American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee (56 page)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.