American Rose
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43 a child nearly the same age: Ibid.
44 “I lost their father”: Lee, Gypsy, 23.
45 “I’m Baby June”: Ibid.
46 “I hate him”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008; Series VI, Box 42, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
CHAPTER 9: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, DECEMBER 1940
1 “If you cry”: Havoc, More Havoc, 269.
2 “talked about the things”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, 2008.
3 “original juke box voice”: June Havoc to Gypsy Rose Lee (undated), Series I, Box 2, Folder 12, Gypsy Rose Lee papers, BRTD.
4 “I interviewed Leslie Howard”: Rodgers, O’Hara, and Hart, 86–88 (I abbreviated the lyrics here).
5 She begins sobbing: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
6 “You always stopped the show”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
7 “It wasn’t hilarious”: Ibid.
8 “I … I didn’t think”: Havoc, More Havoc, 226.
9 “Well, you see, June”: Ibid., 227.
10 “Men yelling, ‘Take it off’ ”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
11 Gypsy breaks the news: Tippins, 138.
CHAPTER 10: NEW YORK CITY, 1917–1920
1 “Puritanism: the haunting fear”: Fessenden, Radel, and Zaborowska, 267.
2 “Ya know”: Minsky and Machlin, 32–33.
3 They planned to advertise: Robert C. Allen, 231–232.
4 more motor vehicles than horses: Ellis, 509.
5 J. Montgomery Flagg’s: The New York Times, May 20, 1917.
6 “The First Fifty”: The New York Times, May 18, 1917.
7 “Booze or coal?”: Lerner, 29.
8 City Hall bowed: The New York Times, November 2, 1917.
9 “a fascinating cross”: Series I, Box 4, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
10 he worked to cultivate: Hirsch, The Boys from Syracuse, 13, 17, 69.
11 Billy Minsky considered him: Undated clipping, Burlesque Clippings Files, Museum of the City of New York.
12 “The people must be amused”: The New York Times, November 4, 1917.
13 a sad parade: Minsky and Machlin, 33.
14 Herbert took over “culture”: Ibid., 49.
15 credit to “Will” Shakespeare: Orlean (N.Y.) Evening Times, December 19, 1925.
16 “plenty of short girls”: The New York Times, September 4, 1927.
17 “No name in the history”: Cantor, Freedman, and Johnson, 53.
18 Nude Descending a Staircase: Charyn, 46.
19 “One type is missing”: Florenz Ziegfeld, “How I Pick Beauties,” Theatre Magazine, September 1919; Florenz Ziegfeld, “Picking Out Pretty Girls for the Stage,” American Magazine, December 1919.
20 “energetic Amazon”: Variety, April 12, 1928.
21 “censorless ginger”: Ziedman, 122.
22 “The Minsky brothers”: Minsky and Machlin, 34.
23 “If people want it”: Ibid.
24 He hadn’t invented: Alexander, 17.
25 having lost his virginity: John S. Sumner, Half and Half: Somewhat Autobiographical, 42–44, John Saxton Sumner Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.
26 Haymarket “resort”: Ibid.; The New York Times, July 30, 1902.
27 “died of joy”: Alva Johnston, “Contented Crusader,” The New Yorker, February 20, 1937.
28 Two years prior: Shteir, Striptease, 93.
29 “I have never before”: Minsky and Machlin, 35.
30 “Have your men drop in”: Ibid.
31 a “Boston”: Robert C. Allen, 247.
CHAPTER 11: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1941
1 “Michael Todd was the toughest”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, June 2008.
2 “cruelly”: Hagerstown (Md.) Daily Mail (AP report), January 28, 1941; The New York Times, January 28, 1941.
3 “obscene and abusive language”: Ibid.
4 “I never try”: J. P. McEvoy, “More Tease Than Strip,” Reader’s Digest, July 1941.
5 “Did you ever hold”: Ibid.
6 “I’ll do my specialty”: Gypsy Rose Lee to Lee Wright, January 20, 1941, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
7 “I’m delighted to hear”: George Davis to Gypsy Rose Lee, January 15, 1941, Series I, Box 3, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
8 “I think it very funny”: George Davis to Gypsy Rose Lee, undated but circa December 1940, Series I, Box 3, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
9 “Darling, I reread”: Michael Todd to Gypsy Rose Lee, undated, Series I, Box 3, Folder 8, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
10 “My father was unavoidably detained”: Cohn, 107.
11 making $55,000 per week: Todd, Jr., 70.
12 Bertha Todd bursts into: Preminger, 58.
13 She has her superstitions: Ibid., 14–15.
CHAPTER 12: ON THE VAUDEVILLE CIRCUIT, 1920–1924
1 “Forty-five weeks of two shows”: Tucker, 54.
2 Birth certificates were forged: “Gypsy Rose Lee: Naked Ambition,” A&E Biography, directed by Jeff Swimmer, 1999.
3 “We never saw or heard”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, June 2008.
4 no salary for the boys: Lee, Gypsy, 25.
5 One singer, from Shamokin, Pennsylvania: Lee, Gypsy, 24; Havoc, Early Havoc, 126 (Gypsy’s memoir says Sonny was from Shenandoah, Pennsylvania; June’s, Shamokin, Pennsylvania).
6 Sonny Sinclair: 1924 Vaudeville Programs, Series V, Box 41, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
7 “The disease is incurable”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 127.
8 “He fondled her”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
9 chewing the animals’ food: Lee, Gypsy, 127.
10 “It’s a wonder”: Ibid., 24.
11 “The toothbrush,” June said: Havoc, Early Havoc, 121.
12 “Why, they are only”: Ibid., 223.
13 trench mouth: Ibid.
14 a gold pendant: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
15 “special” bars and restaurants and hotels: Ibid.
16 “Tough on Black Asses”: “Vaudeville,” a PBS American Masters special, 1997.
17 They met a performer: Story from June Havoc, as told to Tana Sibilio.
18 booking for $750 per week: Lee, Gypsy, 26.
19 no profane language: Series V, Box 41, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
20 “licorice buttons”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 132.
21 Mumshay was one: Lee, Gypsy, 127.
22 Sambo, perished after: Havoc, Early Havoc, 133–134.
23 “imitation children”: Ibid., 131.
24 “She needs a lesson”: Havoc, More Havoc, 208.
25 Chaz Chase: “Vaudeville,” a PBS American Masters special, 1997.
26 Hadji Ali: Ibid.
27 “The Human Fish”: Gilbert, 53–54.
28 a “cat piano”: Ibid., 58. Though Gilbert claims that the vaudevillian who performed the “cat piano” actually pulled live cats’ tails, this is unlikely; such a cruel act would not have gone over in family-friendly vaudeville houses. There was also a black-and-white Terrytoon cartoon called “Farmer Alfalfa’s Barnyard Amateurs” that featured a “cat piano” and was popular screen fare in vaudeville houses. (November 2008 e-mail exchange with Frank Cullen, Director of the American Vaudeville Museum.)
29 Lady Alice: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
30 “insurance”: “Vaudeville,” a PBS American Masters special, 1997.
31 “kids,” June said: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
32 It meant something when Martin Beck: Wertheim, 65.
33 Sarah Bernhardt at the New York Palace: Gilbert, 6.
34 “sophisticated little miss”: Wisconsin State Journal, October 27, 1922.
35 “Pavlova’s Own”: Ibid.
36 “the greatest juvenile”: Orlean (N.Y.) Evening Herald, December 28
, 1922.
37 “I have seen and talked”: Undated clipping from one of June Havoc’s scrapbooks, June Havoc Collection, Boston University.
38 Dainty June dabbled: Minnesota Daily Star, March 12, 1924, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
39 Dainty June and Company would soon: Passport application: Department of Washington State passport, no. 513399, issued February 1925.
40 “She is the most tender-hearted”: Wisconsin State Journal, October 27, 1922.
41 “I love everybody”: Ibid.
42 a patent: Researcher Carolyn Quinn checked the Library of Congress for the “Dainty June” patent and found none on record.
43 she once taught acting: Undated clipping from one of June Havoc’s scrapbooks, June Havoc Collection, Boston University.
44 She had designed it herself: Series VI, Box 42, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
45 “You know I wouldn’t pay”: Lee, Gypsy, 27.
46 grouch bag: Havoc, Early Havoc, 136.
47 “The Developer of Children”: Wisconsin State Journal, October 27, 1922.
48 “We started fixing our room”: Elizabeth B. Peterson, “Education for a Home Girl—Surprising Slant on Gypsy Rose Lee,” undated, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 3, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
49 “I just can’t stand it”: Lee, Gypsy, 42. June Havoc insists that Gypsy never slept with boys on the train (June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002).
50 “These child slaves”: Stein, 143.
51 “They won’t make me talk”: Lee, Gypsy, 45.
52 “GO IMMEDIATELY TO MASTER”: Series V, Box 41, Folder 3, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
53 “SEATTLE WASH”: Ibid.
54 “character, skill, and experience”: Wisconsin State Journal, October 27, 1922.
55 They listened as she read: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
56 “See for Yourself” field trips: Havoc, Early Havoc, 180.
57 “hideously” thin arms: Ibid., 181.
58 “gauche”: Ibid.
59 at least $25,000: Havoc, Early Havoc, 136.
60 “It’s a trillion dollars, I bet”: Series VI, Box 42, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
61 “Where did you children get those?”: Lee, Gypsy, 49.
62 “How dare you?”: Ibid., 51.
63 posing as Miss Thompson: Gypsy Rose Lee: Naked Ambition, documentary, 1999.
64 “The Duchess”: Laura Jacobs, “Taking It All Off,” Vanity Fair, March 2003.
65 “I’m going to marry”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
66 “Money”: Havoc, More Havoc, 253
67 “playing to the haircuts”: “Vaudeville,” a PBS American Masters special, 1997.
68 One of their programs: Series V, Box 41, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
69 he performed before: The Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.), August 28, 1923.
70 skit done in blackface: The Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.), August 24, 1923.
71 Another boy’s solo: Capital Times (Madison, Wisc.), February 25, 1924.
72 Louise displayed a flair: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1924, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
73 “Won’t You Be My Husband?”: Stevens Point (Wisc.) Daily Journal, June 16, 1922.
74 “Dainty June and Company”: Wisconsin State Journal, November 26, 1922.
75 first nervous breakdown: Author’s interview with June Havoc, June 2008; Havoc, More Havoc, 27.
76 Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Murphy, 245–249.
77 There was, she said: Nathan Miller, 100–101.
78 The property damage: The New York Times, December 19, 1921.
79 It was the deadliest attack: Trager, 384.
80 Mme. Luisa Tetrazzini: The New York Times, December 4, 1920.
81 The Park Avenue Baptist Church: The New York Times, January 4, 1925.
82 “wireless vaudeville”: The New York Times, March 14, 1921.
83 “Those earphones will never”: Lee, Gypsy, 92.
84 “she couldn’t dance that well”: June Havoc interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
85 “I’ve got a cow”: Lee, Gypsy, 34.
86 “Bring the kiddies”: The Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.), October 30, 1925.
87 “Every successful artist”: Stein, 275–276.
88 “I can’t wear this”: Fanny Brice, “I Knew Gypsy Rose Lee When,” Cosmopolitan, July 1948.
89 “You can’t be too modest”: Ibid.
90 “Does Mother know”: Lee, Gypsy, 72.
91 “pink wax birds”: Ibid., 73.
CHAPTER 13: NEW YORK CITY, 1942
1 “If only you knew”: Quoted in Frankel, 135.
2 “You have to open”: Cohn, 120.
3 “It was wartime”: Quoted in Todd, Jr., 79.
4 his “princess”: Preminger, 61.
CHAPTER 14: NEW YORK CITY, 1920–1924
1 “We’ll get drunker”: Quoted in Lerner, 260.
2 “Last rites and ceremonies”: Trager, 388.
3 “mourning parties”: Daily News (New York), January 16, 1920.
4 Uptown at Healy’s: New York Post, January 17, 1920.
5 “I’ve had more friends in private”: Daily News (New York), January 17, 1920.
6 Alphonse Capone: Walker, 11.
7 “I never was a crumb”: The New York Times, January 27, 1962.
8 Arnold Rothstein: Walker, 11.
9 speakeasies sprouted: Lerner, 138.
10 “vaguely familiar”: Walker, 102.
11 Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith: The New York Times, February 18, 1938.
12 Dozens lined East First: The New York Times, March 8, 1931.
13 “an itch to try new things”: Lerner, 133.
14 “Give me a ginger ale”: Ibid.
15 WAITER: Would the lady: Minsky and Machlin, 41.
16 shook a bottle: Zeidman, 149.
17 “Burlesque, like Broadway”: Billboard, September 19, 1925.
18 half-page ads: New York Clipper, February 9, 1921.
19 Anne Toebe: “The History of Burlesque,” Billboard, December 29, 1934.
20 Carrie Finnell: Ibid.
21 “My face ain’t much to look at”: Shteir, Striptease, 80–81.
22 “the girl with the $100,000 legs”: Ibid., 81.
23 “Varicose Alley”: Gilbert, 381; Zeidman, 110.
24 “I’ll do anything”: Zeidman, 133.
25 Minsky “Rosebuds”: Minsky and Machlin, 11.
26 “a lavish and bounteous extravaganza”: The New York Times, June 25, 1920.
27 “Look out, Minsky”: Burlesque Clippings Files, Folder 30, Museum of the City of New York.
28 “They are far seeing youths”: The New York Times, September 4, 1921.
29 “Burlesques”: The New York Times, September 16, 1922; Billboard, November 11, 1922.
30 The company consisted of: New York Clipper, March 8, 1922.
31 “hulking”: The New York Times, September 16, 1922.
32 “The Victoria”: Van Hoogstraten, 41.
33 “Sober Sue”: Gilbert, 247
34 two retired Pinkerton detectives: Minsky and Machlin, 56.
35 intense conversations with his penis: L. Sprague de Camp, 119.
36 “The long-awaited uncorking”: New York Clipper, September 20, 1922.
37 “People,” Morton said: Minsky, 58.
38 closed after just twenty-three weeks: New York Clipper, February 14, 1923.
CHAPTER 15: GYPSY’S COUNTRY HOME, HIGHLAND MILLS, NEW YORK, AUGUST 1942
1 “By the time you swear you’re his”: Quoted in Meade, 143.
2 Gypsy Rose Lee wears black: Orlean (N.Y.) Times Herald, August 31, 1942.
3 the gathering downstairs: Preminger, 61; Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal, August 31, 1942.
4 “night club bad company”: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee, May 10, 1938, Series I, Box 1, Folder 9, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
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br /> 5 “Dear Bride Gypsy Rose Lee”: June Havoc to Gypsy Rose Lee, Series I, Box 2, Folder 9, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
6 “young, good-looking”: Oakland Tribune, June 11, 1933.
7 “I don’t think a woman”: Ibid.
8 never to consummate: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.
9 “Dearest Gypola”: Alexander Kirkland to Gypsy Rose Lee, September 8, 1943, Series I, Box 1 Folder 3, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
10 “charm the birds”: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.
11 twig of grapes: Wisconsin State Journal, August 31, 1942.
CHAPTER 16: ON THE VAUDEVILLE CIRCUIT, 1925–1928
1 “Their sincerity was greater”: Billboard, December 26, 1936.
2 “I wanted to die”: Richard E. Lauterbach, “Gypsy Rose Lee: She Combines a Public Body with a Private Mind,” Life, December 14, 1942.
3 “Mind your own business”: Lee, Gypsy, 126.
4 “Go and do it”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008. In More Havoc, June writes that “with the exception of [the doctor’s] visits, and the hotel maid, I saw absolutely no one for two weeks” (27).
5 fourteen now and 165 pounds: Havoc, More Havoc, photo and caption: “Louise at fourteen, weight, 165 pounds,” following page 54.
6 “Don’t feel bad about it”: Lee, Gypsy, 75.
7 “nutrition”: Havoc, More Havoc, 128.
8 No fewer than 540: The New York Times, January 27, 1925.
9 playing the scores of the same shows: The New York Times, January 4, 1925.
10 “There is no more important question”: The New York Times, January 27, 1925.
11 E. F. Albee: Stewart, 251.
12 old-time vaudeville houses succumbed: Ibid., 249.
13 The “film peril”: The New York Times, July 20, 1928.
14 introduction of Vitaphone: Stewart, 252.
15 only five hundred theaters nationwide: Nathan Miller, 339.
16 $1.5 million “defense fund”: The New York Times, June 30, 1928.
17 “that big boisterous American wench”: The New York Times, April 24, 1927.
18 “Unique Pepologist”: Series V, Box 41, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
19 “The Joy Girl”: Ibid.