American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee (59 page)

71
“Thank you for the champagne”: Ibid., 263.

72
“No names”: Ibid.

73
“Gyps,” she whispered: Preminger, 74.

74
“I don’t understand this”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 263.

75
“brushed good”: Ibid., 269.

76
“You can fuck or suck”: Author’s interview with Arthur Laurents, October 2008.

77
“She was very involved”: Author’s interview with June Havoc, June 2008.

78
3,600 hours on her feet: June Havoc, interview with George Bettinger, 1997.

79
“Plenty of popcorn, dear”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 68.

80
“Let go of me, June”: Ibid., 61.

81
“And this is my baby”: Ibid., 66.

82
“Gypsy assured us”: Minsky and Machlin, 142.

83
Gypsy held out: Author’s interview with June Havoc, June 2008.

84
“There are a lot of influential people”: Ibid.

85
“It was a society”: Ibid.

86
she didn’t really love her: Ibid.

1
“There are three things”: Mitgang,
Once Upon a Time
, 2.

2
“Where is the green room?”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 251.

3
“Remember now”: Ibid., 252.

4
“She had mastered the art”: Minsky and Machlin, 97.

5
For the first time in burlesque history: Barber, 340.

6
Miss Seattle:
New York Evening Journal
, March 28, 1931, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

7
“I stuck a pin into you”: James Thurber, “Robot,”
The New Yorker
, August 29, 1931.

8
“No religious act”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 254.

9
“had her idiosyncrasies”: Minsky and Machlin, 140.

10
“She used foul words”: Author’s interview with Dardy Minsky, October 2009.

11
A day riding the Ferris wheel: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.

12
“He could keep a hard-on”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 220–221.

13
“She had a monkey”: Minsky and Machlin, 140.

14
More than eleven thousand: Ibid., 147.

15
the final night:
The New York Times
, September 19, 1931.

16
“Minsky American Wheel”:
The New York Times
, May 16, 1931.

17
To Whom It May Concern: Minsky and Machlin, 130.

18
“Minskyville”: Alva Johnston, “Tour of Minskyville,”
The New Yorker
, May 28, 1932.

19
“Lose a few hundred”: Ibid.

20
“I have never yet heard”: Walsh, 35.

21
“a reformer is a guy”: Walker, 224.

22
“Do you think anything’s broken?”: Minsky and Machlin, 131.

23
“Tweed Courthouse”:
The New York Times
, December 2, 2001.

24
Q: Where did you keep these moneys: Mitgang,
Once Upon a Time
, 107–109.

25
“Atta boy, Jimmy!”: Ibid., 147.

26
“Presumably by a goy”: Minsky and Machlin, 106–107.

27
Paget’s disease: Minsky, 131. I spoke with Charlene Waidman, executive director of the Paget and Bone and Cancer Foundations, who said that Billy Minsky’s diagnosis was “undoubtedly due to a wrong assumption” by his doctor. At the time of Billy’s death in 1932, little was known about Paget’s disease; it is not a fatal condition.

28
“Never work north of Fourteenth Street”: Minsky and Machlin, 132.

1
“I am going to give”: Rose Thompson Hovick to Gypsy Rose Lee, August 23, 1945, Series I, Box 1, Folder 12, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

2
“Who is paying”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 3–4.

3
“Closer, please”: Ibid., 4.

4
He’s been stealing money: Preminger, 187–190; Series II, Box 10, Folder 4, diary entry for June 25, 1953, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

5
“Is your mother home?”: Erik Preminger, interview with Laura Jacobs, 2002.

6
She opened her purse: Ibid.

7
“So very elegant”: Series II, Box 10, Folder 4, diary entry for November 8, 1953, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

8
“I hope this is”: Ibid., entry for November 23, 1953.

9
answering “Miss Lee’s Residence”: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.

10
“Mother died at 6:30”: Series II, Box 10, Folder 4, entry for January 28, 1954, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

11
“I know about you”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 275.

12
“You’ll fall”: Ibid.

13
“You’ll never forget”: Ibid., 276.

14
“This isn’t the end”: Ibid.

15
Gypsy and one of Rose’s neighbors: Details courtesy of researcher/writer Carolyn Quinn.

16
without any marker: Ibid.

1
“H. L. Mencken called me an ecdysiast”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 2.

2
“
We take great pride”:
Ibid., 296.

3
“childishly leering”: Shteir,
Striptease
, 88; Carl Van Vechten, “A Note on Tights,”
American Mercury
, July 1924.

4
“kimonophobe”: Kenneth Tynan, “Cornucopia,”
The New Yorker
, May 30, 1959.

5
“went for Miss Lee”: Russell Maloney, “Burlesk,”
The New Yorker
, June 8, 1935.

6
“How vital!”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 290.

7
“three stains bluer”: Kyle Crichton, “Strip for Fame: Miss Gypsy Rose Lee, in Person,”
Collier’s
, December 19, 1936.

8
La Traviata
at the Met:
The New York Times
, December 17, 1935.

9
a humming effect: Author’s interview with D. A. Pennebaker, December 2008.

10
“Don’t ask questions”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 272.

11
“The moment I said it”: Ibid., 273.

12
“depressing times”:
The New York Times
, May 25, 1932.

13
“I don’t know myself”: Minsky and Machlin, 150.

14
“You were getting $60”: Crichton, “Strip for Fame.”

15
“It made me uncomfortable”: Preminger, 75.

16
“I guess I wasn’t used to”: Crichton, “Strip for Fame.”

17
when the show closed:
The New York Times
, April 18, 1933.

18
“burlesque moderne”:
Boston Post
, November 24, 1933, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

19
“limousine trade”:
Boston Evening Transcript
, December 1, 1933, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

20
Gypsy would even wear: J. P. McEvoy, “More Tease than Strip,”
Reader’s Digest
, July 1941.

21
“Burlesque pays well”:
New York World Telegram
, June 11, 1934.

22
“Drive out the racketeers”: Brodsky, 342.

23
“stands in need of”: Mitgang,
Once Upon a Time
, 119.

24
“You let them shit”: Brodsky, 399.

25
“Half Wop”: Lawrence Elliott, 195.

26
“will be to Newark”:
The New York Times
, September 10, 1937.

27
“you know I’d never end”: Frankel, 234–235.

28
“Gypsy Rose Lee Guardia”:
The New York Times
, March 7, 1937.

29
“incorporated filth”: Zeidman, 230.

30
“the usual 50 showgirls”:
The New York Times
, October 2, 1994.

31
“And now in Jimmy Savo’s opinion”: Walter Winchell column, syndicated in
Port Arthur
(Tex.)
News
, May 7, 1934.

32
“Get your money”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 282.

33
“connected”: Crichton, “Strip for Fame.”

34
snubbed by the “café girls”:
New York Daily Mirror
clipping, no headline, 1933, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

35
“Darlings, please don’t ask”: John Richmond, “Gypsy Rose Lee, Striptease Intellectual,”
American Mercury
, January 1941.

36
Edwin Bruns:
The New York Times
, May 16, 1925.

37
“mythical admirer”:
New York Woman
, October 7, 1936.

38
“He’s so darned handsome”: Ibid.

39
he promised to take care of Gypsy: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009.

40
Billy Rose’s gaudy circus:
The New York Times
November 18, 1935.

41
“ignoring the others”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 106.

42
“Among the death watch”:
New York Journal American
, August 24, 1936, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

43
“the hillbilly’s Juliet”:
Daily News
(New York), August 24, 1936.

44
“Keep them waiting”: Fiske, 108.

45
81 Irving Place: Series I, Box 7, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

46
Eva Morcur: Series VI, Box 24, Folder 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

47
Every star had one: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 143.

48
Otis Chatfield-Taylors: George Davis, “The Dark Young Pet of Burlesque,”
Vanity Fair
, February 1936.

49
courses of comfort food: Tippins, 90.

50
“We’re broke or we wouldn’t”:
New York World Telegram
, November 28, 1936.

51
loosened a few: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 160.

52
Strip Girl
, the show: “No Hits, Several Errors,”
The New Yorker
, October 26, 1935.

53
“I consider that show”:
New York Evening Journal
, October 21, 1935.

54
“Mae West,” she said: McEvoy, “More Tease Than Strip.” 274 “Leg art requires no protection”: Ibid.

55
“I think he was a swell general”: Ibid.

56
“Right End”:
The Princeton Tiger
, November 5, 1935, Gypsy Rose Lee scrapbooks, Reel 1, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

57
seasoning her conversation: “It was so contrived,” June told Laura Jacobs in 2002. “She didn’t know French … but she had all these bits and pieces and she knew when to lay them in and that they would be funny.”

58
“Whither the New Negro?”: Davis, “The Dark Young Pet of Burlesque.”

59
“Dear, beloved, dazzling Gypsy”: Bernard Sobel to Gypsy Rose Lee, Series I, Box 7, Folder 2, Gypsy Rose Lee Papers, BRTD.

60
“every ladies’ luncheon”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 89.

61
“There was someone”: Ibid., 91.

62
June, ironically: Author’s interview with Erik Preminger, November 2009. Erik Preminger and June Havoc were estranged for many years.

63
“What in hell has happened”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 99.

64
“I’d like to be sure”: Ibid., 106.

65
“Getting on my nerves”: Ibid., 159.

66
“Look at that”: Ibid., 160.

67
After Florenz Ziegfeld’s death:
The New York Times
, July 23, 1932.

68
previously played by Josephine Baker: Lee,
Gypsy
, 289.

69
“saws, hatchets, chisels”:
Orlean
(N.Y.)
Evening Herald
, August 17, 1923.

70
“Think I’ve got”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 161.

71
“I gave up marriage”: Ibid., 109.

72
“Give Me a Lay!”: Henry Miller, 3.

73
“The strippers talk”: Ibid.

74
her rooster, Solly: Author’s interview with June Havoc, March 2008.

75
“I guess he’s not good enough”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 279.

76
“Get the hell out of here”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 146.

77
“unnatural child”: Ibid., 101.

78
“The world knows of Gypsy”: Lee,
Gypsy
, 317.

79
filched from June’s career: Author’s interview with Tana Sibilio, January 2010.

80
“We know you are on dinner break”: Havoc,
More Havoc
, 183.

81
“You mean,” June said: Ibid.

1
“Whenever La Guardia talks”: McIntyre, 130.

2
“Billy was dead”: Minsky and Machlin, 132.

3
“I don’t know how to tell you”: Ibid.

4
“You’re acceptable”: Ibid., 231.

5
“Not one new burlesque”: Ibid., 252.

6
He planned his own theater:
The New York Times
, July 29, 1932.

7
“I go my own way”: Minsky and Machlin, 136.

8
“He thinks he can fill”: Ibid., 137.

9
“battle of burlesque”:
The New York Times
, July 19, 1932.

10
“His puritanical streak”: Lawrence Elliott, 221–222.

11
at the Trocadero: Shteir,
Striptease
, 157.

12
“If I shake”: Ibid., 115.

13
“that promised land”: Minsky and Machlin, 154.

14
“Margie Hart Scholarship”: Ibid., 247.

15
“Gypsy Rose Lee’s act”: Ibid.

16
developed an activist conscience: John Richmond, “Gypsy Rose Lee, Striptease Intellectual,”
American Mercury
, January 1941.