Mae West Before there was Marilyn Monroe’s breathy, little-girl-lost sex symbol, there was Mae West. Born in 1893 to Vaudeville stars, West wrote and starred in films that were unabashedly about female empowerment. One of the earlier plays she penned, “Sex,” landed her in jail for obscenity charges in 1926. West was known to quip “A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.” Here’s to the original dame.