The GYPSY ROSE LEE Only I Knew

THE FAMED BURLESQUE QUEEN LIVED A GLAMOROUS LIFE BUT COULD ALSO BE SURPRISINGLY DOWN-TO-EARTH

- Louise A. Barile

Late in her life, the performer known around the world as Gypsy Rose Lee expressed her gratitude. “I have lived three wonderful lives,” she told her son, Erik Lee Preminger. “Most people never get to live one.” In addition to the burlesque that made her famous, Gypsy appeared in movies, wrote books and even had her own daytime talk show.

Born Rose Louise Hovick, she spent much of her childhood overshadowed by her younger sister, June, whom their mother, Rose, groomed for stardom. “After [June] left the act, they were stranded in Kansas City,” explains Erik. “[My mother] got into burlesque because they were starving, literally. That fear of starvation was always in the back of her head.”

TWO FOR THE ROAD