– Los Angeles Times

June Havoc, an actress and former child vaudeville star whose early life with her sister — legendary burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee — and their ambitious stage mother was portrayed in the hit Broadway musical “Gypsy,” has died. She was 97.

Havoc died Sunday of natural causes at her home in Stamford, Conn., said her caregiver, Tana Sibilio.

“Gypsy,” the “musical fable” based on Lee’s memoir, opened on Broadway in 1959. It starred Ethel Merman as the overbearing stage mother, Mama Rose.

Although Havoc acknowledged the greatness of “Gypsy” as a musical, she always complained that it painted a misleading picture of her mother and distorted her own story.

Havoc told her side in two memoirs, “Early Havoc” and “More Havoc,” as well as a one-woman show, “An Unexpected Evening With June Havoc.”

She was born Nov. 8, 1912. Some biographical sources say she was born in Seattle. But, according to Sibilio, “Miss Havoc always said she was born in Vancouver.”

When she was 2, June went on stage, where she was billed as the “Tiniest Toe Dancer in the World.” She was soon appearing in short silent films.

7, she was a vaudeville star performing on the same stages as Fanny Brice and Sophie Tucker.

“I loved being her,” Havoc told The New York Times in 1992. “I loved vaudeville.”

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

Related Stories
Latest Articles