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Mae West fan pleased to learn about Akron boxer's role in life of actress
By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Jun 29, 2009
History never sleeps.
Here are some interesting updates from the world of This Place, This Time:
Going West
Hollywood musician Ram Diaz, 47, called to say he loved our story about Akron boxer William ''Gorilla'' Jones (1906-1982), a former middleweight champion who was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this month.
Diaz is a big fan of screen legend Mae West (1892-1980), who employed Jones as a bodyguard and chauffeur after he retired from the ring. Jones and West were close companions for 40 years and might have been romantically involved.
''I didn't know much about Gorilla Jones because she was so secretive about her men,'' Diaz said. ''Mae West didn't kiss and tell. She might have given you a clue here and there.''
He believes such a clue can be found in West's 1932 movie Night After Night, in which George Raft plays an ex-boxer. It was the same year that Jones won the middleweight title.
In one scene, West remarks: ''Hey, Gorilla. Come here.''
''She was given full right to rewrite her scenes in that movie,'' he said. ''So I know for a fact that she put that name in there.''
A lifelong collector of memorabilia, Diaz has been enamored with West since he saw My Little Chickadee on TV as a boy in the 1960s. He lives in a building near the late star's Ravenswood apartment complex.
''I can actually see her bedroom window from my bedroom window,'' he said.
Since 1988, Diaz has thrown a Hollywood birthday party in West's honor every Aug. 17 on the roof of Gramercy Tower in Hancock Park and in his top-floor apartment. The potluck dinner, which is open to the public, includes some of West's inner circle of friends, including Kevin Thomas, Tim Malachosky and Chris Basinger.
Not all guests are acquainted with West's work, though.
''There's a lot of people that really don't know much about her, but they get educated when they arrive,'' Diaz said.
He praised the Beacon Journal article for teaching him something new.
''That's the fascinating thing with Miss West,'' he said. ''There's always something new.''
Bean counter
Our recent story about the Summit County Infirmary in West Akron sparked a childhood memory for Marjorie Straight, 84, of Cuyahoga Falls.
She remembers when she and her sister used to ride in the car with their parents in Munroe Falls and see the Summit County Home, which replaced the infirmary in 1919.
''In the summer, every day there were residents sitting outside in the front lawn on benches and the picnic table,'' she recalled.
Elderly residents with canes would stroll along the road. She called it ''a sight to behold.''
''There was a man sitting there with two jars — one with navy beans. . . . Every car that passed, he would keep count by putting a bean from one jar into the other. . . .
''We enjoyed seeing him sitting there counting.''
Straight said she hopes the Beacon Journal will continue to ''tell us more of the history of Akron, long forgotten or unknown to people.''
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
History never sleeps.
Get the full article here.
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