Mae West is a true icon and legend. However, her Hollywood resume is actually not as lengthy as one might think. Ms. West loved making pictures in which she played women of questionable virtue who spouted smutty one liners and double entendres. The introduction of the Hayes Code, which barred such lascivious content, meant that she could no longer make the sort of films that made her famous. So she decided to take an early retirement from movies, heading to Broadway where she could still do the sort of risqué work that she loved.
During one eventful production, she met a young dancer named Maila Nurmi who was cast as a backup chorus girl. Ms. West complimented Maila on her beauty and talent. When Ms. Nurmi retreated to her hotel room after a rehearsal she was shocked to find a letter dismissing her from the production. Mae West felt that Maila would upstage her and nobody upstaged Mae West. Ms. Nurmi wasn't too upset, since Mae had included a check for Maila's full salary for the entire run of the show. She was getting paid to do nothing.
Years later, Ms. Nurmi resurfaced in Los Angeles as the haunting "Vampira", a sexy vampiress who introduced b-list movies. She had become a close friend of Mae West and would often have lengthy phone sessions where they would trade gossip. One evening, Ms. West called up and asked if she could have a dollar from Maila. Maila thought it strange, but agreed to give Ms. West the dollar she asked for. Mae told Ms. Nurmi to hang tight because she was sending a driver to pick her up. Maila, of course, wondered why Mae needed cash if she still employed a driver. It hardly seemed worth the effort, but she agreed and soon found herself whisked to Mae's luxury apartment.
Upon accepting the cash, Mae pulled out a pink slip. She was selling Maila one of her year old Cadillacs for just one dollar. Mae never liked riding around in an "old" car, and wouldn't dream of dealing with a trade-in. So she "sold" her cars to friends for just $1. Needless to say, Maila was ecstatic.
Despite her early retirement from movies and obvious big spending ways, Mae never worried about money. A shrewd investor, she owned the lavish apartment building she lived in and passed away leaving an estate estimated at $75 million in 1980. Maila, on the other hand, found herself on the Hollywood blacklist due to her alleged communist sympathies. Reduced to starring in Ed Wood films, she sold signed photographs and rubbings of celebrity gravestones to stay afloat. She passed away in 2008.
