Lee, Gypsy Rose

orig. Rose Louise Hovick

Gypsy Rose Lee, 1944

(credit: Courtesy of United Artists Corporation; photograph, from the Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive, New York)

(born Jan. 9, 1914, Seattle, Wash., U.S.—died April 26, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. striptease artist. She appeared in a vaudeville act with her sister from 1919 and made her debut in a burlesque show in 1929. She became the headliner at Billy Minsky's Republic Theatre on Broadway (1931) and appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies (1936). She was noted for her grace, style, and sophisticated wit. After retiring from burlesque (1937), she appeared in nightclubs and on television. Her autobiography, Gypsy (1957), was the basis for a successful 1959 musical (film, 1962).

Lee, Gypsy Rose (b. Louise Rose Hovick) (1914–70) stripper, actress, writer; born in Seattle, Wash. Starting as a 4-year-old in vaudeville with sister June Havoc, she became the best-known stripper of the 1930s. She made some films (first as Louise Hovick) and wrote two mystery stories as well as an autobiography that was the basis of the musical, Gypsy. Stylish and witty, she was briefly a talk-show host (1966).

Lee, Gypsy Rose

(1914–1970) American burlesque artiste. [Am. Hist.: Halliwell, 429]

See : Nudity