by Karen Abbott
20 “festival of splendor”: The Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.), October 29, 1925.
21 “Malcontent!”: Havoc, More Havoc, 36.
22 made her bite June’s favorite stagehand: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
23 “The kids aren’t babies”: Lee, Gypsy, 92.
24 “What fights?”: Havoc, More Havoc, 37.
25 a vision appeared: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.
26 “one bright spot”: Lee, Gypsy, 88.
27 “Everything going out”: Ibid., 96.
28 “His very lack of pretension”: Ibid., 95.
29 “You’ve told me to get out”: Ibid., 96.
30 “I’m going to start”: Ibid., 98.
31 “We’ll just have to tighten”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 190.
32 They had repaid: Lee, Gypsy, 154.
33 “That’s interesting”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
34 “Why, that’s an insult”: Lee, Gypsy, 107.
35 they took all of them: Series V, Box 41, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
36 “It is understood”: Ibid.
37 “The experience will be”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 191.
38 “danced like a bubble”: Ibid., 192.
39 “show-offy”: Lee, Gypsy, 138.
40 “cheap-looking”: Ibid.
41 “I like being with you”: Ibid., 139–140.
42 one-night stands: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1928, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
43 Three Ormonde Sisters: Ibid.
44 Evelyn Nesbit: Ibid.
45 “Dainty June and the Happy Gang Revue”: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1928, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
46 “knock vaudeville out”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 190.
47 she looped her arm through Rose’s: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
48 “Mother will be so glad”: Lee, Gypsy, 133.
49 pushed that manager out: Author’s interview with Arthur Laurents, October 2008; Gypsy Rose Lee: Naked Ambition. June calls this story “ridiculous,” an assessment perhaps born of her changing views about her mother in later years. “Poor mother,” she said to me. “She didn’t know half the time what to do.” I asked if Rose had realized how difficult it was for June to be working such exhausting hours at such a young age, shouldering the financial burden for the entire family. “No, she didn’t,” June replied. “She was just so proud of me. And then later, when I was on Broadway, she wasn’t interested at all.” (Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.)
50 Jayhawk Theatre: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1928, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD. “June eloped” is scrawled across the clipping. Bobby Reed’s real name was Weldon C. Hyde, and the marriage certificate is dated November 28, 1928.
51 “She’s only a baby”: Lee, Gypsy, 143.
52 “She can’t have gone far”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 201.
53 She reached inside her coat: Ibid., 204.
54 “You’re all I have now”: Lee, Gypsy, 143.
CHAPTER 17: HIGHLAND MILLS AND NEW YORK CITY, 1942–1943
1 “All I ever wanted”: Gettysburg Times, December 26, 1979.
2 “an Aztec virgin”: Richard E. Lauterbach, “Gypsy Rose Lee: She Combines a Public Body with a Private Mind,” Life, September 14, 1942.
3 “My Gawd!”: Ibid.
4 “stay a bachelor forever”: New York Daily Mirror, June 7, 1943.
5 “Sorry you are having trouble”: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee, December 24, 1942, Series I, Box 1, Folder 10, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
6 “I miss you”: Michael Todd to Gypsy Rose Lee, January 24, 1943, Series I, Box 3, Folder 8, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
7 her play, The Naked Genius: Series VI, Box 44, Folders 1–9, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD. The play’s original title was The Ghost in the Woodpile.
8 “Doctor of Strip Teasing”: Herbert Minsky to Gypsy Rose Lee, March 12, 1937, Series II, Box 14, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
9 “the fizz on the soda”: Daily Herald (Tyrone, Pa.), December 16, 1979.
10 she once bashed a producer: Daily Register (Harrisburg, Ill.), July 18, 1949.
11 less of a collaboration: Preminger, 63.
CHAPTER 18: NEW YORK CITY, 1925–1928
1 “When a burlesque producer”: Mitchell, 53.
2 “bold invasion of Broadway”: The New York Times, February 25, 1923.
3 “les frères Minsky”: Billboard, January 2, 1937.
4 not to be confused with the Apollo: The Apollo of Harlem Renaissance fame was originally called Hurtig & Seamon’s Theater and was a burlesque venue and competitor of Minsky’s Apollo. Billy Minsky bought Hurtig & Seamon’s lease in 1928 for $101,000 (Louis Sobol, “The Voice of Broadway,” Burlesque Clippings Files, Museum of the City of New York). Six years later, the theater manager Frank Schiffman stepped in and renamed the venue the Apollo, after the Greek god. (The New York Times, February 19, 2006.)
5 Hurtig & Seamon’s: Zeidman, 95.
6 “grossly inadequate”: The New York Times, February 20, 1917.
7 “You won’t last four weeks”: Louis Sobol, “The Voice of Broadway,” Burlesque Clippings Files, Museum of the City of New York.
8 corner barbershops: The New York Times, August 12, 1923.
9 a monkey had escaped and killed: The New York Times, September 22, 1924.
10 a triborough bridge: The New York Times, December 7, 1924.
11 The area boasted: Jackson, 523–524.
12 “There’s no such thing”: Van Vechten, Parties, 84.
13 rent parties: Adler, 57.
14 A’Lelia Walker: Nathan Miller, 220.
15 character called “Money”: Adler, 57.
16 Sewing Machine Bertha: Caldwell, 292.
17 Madden’s No. 1: Ibid., 238.
18 no darker than “high yellow”: Kisseloff, 309–310.
19 Super Black and White Sensation: Burlesque Clippings Files, Museum of the City of New York.
20 Lucky Sambo: Billboard, August 29, 1925.
21 “You got any more material?”: Minsky and Machlin, 61.
22 she was no longer Mary Dawson: South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 17, 1974, Mary E. Dawson Papers, the University of Maine at Orono.
23 “Mademoiselle Fifi”: Minsky and Machlin, 74.
24 “Dear Sir”: Variety, September 3, 1924.
25 a queue that reached: Variety, September 17, 1924.
26 “gorgeous golden cape”: Billboard, September 13, 1924.
27 “with a few cooch movements”: Shteir, Striptease, 92.
28 “burlesque red hot”: Billboard, September 13, 1924.
29 “I address you, sir”: Barber, 35–36.
30 “Shakespeare Shimmies in His Grave”: Minsky and Machlin, 78.
31 “splendid cooperation”: Ibid., 177.
32 “Presenting the fair, the fragrant”: Ibid., 265.
33 “This is it, Feef” and scene between Billy Minsky and Mlle. Fifi: Barber, 303–311.
34 the true whereabouts: South Florida Sun Sentinel, April 17, 1974, Mary E. Dawson Papers, the University of Maine at Orono.
35 “pelvic contortions” and courtroom scene: Barber, 330–332.
CHAPTER 19: ON AND OFF THE SET OF THE NAKED GENIUS, 1943
1 “The only time”: Gettysburg Times, December 26, 1979.
2 until his ears “smarted”: The Evening Huronite (Huron, S.D.), September 30, 1943.
3 “It is not a critic’s play”: The New York Times, November 7, 1943.
4 threatens to file a suit: Gypsy Rose Lee to George S. Kaufman, Series VI, Box 44, Folder 8, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
5 “A waterfall gets ’em”: Cohn, 145.
6 “Mike,” she writes: Gypsy Rose Lee to Michael Todd, Series VI, Box 43, Folder 11, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
7 “Every time I see”: The New York Times, November 7, 1943.
8 “The criti
cs will slaughter us”: Cohn, 145.
9 “I’m taking it to New York”: Ibid.
10 his pending $350,000 deal: The New York Times, November 7, 1943.
11 “Written by Louise Hovick”: Todd, Jr., 107.
12 “Mr. Todd,” he requests: Ibid.
13 It’s the first time: Ibid.
14 “I can sort of understand”: Quoted in Preminger, 64.
15 A gleaming gold compact: Ibid.
CHAPTER 20: ON THE VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE CIRCUITS, 1928–1930
1 “The first hundred stares”: Frankel, 19.
2 When Grandpa was a little boy: Series VI, Box 42, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
3 “Mother,” she said: Ibid.
4 “He can’t do this, Rose!”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 182–183.
5 died five days later: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 9, 1934.
6 “We’ll comb the city of Seattle”: Lee, Gypsy, 154.
7 The act consisted: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1929, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
8 Mother sketched out prospective routines and personas: Ibid.
9 “two tiny swellings”: Lee, Gypsy, 156.
10 the Tuesday-night entertainment: El Paso Herald, April 2, 1929, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
11 “a kaleidoscopic pageant”: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1929, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
12 “Mother Machree”: Tucson Daily Citizen, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1929, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
13 “in the shadow”: Havoc, Early Havoc, 8.
14 “It’s the same as putting”: Martin, 18.
15 visions of Jesus; another disrobed: Calabria, 77.
16 gnawed off the tops: The New York Times, June 23, 1928.
17 talked to imaginary friends: Calabria, 77.
18 dropped dead of heart failure: Martin, 19.
19 “complete Orpheum Circuit”: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1929, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
20 Attraction Extraordinary: Ibid.
21 “Look at us, Mother”: Lee, Gypsy, 163.
22 “Seven Sunkist Sirens”: Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, 1929, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
23 “really and truly from Hollywood”: Marion Daily Republican, December 13, 1929, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
24 “a number of the larger cities”: Ibid.
25 having merged: The New York Times, December 9, 1927.
26 “I am vaudeville”: Stewart, 252
27 Joseph Kennedy: Ibid., 253.
28 “washed up”: Gilbert, 394.
29 only five straight vaudeville theaters remained: The New York Times, March 17, 1929.
30 “deliciosos” and “sugestivos” numbers: El Paso Times, April 2, 1929, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
31 “They’d never get”: Lee, Gypsy, 165.
32 “I am a hooker”: Ibid., 166.
33 “A dime here, a quarter there”: Ibid., 172.
34 daily expenses: Series V, Box 41, Folder 8, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
35 “nothing will ever take”: Lee, Gypsy, 158.
36 “If it weren’t for that terrible revolution”: Ibid., 171.
37 WALL ST. LAYS AN EGG: Variety, October 30, 1929.
38 “Happy Vic Allen”: Kansas City Star, January 5, 1930.
39 “Now here’s the deal”: Lee, Gypsy, 176. In her memoir, Gypsy writes that they went to the Missouri Theatre, but there are no clippings in her papers from that venue. There are, however, plenty of clippings from the Gayety Theater, including one about a raid—which she cites as the reason they left Kansas City and headed for Toledo, Ohio.
40 “Burlesque!” she whispered: Lee, Gypsy, 178.
41 “Don’t touch me!”: Ibid., 179.
42 “Yes, it does”: Ibid., 180.
CHAPTER 21: NEW YORK CITY, 1943
1 “How can we explain”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
2 “I am sorry”: June Havoc to Gypsy Rose Lee, December 1942, Series I, Box 2, Folder 9, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
3 $12,500: Preminger, 63.
4 she’ll claim it was built: Ibid., 44.
5 “Of course it goes without saying”: Series II, Box 15, Folder 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
6 “We know how well”: J. P. McEvoy, “More Tease Than Strip,” Reader’s Digest, July 1941.
7 “Dear Miss Hovick”: Seattle Welfare Department to Gypsy Rose Lee, November 14, 1939, Series I, Box 1, Folder 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
8 She was an “insane person”: Aunt Belle and Big Lady to Gypsy Rose Lee, August 27, 1943, Series I, Box 1, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
9 “I’d rather put a gun to my head”: Ibid.
10 “I can’t imagine why”: Big Lady to Rose Thompon Hovick, October 4 (year undated), Series I, Box I, Folder 7, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
11 “a total state of heartache”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
12 “They loved each other”: Ibid.
13 “Louise dear,” she writes: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee, December 24, 1942, Series I, Box 1, Folder 10, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
14 accuse Gypsy of stopping: Nevada State Journal, May 13, 1943.
15 “he loves his mother”: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee, December 24, 1942, Series I, Box 1, Folder 10, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
16 “My life with you”: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee (echoing threats she’d made for years), April 30, 1951, Series I, Box 1, Folder 13, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
17 “every tooth in my head”: Gypsy Rose Lee to Rose Thompson Hovick, 1943, Series I, Box 1, Folder 11, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
18 “be brave and try to rise”: Ibid.
19 “This isn’t a pleasure trip”: Gypsy Rose Lee to Rose Thompson Hovick, January 11, 1944, Series I, Box 1, Folder 11, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
CHAPTER 22: NEW YORK CITY, 1928–1930
1 “Viewed in retrospect”: Adler, 57.
2 a floral horseshoe: Billboard, September 4, 1926.
3 the luminaries: Shteir, Striptease, 102.
4 “What fresh hell is this?”: Meade, xvi.
5 “Outspoken buttocks in pink beads”: Crane, 53–54.
6 “Beau Jimmy,” the “Night Mayor,” the “Jazz Mayor”: Jeffers, 132.
7 his entire wardrobe was custom-made: The New York Times, February 19, 1928.
8 slip an illuminated wristwatch: Charyn, 108.
9 activate the siren: Mitgang, Once Upon a Time, 82.
10 “Jimmy Walker’s Versailles”: Charyn, 108.
11 “Why, that’s cheap!”: Mitgang, Once Upon a Time, 53.
12 He forbade: Author’s interview with Ed Orzac, November 2009.
13 “presents”: Minsky and Machlin, 70.
14 “Remember what Mama says”: Ibid., 93.
15 a national sport: Phillips, 26.
16 “Hoover market”: The New York Times, December 2, 1928.
17 “Any day now”: Minsky and Machlin, 93.
18 dropped by dozens of points: Phillips, 30–31.
19 more than $32 billion worth: Ibid., 30–32.
CHAPTER 23: HOLLYWOOD AND NEW YORK CITY, 1944
1 “I only fucked”: Author’s interview with Gus Weill, former employee of Otto Preminger, July 2008.
2 “You always louse”: Hirsch, Otto Preminger, 4.
3 “I’m going to have a baby”: June Havoc, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.
4 has her stockings specially made: Havoc, More Havoc, 219.
5 “Hungarian Baroness”: Hirsch, Otto Preminger, 36.
6 “delectable Viennese manner”: Ibid., 30.
7 “sexual pleasure belonged to him”: Ibid.
8 “good lover”: Ibid.
9 “Louise dear,” she writes: Big Lady to Gypsy Rose Lee, November 24, 1944, Series I, Box 1, Folder 4, Gypsy R
ose Lee Papers, BRTD.
10 Gypsy sequesters herself in Reno: Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1944.
11 “People here ask”: Bill Kirkland to Gypsy Rose Lee, November 6, 1944, Series I, Box 1, Folder 4, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
12 “The cake and tea were good”: Frankel, 149.
13 prematurely: Moberly (Mo.) Monitor-Index and Democrat, December 13, 1944.
14 “I can support my son”: Hirsch, Otto Preminger, 116.
15 A radio newscast: From the diary of Rose Thompson Hovick (entries begin September 15, 1944), Series I, Box 1, Folder 11, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
16 “O please God help her”: Ibid.; Series I, Box 1, Folder 10, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.
CHAPTER 24: ON THE BURLESQUE CIRCUIT, 1930–1931
1 “I’m really a little prudish”: “Gypsy Rose Lee: Dowager Stripper,” Look, February 22, 1966.
2 “got a certain class”: Lee, Gypsy, 195.
3 “The quicker you forget”: Ibid., 195.
4 “a troupe a silly virgins”: Ibid., 184.
5 “all of five minutes”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.
6 “For a kid”: Ibid., 194.
7 “I’m real”: Ibid., 196.
8 a bottom-billing girl could earn: George Davis, “Gypsy Rose Lee: The Dark Young Pet of Burlesque,” Vanity Fair, February 1936.
9 “Meet me round”: Lee, Gypsy, 205.
10 The Depression affected female workers: The New York Times, March 13, 1932.
11 mothers with children: Dressler, 134.
12 75 percent of performers: Zeidman, 143.
13 Each applicant endured: Dressler, 137.
14 as easy as memorizing: John Richmond, “Gypsy Rose Lee: Striptease Intellectual,” American Mercury, January 1941.
15 She learned that a “skull”: Lee, Gypsy, 196.
16 G-strings might have been named: Briggeman, 34.
17 “catching the bumps”: Ibid.
18 “If you were caught”: Goldwyn, Pretty Things, 161.
19 “Oh, I like that”: Ibid.
20 “G-String buyer”: Goldwyn, Pretty Things (DVD).
21 prostitution thrived: Ibid., 129.
22 multiple scars from surgeries: Britton, 5.
23 If a girl couldn’t afford: Brandt, 131.