the devoted Novak, but the strokes eventually led to her death on November 22nd, 1980.

Although she lived to 87, Mae West's characterization of herself as a vulgar, sexy broad never really grew old. She was a pioneering modern feminist in her public and private lives, a woman who formulated her own image and controlled her own destiny to the point that she became one of Hollywood and Broadway's most legendary and enduring stars. On stage and screen, her characters reversed gender stereotypes with their shameless sexual aggression; every man wanted her, but none could hold onto her as she loved and left an endless stream of male admirers who would do anything to win her back.

In 1999, Mae West became the subject of the hit Off-Broadway play "Dirty Blonde," written by and starring Claudia Shear. In the production, which combines imagined scenes from the lives of West and two fans, Shear describes her leading lady as "the movie star equivalent of Venice"-a stunning, unique creation, never to be duplicated.