Tillie and her five siblings had emigrated with their parents, Jakob and Christiana (née Brüning) Doelger from Bavaria in 1886. West's parents married on January 18, 1889, in Brooklyn, to the pleasure of the groom's parents and the displeasure of the bride's, and raised their children as Protestants. West's father was a prizefighter known as 'Battlin' Jack West' who later worked as a 'special policeman' and later had his own private investigations agency. Her mother was a former corset and fashion model. Her paternal grandmother, Mary Jane (née Copley), for whom she was named, was a Catholic of Irish descent and West's paternal grandfather, John Edwin West, was of English–Scots descent and a ship's rigger. Her eldest sibling, Katie, died in infancy. Her other siblings were Mildred Katherine West, later known as Beverly, and John Edwin West II (sometimes inaccurately called 'John Edwin West, Jr.').
During her childhood, West's family moved to various parts of Woodhaven, as well as the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Newspaper ad for burlesque show with West, 'The Girl With a Personality', Detroit, Michigan, 1915 In Woodhaven, at Neir's Social Hall (which opened in 1829 and is still extant), West supposedly first performed professionally.
