Mama rose musical
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Seattle-born Rose Louise Hovick had her first brush with fame at age one, winning a healthy baby contest. As Gypsy Rose Lee, she became famous in burlesque as a classy and witty strip tease artist. She, her little sister June (later known as June Havoc, 1912?-2010), and her monstrous stage mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, passed into show biz legend when her bestselling 1957 memoir, Gypsy, became a Broadway smash.
Stars in Her Mother's Eyes
The mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, was a teenaged bride fresh from a convent school when she married Jack Olaf Hovick. At 19, she gave birth to the 12-pound Rose Louise on January 8, 1911, at 4314 Frontenac Street in West Seattle. Rose reported that the birth was horrific and the baby was washed outside in the snow.
A second child was born in Vancouver B.C. two years later, and named June. By this time the Hovick marriage was in trouble, but it limped along a little longer. Rose’s father had not allowed Rose to go on the stage, and now, she wanted a career for her children. Jack Hovick explained that they couldn’t afford expensive dancing le
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Mama Rose's Turn
Film StudiesBiography And MemoirPopular Culture
The True Story of America's Most Notorious Stage Mother
The full story behind the “Stage Mother from Hell” and every scandal too shocking for Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Hers is the show business saga you think you already know—but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Rose Thompson Hovick, mother of June Havoc and Gypsy Rose Lee, went down in theatrical history as “The Stage Mother from Hell” after her immortalization on Broadway in Gypsy: A Musical Fable. Yet the musical was seventy-five percent fictionalized by playwright Arthur Laurents and condensed for the stage. Rose’s full story is even more striking.
Born fearless on the North Dakota prairie in 1891, Rose Thompson had a kind father and a gallivanting mother who sold lacy finery to prostitutes. She became an unhappy teenage bride whose marriage yielded two entrancing daughters, Louise and June. When June was discovered to be a child prodigy in ballet, capable of dancing en pointe by the age of three, Rose, without benefit of any theatrical training, set ou
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Gypsy Rose Lee
American burlesque performer, actress and writer (1911–1970)
Gypsy Rose Lee | |
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Lee in 1956 | |
| Born | Rose Louise Hovick (1911-01-08)January 8, 1911 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1970(1970-04-26) (aged 59) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1928–1970 |
| Spouses | Robert Mizzy (m. 1937; div. 1941)Alexander Kirkland (m. 1942; div. 1944)Julio de Diego (m. 1948; div. 1955) |
| Children | Erik Lee Preminger |
| Parent | Rose Thompson Hovick |
| Relatives | June Havoc (sister) |
Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, Gypsy: A Memoir, was adapted into the
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