Rose Louise Hovick

Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)
Born	Rose Louise Hovick (1911-01-08)January 8, 1911 Seattle, Washington, US
Died	April 26, 1970(1970-04-26) (aged 59) Los Angeles, California, US
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Occupation	Actress, author, playwright, vedette, dancer, entertainer
Years active	1928–69
Spouse(s)	Robert Mizzy (1937–41) Alexander Kirkland (1942–44) Julio de Diego (1948–55)
Children	1

Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer and vedette famous for her striptease act. She was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.

Gypsy Rose Lee was born in Seattle, Washington on January 8, 1911; however, she always gave January 9 as her date of birth. She was known as Louise to her family. Her sister, actress June Havoc, was born in 1912. Their mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, forged various birth certificates for each of her daughters—older when needed to evade varying state child labor laws, and younger for reduced or free train fares. The girls were unsure until later in life what their years of birth were.

Their mother had married Norwegian-American John Olaf Hovick, a newspaper advertising salesman and a reporter at The Seattle Times. They married on May 28, 1910 in Seattle, Washington. They divorced on August 20, 1915. Rose Thompson married her second husband, Judson Brennerman, a traveling salesman, on May 26, 1916 at a Unitarian church in Seattle, with the Rev J.D.A. Powers officiating.

After Hovick and Brennerman divorced, June supported the family by appearing in vaudeville, being billed "Tiniest Toe Dancer in the World" when she was only 2½. Rose and June went to Hollywood for two years where June appeared in short films directed by Hal Roach. Louise was left behind while June and her mother were on the road. She had an elementary education, unlike June who was taught to read by stage-hands. Much to her mother's displeasure, June eloped with Bobby Reed, a dancer in their act, in December 1928, and went on to pursue a brief career in marathon dancing, a more profitable vocation than tap dancing.

Louise's singing and dancing talents were insufficient to sustain the act without June. Eventually, it became apparent that Louise could make money in burlesque, which earned her legendary status as an elegant and witty striptease artist. Initially, her act was propelled forward when a shoulder strap on one of her gowns gave way, causing her dress to fall to her feet despite her efforts to cover herself; encouraged by the audience's response, she went on to make the trick the focus of her performance.