* TheCastShowoff: In most of West's movies she re-wrote her own lines and many of her movies were based on un-produced stage plays.
* DawsonCasting: West didn't start movies until she was 39 and she was playing characters younger than her age, even trying to pull it off in ''Film/{{Sextette}}'' where she's meant to be 28.
* ReferencedBy:
** WebVideo/KarolinaZebrowska points out that [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage Lady Dimitrescu]]'s look takes a lot of inspiration from Mae West.
** Since she's such a favorite of {{Drag Queen}}s, it's no surprise that she's been imitated a few times on ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'', most notably by Alaska on All Stars 2, and Aiden Zhane on season 12.
** A RealLife example: Inflatable life jackets are sometimes referred to as a "Mae West" due to them making the wearer appear as large breasted as she was.
* {{Typecasting}}: In most of West's appearances on Television and her last two films she's still playing Mae West even to the point that in ''Film/MyraBreckinridge'' she is playing to her role.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''The Drag'', West's play about homosexuality, was to go to Broadway after a successful run out of town but after West's arrest in ''Sex'' and threats from police, Mae gave in.
** West was offered Belle Watling in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' and Norma Desmond in 'Film/SunsetBoulevard', but she rejected both roles.
** Her episode of ''Person to Person'' wasn't aired due to her nude statue on her piano.