(Anita Gates's article appeared in The New York Times, 3/29.)
June Havoc, Vaudeville Star, Is Dead
June Havoc, who appeared on vaudeville stages when she was 2 as Baby June and went on to a successful acting career — but saw her accomplishments overshadowed by the fictionalized portrayal of her in the 1959 musical “Gypsy” — died on Sunday at her home in Stamford, Conn. She was believed to be 97. The death was confirmed by her caregiver, Tana Sibilio.
In “Gypsy” — whose book, by Arthur Laurents, was based on a memoir by her sister, the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee — the adorable, pampered June (now known as Dainty June, having outgrown the baby billing) quits show business to elope with one of the boys in her act and is never heard from again. In real life, not long after her sister rose to burlesque fame in the 1930s, June established a solid career on Broadway and in Hollywood films.
(Read more)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/theater/30havoc.html?hp
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