Bette Midler still has the cease-and-desist letter Mae West sent her

Interesting fact: bilingual dualisms in law, like null and void, assault and battery, and cease and desist date from the French-speaking Normans and their conquest of Anglo-Saxon England.



Here's a young Bette accompanied by Barry Manilow:

At left is Mae West in her 50's beefcake revue. She was a pretty good jazz singer, but she also liked rock and roll, and even recorded a cover of Light My Fire. West NEVER had an unlisted number and used to practice the drums in her apartment (!) about which other tenants seemed not to have complained, presumably because she owned the building, although she later sold it for a very good price — and continued to live there.