Gypsy: A Memoir

Burning to me

It's not only because of Stephen Sondheim's contribution that a young gay teenager like me would have a special fascination for a musical based on the life of a stripper. But I'm certainly not alone in that category. The fascinating life of Gypsy Rose Lee, aka Louise Hovick, deserved another reading years after I'd first read it.I bought a used beat-up copy with the pages almost falling out, but I didn't mind. Re-reading about the life of the iconic personality was fascinating. It was also intriguing to compare differences between her account and the highly fictionalized musical’s book.Growing up, the film adaptation was regularly broadcast on the Sunday movie of the week, so I pretty much had the score memorized before I performed as a young newsboy in my small Ohio college town’s community theater production (along with a herd of other kids for the Uncle Jocko scene). I can pretty much find a proper ‘Gypsy’ quote for any situation. And the musical also weaves its way into my seventh novel, “Finding Tulsa.”Lee’s memoir is of course quite different. The themes of show business desperation and success paint broader themes with more detail. In her memoir, Lee is quite open about her unlikely success, and how her desperate original “stage mother” pushed her into performing only to end up (after the death of Vaudeville) as the successful Queen of Burlesque by just “giving them a glove.”Hers is a story of an unusual show business success and one about an enterprising woman who took control of her life, certainly made a few mistakes along the way, but owns up to them and looks back with very little regret.

Gypsy Rose Lee had a remarkable extraordinary life. She and her sister, June Havoc, spent their childhood entertaining across the country with their very determined mother and her boyfriend, Gordon Gladstone. She was born Rose Louise in Seattle, Washington. Her mother had began their entertainment careers by playing lodge halls in the city with their grandfather at the piano.The book inspired the musical, "Gypsy," which was a great vehicle for Ethel Merman as the mother, Mama Rose. They played all across the country on the Orpheum circuit. Gypsy covers about everything in great detail. She writes about the early days in cheap hotels and the acts which included her sister June and the boys. Mama Rose almost lost custody when the courts demanded her daughters to be educated by a tutor.When June left the act, Louise stepped up and became the center of the act and her mother's attention. Louise remained a loyal daughter but you couldn't blame June. Mama Rose had prevented June from a becoming a trained actress with all expenses paid in New York City rather than lose her. June was smart enough to leave the act for her own survival. She and her then husband participated in dance marathon contests throughout the country.There are parts of the book that shed truth to the musical version, "Gypsy," and some whitewashing too. I believe Louise went into Burlesque with an open mind and knew what she was doing. She would become a big star and a household name. Louise was smart enough to take the opportunity since she was raised with little education in the first place. Her mother traveled with her for a long time. There are plenty of pictures in this book and even illustrated cartoons to show Gypsy's influence in pop culture history.This edition comes with a prologue and epilogue by her only child, son Erik Lee Preminger, (father was film director Otto Preminger). Gypsy writes mostly about the past. She doesn't talk much about her personal relationships with men or her marriages. She died at only 59 years old in Los Angeles, California. June would live well into her nineties and outlive her only daughter.

If you're a fan of the musical Gypsy, like me, you'll read this book. I've read from various websites, that the book is not entirely factual and that you need to read Gypsy's sister June's book, early Havoc, to get a clearer picture of what life on the road was like. But, entirely accurate or not, it's highly fascinating and an excellent look at the theatre of the time.The book bears small resemblances to the show: There really was a monkey named Gigalo, Louise was given farm animals as pets for her birthday, there is a man that Rose links up with for several years who manages the troup, they did eat Chinese food constantly, make coats out of blankets, and a cow really talked to Rose in a dream.There are major differences between the show and the book: The switch from Vaudeville to Burlesque was less dramatic in the book than the show -almost natural. "Herbie", Rose's companion and manager, left long before the act went Burlesque. And one very 'big' difference: you'll notice in the show that Grandpa calls Louise "Plug" but we dont' really know why. The little girl playing Louise was too adorable for words and grew up to be the stunning Natalie Wood. But, Gypsy got the name plug because she was a large child. And she grew up large. It wasn't until a couple years in Burlesque that she became more svelte. This is also a major point in the books, detailing the diets she was on and how it destroyed her self-esteem as a child.Gypsy, the movie, is a fun-filled version of life on the road for a vaudeville troupe. Yes, there are hard times, but nothing so bad. Gypsy the memoir describes eviction, near starvation, nights of sleeping in the cars, almost frozen, con artists - real life struggle.It's a quick read that is terribly fascinating. I highly recommend it.

I just recently finished June Havoc's 2 memoirs and they are so hard to read . Not so much poorly written and weirdly written ----shes very vague on details . I've always read that June was never happy with Gypsy's book and that it wasn't the truth, but so far the 3 books seem to agree for the most part. I think June was jealous that Gyp beat her on the book and then also it became such a huge success as a Broadway musical!

Gypsy Rose Lee`s most famous book is an autobiography published in 1957 that is largely constructed around her life on the road with her sister and her domineering and ferociously opportunistic mother – it became the basis of the musical “Gypsy” and a number of other dramas, TV and Film; it rather glosses over the truth a good deal - her mother was very likely a psychopath with no scruples, but Lee slants her stories with wit, humour and characters from vaudeville, burlesque and the underworld figures she encountered during the 20s and 30s.It`s an absorbing and fairly evocative read, well worth picking up even if the veracity is a little suspect.

After seeing Imelda Staunton on stage in Gypsy it made we want to read the auto biography of the real person !

Loved this book. really hope Streisand makes the film.A journey back into the good old days of Boarder Ville.

I know you can't take every word as truth, but who cares. I giggled all the way through it. That gal could sure write a tall tale.

Fantastic biorgraphy