"Woman of the Century"

May 15, 1971: Kevin Thomas reported in a Los Angeles Times article. . . that Mae West was named Woman of the Century at UCLA Wednesday night by vote of the student council.

Miss West accepted the award, a gold winged statue, along with a plaque declaring her an honorary student “with full privileges accorded by the Board of Regents” in the Grand Ballroom of the university’s student union building after a screening of her 1933 classic “I’m No Angel.”

Sheathed in white faille and sparkling with diamonds, the star was accorded several standing ovations by the approximately 1,700 students who crowded the ballroom.

In a question-and-answer session with the young people Miss West declared that she would not consider running against Gov. Reagan in the next election.

“I don’t know much about politics,” confessed Miss West, hands on hips (“I’m just restin’ ‘em”).

“But I know a good party man when I see one