June Havoc Dies at 97 (Maybe?)

I recently shared my love of Gypsy Rose Lee. It was kind of a strange admission that was, in fact, me just posting a video to test it for a friend having trouble doing so on his own blog. It was, though, a completely true admission.

And so, since my interest wasn't just in the Broadway show, but also in the "real" Gypsy (if there actually was such a thing) I was naturally interested in the truth about her sister "Baby" June.

In the musical, June and Louise (later Gypsy) are shown as "the Star" and "the Other". Sort of like "The Heir and the Spare" as Princes William and Harry are somewhat horrifically known. Mama Rose sees June's talent and pushes her onstage, leaving no-talent Louise in the background, on-stage and off. The sisters are obviously not close, but at one point in the show "If Mama Got Married", they unite in their wish to be off-stage and in a real home.

In truth, Gypsy and June were estranged for many years. June didn't like her sister's choice of careers, and was even less impressed by her own portrayal in the musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable (the last part was added in part to appease June by admitting the show stretched the truth - or outright lied, depending on who you talked to). They did apparently reconcile shortly before Gypsy's death in 1970, but I still find it sad that they were so torn apart by their mother's favoritism.

Ellen Evangeline Hovick was born November 8, 1912, or so she surmised. It was hard for her to know exactly since her mother carried five different birth certificates around to circumvent the child labour laws in various states. "June" was a huge hit in Vaudeville starting at an insanely young age. At the age of 6 she said she was making $1500 a week - not bad for 1918. She claimed to have been dancing on pointe at the age of 2. If you've never seen Gypsy, you don't know stage mothers. Rose Hovick was the stage mother to end all stage mothers from most reports. In the musical, Mama Rose is portrayed almost as quirky or eccentric, but her daughter claimed that she was actually physically and psychologically cruel:  June was pushed on stage even with a high fever and chicken pox - just covered with makeup.

As a young teenager (possibly as young as 13 years old) June did actually run away with one of the dancers from their show and get married. The marriage didn't last long, but the two stayed together professionally on the Depression-Era marathon dance circuit. Eventually June became a successful Broadway actress (Pal Joey, Dinner at 8), and appeared in films like Anna Christie and Gentlemen`s Agreement. She also created and directed the Broadway show Marathon `33 about the age of marathon dancing, and there is even a small Off-Off Broadway theatre named in her honour.

You can read more about the life of June Havoc here.