Mann, May
Biography
May Mann (1908-was a Hollywood columnist and feature writer.
May Mann was born September 1, 1908, in Ogden, Utah. She worked as a society columnist for her hometown newspaper, The Ogden Standard-Examiner. She began branching out into writing about Hollywood stars, making contacts as they passed through Ogden’s Union Station. In 1936, May named her daily column "Going Hollywood," which was soon syndicated to many newspapers in the Intermountain West and later across the nation through the General Features Syndicate.
May used the title "Going Hollywood" throughout her life. Between 1936 and 1981 she wrote "Going Hollywood" columns for fourteen different magazines and newspapers. In 1946, a few years after she stopped writing for her hometown paper, she registered the title as her trademark. In 1982, May was still submitting "Going Hollywood" columns to at least two publications.
May became one of the five women to have a personal interview with Mae West and the only woman, at that time, to interview her in her famed apartment atop the Beverly Hills Hotel. She also wrote about Clark Gable throughout his life. During World War II, she occasionally wrote morale-boosting articles about stars entertaining enlisted men, war heroes, or love problems that came with the war. May interviewed and wrote about Elvis Presley often during his career and developed a close friendship with him, publishing a biography on him in 1975.
May married Al Leon, a former concert singer from San Francisco, in 1945. They divorced early in 1948. Nearly a year after she divorced Leon, May married ex-boxer Buddy Baer in 1949. After five years, May filed for divorce.
May Mann died April 15, 1995, in Los Angeles, California.
Citation:
Harold B. Lee Library. Div. of Archives and Manuscripts. Register of the May Mann collection, 1982:p. 1 (May Vasta Randall, later known as May Mann) p. 64 (b. 1908)LC in RLIN, 4/18/86(hdg.: Mann, May)
Found in 37 Collections and/or Records:
May Mann legal documents, 1946-1979
Contains a photocopy of a trademark, marriage certificates and divorce decrees, insurance policies, wills, contracts, legal correspondence, promissory notes, reports on a traffic accident, and other material.
May Mann legal documents, 1980-1981
Contains correspondence and court documents related to the estate of George Dareos Donovan, deceased, 1980-1981.
May Mann news items, 1934-1947
Contains items from the Ogden Standard Examiner and the Hollywood Citizen News.
May Mann oversized photographs, undated
Containts oversized photographs, including images of Mann with family and others.
May Mann papers on books, 1940-1982
Contains correspondence and publicity dealing with book written by Mann, as well as typescripts of the books.
May Mann papers on books, 1982
Contains excepts from the book, "Elvis, Why Won't They Leave You Alone?" published in The Star, 1982.
May Mann papers on charities and civic activities, 1980-1982
Contains correspondence and video recordings related to Mann's charity work.
May Mann papers on Ida B. Mayer Cummings Auxiliary, 1980-1981
Contains correspondence and other material related to Rudy Vallee's 80th birthday party.
May Mann papers on published works, 1940-1945, 1958-1982
Contains correspondence and typescripts related to works by Mann on Clark Gable, Jayne Mansfield, Elvis Presley, and her cat Princess.
May Mann papers on unpublished works, 1950-1980
Contains correspondence and typescripts for unpublished works by Mann on her childhood and adult life, as well as works on John Carroll, Ilona Massey, Selene Walters, Mary Pickford, and others.
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