Baby June is Gone

I've always been fascinated by the history of vaudeville.  One of the most colourful stories of that era (my favourite, growing up) was made into a film called "Gypsy," based on  the meomoirs of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee. Her sister, June Havoc (a/k/a "Baby June") was portrayed in the film as a child star who, wanting to escape showbiz and her ambitious mother, ran away and got married at 13.  Today she passed away at 97. R.I.P., Baby June! [more...]

It's hard to tell what's factual in this great American story, but I read this online: "Arthur Laurents loosely based his marvelous libretto on the recollections of famed burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Her sister June Havoc (the real 'Baby/Dainty June') has never been too happy with the results, which were clearly slanted to make Gypsy look good. However, both daughters concurred that their mother Rose was a monstrous bitch who always put her show biz dreams ahead of everything else, including the well-being of her children. The girls toured in vaudeville for years. Eventually, June left the act against her mother's wishes to marry one of the boys. The unstoppable Rose kept Louise touring - and they did end up in burlesque when vaudeville died out. With her 'intellectual' strip act, Louise renamed herself 'Gypsy Rose Lee' and became the toast of Minsky's. After June's marriage failed, her mother and sister refused her any assistance. June Havoc survived the 1930s as a marathon dancer, then emerged as a successful stage and screen actress."