** Kittie's Essays & Musings

The Life & Legacy of Gypsy Rose Lee

“Gypsy” was born on 9th February, 1914 to Rose and John Hovick, in Seattle, USA and named Rose Lousie Hovick. Gypsy Rose Lee had a colourful career with as much unhappiness as apparent success. Like many striptease acts, she came into the form through an unhappy string of events but unlike most, she ended up a legend.

Gypsy is best known for her ‘intelligent strip tease’ style of performance but she also appeared in a notable number of movies and wrote two murder mysteries before her untimely death in 1970. Passing at the young age of 56 in Spring of 1970, the legend of Gypsy Rose Lee was already set to live on as an inspiration to millions and her life now marks as an historical reference point for theatre and burlesque worldwide.

The young Rose Louise Hovick was immediately destined to tread the boards as her mother, Rose Hovick ear-marked her for a career on the stage – by any means necessary. By 1916, Rose Hovick had another daughter, June Hovick who then became her mother’s favourite and took centre stage in all her mothers pursuits, thus leaving the young Rose Louise in her sisters shadow.

After an unhappy childhood of seeing her parents divorce, and being obviously second in line for affection and praise, Rose Louise grew up whilst on tour with her famously ‘pushy’ showbiz mother. The family focused their shows around vaudeville theatre and as the girls grew up, their own ambitions, desires and abilities made the family show impossible. Upon falling for a male member of the Rose Hovick’s troupe, June was outcast by her mother who was devastated at her choosing love over a stage career. As a result, Rose Hovick’s determination to produce a ‘star’ led her attention and efforts to fall on her second choice starlet (but first born daughter), Rose Louise.

It was this rather tragic love affair and family split which was perhaps the catalyst for the creation of a legend. Not having the typical talents of a showgirl – singing and dancing – Rose Louise realised that she could earn well by moving from Vaudeville to the new American burlesque trend.

At this time, the American adaption of the old satirical form of burlesque was a reduced interpretation where satire was dropped in favour of the risqué and so the term burlesque was corrupted and transposed as an entertainment form of striptease – a form that was not regarded as ‘legitimate theatre’. It is of no surprise that the ambitious Rose Hovick was distraught at the idea of her daughter being on a ‘low brow’ bill.

However, Rose Louise had determination and practicality of her own and although she recognised that she was neither a singer, dancer nor even a stripper, she saw a way to make the much needed money using her personality.

Rose Louise made impact with her emphasis on the Tease, rather than the strip and used her natural sense of wit to engage with the audience rather than shed her clothes. New York audiences who attended the clubs were used to watching strip based visual acts such as those found in the clubs of the Minsky brothers who attempted to recreate the famous elaborate and sexy shows of Follie Bergere and Moulin Rouge of Paris. The wit and attitude of the new girl was a breath of fresh air for the clientele who craved after her inimitable style of titillation where the anticipation of a strip and personal interaction were the focus of her routines.

Rose Louise adopted the stage name of ‘Gypsy Rose Lee’ and became one of Minsky’s most popular stars and performed there for 4 years. Living the life of a star, Gypsy was an entertainment icon and adored by the art communities. Artists such Max Ernst personally gave her works for her home and she was a sought after spokeswoman for products and even landed her own television chat show, ‘Gypsy’.

After a disappointing spate of movie roles and a marriage in Hollywood, Gypsy returned to New York where she went on to find a new lover, two further husbands and also gave birth to a son out with her second marriage. By 1942, she had written murder mysteries entitled, ‘The G String Murders’ and ‘Mother Finds a Body’ - the former of which was made in to a movie named Lady of Burlesque and starred Barbara Stanwyck in 1943.

Despite making it on her own, Gypsy was still taking care of her demanding mother via calls for financial aid and so, scandal continued to follow her. Rose Hovick was involved in the shooting of a guest at a boarding house which she had set up reputedly for lesbians. Gypsy and her younger sister the end of the showbiz mum’s days in 1954 when Rose Hovick died of colon cancer.

Free from the demands and control of their mother, both sisters were able to document their memoirs with Gypsy’s being made public; this inspired a musical story by Stephen Sondheim, Julie Styne and Arthur Laurents which as released based on these personal but disputed memoirs. Gypsy became estranged from her sister owing to their conflicting and uncomfortable memories and life choices but reconciled as Gypsy died from lung cancer in 1970.

The remains of Gypsy Rose Lee were laid in Inglewood, California but her memory and life story continues to inspire today.