Editing Gypsy Rose Lee

{{short description|American burlesque performer, actress and writer (1911–1970)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Gypsy Rose Lee
| image              = Gypsy Rose Lee NYWTS 1 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Lee in 1956
| birth_name         = Rose Louise Hovick
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1911|1|8}}
| birth_place        = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1970|4|26|1911|1|8}}
| death_place        = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actress|writer|[[vedette (cabaret)|vedette]]|dancer|entertainer|stripper}}
| years_active       = 1928–1970
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Robert Mizzy|1937|1941|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Alexander Kirkland]]|1942|1944|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Julio de Diego]]|1948|1955|end=divorced}}
}}
| children           = [[Erik Lee Preminger]]
| parents            = [[Rose Thompson Hovick]]
| relatives          = [[June Havoc]] (sister)
| height             = 5' 6 1/2" 
}}

[[File:GR Lee, 1937.jpg|thumb|Gypsy Rose Lee in Los Angeles, c.&nbsp;1937]]

'''Gypsy Rose Lee''' (born '''Rose Louise Hovick''', January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an [[American burlesque]] entertainer, [[stripper]], actress, author, playwright and [[vedette (cabaret)|vedette]], famous for her [[striptease]] act. Her 1957 memoir, ''[[Gypsy: A Memoir]]'', was adapted into the 1959 stage musical ''[[Gypsy (musical)|Gypsy]]''.

==Early life==
Rose Louise Hovick was born in [[Seattle]], Washington, on January 8, 1911;<ref name="Abbott1">Karen Abbott (2010) ''American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare, The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee'', New York: Random House; {{ISBN|1-4000-6691-3}}; {{OCLC|608296594}}</ref><ref>[http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/the-untalented-gypsy-rose-lee/430/ Birthdate given as January 8], legacy.com; accessed September 16, 2015.</ref><ref name="Abbott2">{{cite book|last=Abbott|first=Karen|title=American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjUYn60itMYC&pg=PA405|year=2012|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-8129-7851-3|page=405}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Abbott (2012) presents a photocopy of an apparently non-certified certificate of live birth with some handwritten parts, from the King County Health Department, Record# 193, File # 1388, indicates January 8, 1911, although Lee always gave January 9 as her date of birth.}} however, she always gave January 9 as her date of birth.<ref name="Abbott1"/><ref name="Abbott2"/> 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.<ref name="Abbott1"/><ref name=vanity/>

Their mother had married [[Norwegian-American]] John Olaf Hovick, a newspaper-advertising salesman and a reporter at ''[[The Seattle Times]]''.<ref>"This is a story of three women whose dreams clashed" (July 16, 1980), ''Boston Globe'', p. 1.</ref><ref>Noralee Frankel (2009) ''Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee'', Oxford University Press US; {{ISBN|978-0-19-536803-1}}<!-- page(s) needed --></ref><ref>Erik Lee Preminger (2004) ''My G-string mother: and home and backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee'', Frog Books; {{ISBN|978-1-58394-096-9}}, p. 186.</ref> They married on May 28, 1910, in Seattle.<ref>King County Department of Executive Services, Records and Licensing Division, Marriage Returns, 1891–1947, Marriage Certificates, 1855–1990, Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Archives, [http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ Digital Archives], Source: King County Auditor, Marriage Certificates, 1855–1969; Marriage Returns, 1891–1947. King County Archives, Seattle, WA.</ref> They divorced on August 20, 1915.<ref>National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 2708; Volume #: Roll 2708 - Certificates: 513300-513899, February 12–14, 1925; Ancestry.com (U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925).</ref> 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.<ref>Ancestry.com. Washington, Marriage Records, 1865–2004 from Washington State Archives. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Archives.</ref>

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 {{frac|2|1|2}}.<ref name=vanity/> Rose and June went to Hollywood for two years where June appeared in short films directed by [[Hal Roach]].<ref name=vanity/> 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 [[stagehand]]s.<ref name=vanity/> Much to her mother's displeasure, June eloped with Bobby Reed, a dancer in their act, in December 1928, after a performance in [[Topeka, Kansas]], at the [[Jayhawk Theatre]] and went on to pursue a brief career in [[marathon dancing]], a more profitable vocation than [[tap dance|tap dancing]].<ref name=vanity>[[Laura Jacobs]] (March 2003) "Taking it all off", ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', Vol. 511, p. 198.</ref>

==Career==
Louise's singing and dancing talents were insufficient to sustain the act without June. Eventually, it became apparent that Louise could make money in [[American burlesque|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.<ref>Helen Welshimer (February 14, 1937) "Burlesque's strippers graduate to Broadway", ''Laredo Times'', [[Texas|TX]], p. 13.</ref>

Her innovations were an almost casual stripping style compared to bump & grind styles of most burlesque strippers (she emphasized the "tease" in "striptease"), and she brought a sharp sense of humor into her act as well. She became as famous for her onstage wit as for her stripping style, and—changing her stage name to Gypsy Rose Lee—she became one of the biggest stars of [[Minsky's Burlesque]], where she performed for four years. She was frequently arrested in raids on the Minsky brothers' shows. During the Great Depression, Lee spoke at various union meetings in support of New York laborers. According to activist Harry Fisher, her talks were among those that attracted the largest audiences.<ref>Fisher, Harry (1998) ''Comrades: Tales of a Brigadista in the Spanish Civil War'', p. 10, University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln; {{ISBN|978-0-80322-006-5}}</ref>

In 1937 and 1938, billed as Louise Hovick, she made five films in Hollywood.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497346/ "Gypsy Rose Lee"], IMDb.</ref> But her acting was generally panned, so she returned to New York City where she had an affair with film producer [[Mike Todd|Michael Todd]] and co-produced and appeared in his 1942 musical revue, ''[[Star and Garter]]''.<ref>[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5686 Profile], historylink.org; accessed August 7, 2014. </ref> Lee viewed herself as a "high-class" stripper, and she approved of [[H. L. Mencken]]'s term ''"[[ecdysiast]]"'', which he coined as a more "dignified" way of referring to the profession. Her style of intellectual recitation while stripping was spoofed in the number "Zip!" in [[Richard Rodgers|Rodgers]] and [[Lorenz Hart|Hart]]'s ''[[Pal Joey (musical)|Pal Joey]]'', a musical in which [[June Havoc]] had appeared on Broadway, opposite [[Gene Kelly]]. Lee performed an abbreviated version of her act (intellectual recitation and all) in the 1943 film ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]''.

In 1941, Lee wrote a mystery thriller called ''[[The G-String Murders]]'', which was made into the sanitized 1943 film, ''[[Lady of Burlesque]]'' starring [[Barbara Stanwyck]]. While some assert this was in fact ghost-written by [[Craig Rice (author)|Craig Rice]], there are those who claim that there is more than sufficient written evidence in the form of manuscripts and Lee's own correspondence to prove that she wrote a large part of the novel herself under the guidance of Rice and others, including her editor [[George Davis (editor)|George Davis]], a friend and mentor.<ref>Tippins, Sherill. ''February House: The Story of W. H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee, Under One Roof in Brooklyn''. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005; {{ISBN|978-0-61871197-0}}</ref><ref>Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749–1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. New York: Garland, 1984, p. 243; {{ISBN|0-8240-9219-8}}</ref>

Lee's second murder mystery, ''Mother Finds a Body'', was published in 1942. In December 1942, preliminary papers alleging breach of contract were filed in the Supreme Court against Lee by Dorothy Wheelock, associate editor of ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'' magazine,<ref>''Nevada State Journal'', December 24, 1942.</ref> alleging that in August 1940 she and Gypsy entered into what Wheelock described as ''"an oral agreement to collaborate on a joint venture involving the conception, construction, development, writing and exploitation of a literary work with a burlesque background. The agreement, Miss Wheelock went on, called for a 50:50 split on all income from sale of the book. She charged that she had lined up a publisher for the book when, in November 1940, Gypsy called off the collaboration… Lee said she turned over notes and other material to Miss Wheelock and that the latter had then written 'a sample book'. However, this sample book is not the book that was published, Gypsy declared. She denied any resemblance between Miss Wheelock's book and the book published under her own name, except such similarities as might stem from the notes Gypsy turned over to Miss Wheelock. Simon & Schuster agreed to publish the book, Gypsy said, after the first three chapters were shown to them by [[Janet Flanner]], a New York writer"''.<ref>''New York Daily News'', December 24, 1942.</ref> The case was settled out of court.

==Relationships==
In Hollywood, Lee married Arnold "Bob" Mizzy on August 25, 1937, at the insistence of the film studio. She obtained a divorce in 1941, claiming cruelty, although biographer Noralee Frankel suggests the couple agreed that Lee could bring false charges so the divorce could go through uncontested.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frankel|first1=Noralee|title=Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199709786|page=68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UpRDAAAQBAJ|access-date=December 17, 2017}}</ref> In 1942, she married [[Alexander Kirkland|William Alexander Kirkland]]; they divorced in 1944. While married to Kirkland, she gave birth on December 11, 1944, to a son fathered by [[Otto Preminger]]. Her son was named Erik Lee, but has since been known successively as Erik Kirkland, Erik de Diego, and [[Erik Lee Preminger]]. Lee married a third time in 1948, to [[Julio de Diego]],<ref name="life.com/photos-gypsy-rose-lee">{{cite news |title=Gypsy Rose Lee: Rare and Classic Photos of a Burlesque Legend |url=https://www.life.com/history/striptease-superstar-rare-and-classic-photos-of-gypsy-rose-lee/ |access-date=6 August 2023 |work=LIFE.com |date=8 January 2014}}</ref> but that union also ended in divorce.<ref>Noralee Frankel (2009) ''Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee'', New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 62, 68, 121–22, 147, 154–66, 195–96.</ref>

In 1940, she purchased a townhouse on East [[63rd Street (Manhattan)|63rd Street]] in [[Manhattan]] with a private courtyard, 26 rooms and seven baths.<ref>Zemeckis, Leslie (2013). ''Behind The Burly Q Check'', Delaware: Skyhorse Publishing; {{ISBN|978-1-62087-691-6}}<!-- page(s) needed --></ref> Mother Rose continued to demand money from Lee and Havoc. Lee rented a ten-room apartment on [[West End Avenue]] in Manhattan for Rose, who opened a boardinghouse for women there. On one occasion in the 1930s, Rose Thompson Hovick allegedly shot and killed a woman who was either a guest at the boardinghouse or a guest on the farm in [[Highland Mills]] in [[Orange County, New York]], that Rose owned. A historical website cites varying reports of which place was the scene of the crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lostwomynsspace.blogspot.com/2015/07/roses-lesbian-boarding-house.html|title=Lost Womyn's Space: Rose's Lesbian Boarding House|last=Anonymous|date=July 9, 2015|access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref> According to Gypsy's son, Erik Lee Preminger, who is the author of several books, the murder victim was Mother Rose's female lover, who had allegedly made a pass at Gypsy. The violent incident was investigated and reportedly explained away as a suicide. Mother Rose was not prosecuted.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Laura|last=Jacobs|title=Taking It All Off|journal=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=March 2003}}</ref> 

Mother Rose's biographer strongly rejects the possibility that this woman, Genevieve Augustine, was Rose's lover, and doubts Rose's complicity in her death in light of Augustine's purported previous suicide attempts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mama Rose's Turn: The True Story of America's Most Notorious Stage Mother|author=Quinn, C.|date=2013|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1617038532|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRacAQAAQBAJ}}, pp. 152–64.</ref> Rose Thompson Hovick died in 1954 of [[Colorectal cancer|colon cancer]].

==Later years==
[[Image:Gypsy Rose Lee NYWTS 2.jpg|left|thumb|Gypsy Rose Lee in 1956]]
After the death of their mother, the sisters felt free to write about her without risking a lawsuit. ''[[Gypsy: A Memoir]]'' was published in 1957 and served as inspiration for the [[Jule Styne]], [[Stephen Sondheim]], and [[Arthur Laurents]] 1959 musical ''[[Gypsy (musical)|Gypsy]]''. June did not like the way she was portrayed in the piece, but she was eventually persuaded not to oppose it for her sister's sake.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2003/03/inspiration-story-gypsy-musical|title=The Women Who Inspired Gypsy|date=March 1, 2003|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> The show and the [[Gypsy (1962 film)|1962 movie adaptation]] assured Gypsy a steady income. The sisters were estranged for a period of time but reconciled. June, in turn, wrote ''Early Havoc'' and ''More Havoc'', to tell her version of their history.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Lee went on to host a daytime San Francisco [[KGO-TV]] television talk show, '' The Gypsy Rose Lee Show'' (754 episodes, aired 1965–1968).<ref name="nypl/research/b15809423">{{cite book |last1=Weatherwax |first1=Tom |title=Gypsy Rose Lee. Episode #526: Paul Lynde and Gretchen Wyler |url=https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b15809423 |via=The New York Public Library |publisher=Seven Arts Television |access-date=16 August 2023 |date=May 22, 1967 |quote=Videotaped for KGO-TV, San Francisco, Calif., May 22, 1967.}}</ref><ref name="nypl/research/b15454072">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=James F |title=Gypsy Rose Lee. Episode #721: Chita Rivera and Paul Lynde |url=https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b15454072 |via=The New York Public Library |publisher=American International Television, Inc. |access-date=16 August 2023 |date=1968 |quote=Videotaped for KGO-TV, Channel 7, San Francisco, Calif., Feb. 20, 1968}}</ref> The popular afternoon show featured such guests as [[Judy Garland]], [[Agnes Moorehead]], and [[Woody Allen]], showcasing her love of people, pets and knitting among other interests.

Like well-known artists such as [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Ernest Hemingway]], Gypsy Rose Lee was a supporter of the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] movement in the [[Spanish Civil War]] and raised money for charity to alleviate the suffering of Spanish children during the conflict. "She became politically active, and supported Spanish Loyalists during Spain's Civil War. She also became a fixture at [[Communist United Front]] meetings, and was investigated by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee|House Committee on un-American activities]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/45655-the-monday-interview-with-karen-abbott.html|newspaper=Publishers Weekly|title=The Monday Interview with Karen Abbott|date=January 3, 2011}}</ref> 

Lee was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] who supported the campaign of [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] in the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, p. 33, Ideal Publishers</ref> The walls of her Los Angeles home were adorned with pictures by [[Joan Miró]], [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Marc Chagall]], [[Max Ernst]], and [[Dorothea Tanning]], all reportedly given to her by the artists themselves.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
[[File:Gypsy Rose Lee Grave.jpg|thumb|Grave of Gypsy Rose Lee at Inglewood Park Cemetery (with wrong year of birth)]]

In 1969, she performed for American troops in Vietnam, who, she said, "considered her their sexy grandmother".<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-revealing-look-at-gypsy-rose-lee/ A revealing look at Gypsy Rose Lee], cbsnews.com. Retrieved 18 September 2022.</ref>

==Death==
Lee died of [[lung cancer]] in Los Angeles in 1970, aged 59. Upon her death, she left an estate valued at [[US$]] 575,000 (US$ 4,678,486 in 2024).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/wherethereswillw0000silv|title=Where there's a will-- : who inherited what and why|first=Stephen M.|last=Silverman|date=November 20, 1991|publisher=New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins|isbn=9780060162603 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> She is buried in [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]] in [[Inglewood, California]].<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 27219-27220). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Gypsy Rose Lee's star on Hollywood walk of fame (15992401828).jpg|thumb|right|Lee's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]]]
*The song "Zip" from the musical ''[[Pal Joey (musical)|Pal Joey]]'', written by [[Richard Rodgers]] and [[Lorenz Hart]], imagines the thoughts and musings that go through Gypsy Rose Lee's mind while she strips onstage, as recounted by a newspaper reporter who sings of her interview with Miss Lee as having been "my greatest achievement" in a career full of notable celebrity interviews.  [[Elaine Stritch]] regularly performed this song (as the interviewer) for many years.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Guide to Rodgers & Hart's 'Zip'|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/a-guide-to-rodgers-harts-zip-com-101086|website=Playbill|access-date=March 30, 2018|language=en|date=January 6, 1998}}</ref>
* Punk band [[The Distillers]] wrote "Gypsy Rose Lee", a song for their [[The Distillers (album)|debut album]] in 2000.
* In 1973, [[Tony Orlando and Dawn]] recorded "[[Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose]]" by W. M. Irwin Levine & L. Russell Brown. (The song refers to Lee's profession but is about a fictional character with a similar name.)
* In January 2012, Seattle Theater Writers (a group of arts critics for various publications) awarded the first Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, celebrating excellence in local theatre.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Amador|first1=José|title=The First Annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards Have Arrived|url=http://www.seattlestar.net/2012/01/the-first-annual-gypsy-rose-lee-awards-have-arrived/|website=The Seattle Star|access-date=March 30, 2018|date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>
* The [[Academy Film Archive]] has preserved a number of Lee's home movies, including behind-the-scenes footage from films in which she appeared.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=gypsy+rose+lee&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

==Selected stage work==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%;"
! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Stage
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1933|| ''[[George White’s Melody]]'' || herself under the name Rose Louise || Casino Theatre
|-
|1936|| ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]'' || herself || Winter Garden Theatre
|-
|1939|| ''[[I Must Love Someone]]'' || Birdie Carr || Vanderbilt Theatre
|-
|1940|| ''[[Du Barry Was a Lady]]'' || May Daly || 46th Street Theatre
|-
|1940|| ''[[Panama Hattie]]'' || Panama Hattie substituting for Ethel Merman || 46th Street Theatre
|-
|1943|| ''[[Star And Garter]]'' || herself || The Music Box Theatre
|-
|1954|| ''[[The Naked Genius]]'' || Honey Bee Carroll || New Parsons Theatre, Hartford, CT
|-
|1956|| ''[[Fancy Meeting You]]'' || Amanda Phipps || Casino Theatre, Newport, RI
|-
|1958|| ''[[Happy Hunting (musical)|Happy Hunting]]'' || Liz Livingstone || Westbury Music Fair
|-
|1961|| ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' || Jenny || Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
|-
|1961|| ''[[Auntie Mame]]'' || Auntie Mame || Kenley Players, Columbus, OH
|-
|1961|| ''[[A Curious Evening with Gypsy Rose Lee]]'' || herself || Las Palmas Theatre, Hollywood, CA
|}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%;"
! colspan="3" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
|1937|| ''[[You Can't Have Everything]]'' || Lulu Riley
|-
|1937|| ''[[Ali Baba Goes to Town]]'' || Sultana / Louise Hovick
|-
|1938|| ''[[Sally, Irene and Mary (1938 film)|Sally, Irene and Mary]]'' || Joyce Taylor
|-
|1938|| ''[[Battle of Broadway]]'' || Linda Lee
|-
|1938|| ''[[My Lucky Star (1938 film)|My Lucky Star]]'' || Marcelle La Verne
|-
|1943|| ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' || Gypsy Rose Lee
|-
|1944|| ''[[Belle of the Yukon]]'' || Belle De Valle
|-
|1952|| ''[[Babes in Bagdad]]'' || Zohara
|-
|1958|| ''[[Screaming Mimi (film)|Screaming Mimi]]'' || Joann 'Gypsy' Masters
|-
|1958|| ''[[Wind Across the Everglades]]'' || Mrs. Bradford
|-
|1963|| ''[[The Stripper (film)|The Stripper]]'' || Madame Olga
|-
|1966|| ''[[The Trouble with Angels (film)|The Trouble with Angels]]'' || Mrs. Phipps
|-
|1969|| ''[[The Over-the-Hill Gang]]''|| Cassie
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%;"
! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1949|| ''[[Think Fast (game show)|Think Fast]]'' || Herself - Host ||
|-
|1950|| ''[[What's My Line?]]'' || || lost episode #4, Season 1<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/whats-my-line/episode-4-92409/|title=What's My Line?: EPISODE #4|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=June 28, 2017|archive-date=April 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416162404/http://www.tv.com/shows/whats-my-line/episode-4-92409/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|1958|| ''The Gypsy Rose Lee Show'' || ||
|-
|1959|| ''[[What's My Line]]?'' || ||
|-
|1963|| ''Fractured Flickers'' || Herself || episode 3—interview
|-
|1964|| ''[[The Object Is]]'' || Herself || game show - 5 episodes
|-
|1964|| ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]'' || Miss Bumpsy Cathcart || Who Killed Vaudeville
|-
|1965|| ''[[Who Has Seen the Wind? (1965 film)|Who Has Seen the Wind?]]'' || Proprietress || TV movie
|-
|1965-1967|| ''Gypsy'' || Herself - Hostess || 26 episodes
|-
|1966|| ''[[The Pruitts of Southampton]]'' || Regina || 4 episodes
|-
|1966|| ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' || Newscaster || 1 episode, Uncredited
|-
|1967|| ''Around the World of Mike Todd'' || Herself || TV movie documentary
|-
|1969|| ''[[The Over-the-Hill Gang]]'' || Cassie || TV movie, (final film role)
|-
|1969|| ''[[The Hollywood Squares]]'' || Herself - Panelist || 114 episodes
|}

==Recordings==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%;"
! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Recordings
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1960|| ''[[An Evening with Gypsy Rose Lee]]'' || LP record || AEI Records
|-
|1962|| ''[[Gypsy Rose Lee Remembers Burlesque]]'' || LP record || Stereoddities
|}

==Works==

===Novels===
* ''[[The G-String Murders]]'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1941).
* ''Mother Finds a Body'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1942).

===Memoir===
* ''[[Gypsy: A Memoir]]'' (New York: Harper & Bros., 1957)

===Plays===
* ''[[The Naked Genius]]'' (1943) (filmed and released as ''[[Doll Face]]'' in 1946). Her original title for the play was ''The Ghost in the Woodpile''.<ref>Oakland Tribune, 4 November 1943</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Gypsy & Me: At Home and on the Road with Gypsy Rose Lee |last=Preminger |first=Erik Lee |author-link=Erik Lee Preminger |year=1984 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-316-71776-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/gypsymeathome00prem |oclc=10877424 }} Reprinted as {{cite book |title=My G-String Mother: At Home and Backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee |year=2003 |publisher=Frog |location=Berkeley, Calif. |isbn=978-1-58394-096-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZwKTFdIE5sC |oclc=671810568 }}
* {{cite book |title=Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee |last= Frankel |first=Noralee |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-536803-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2xxhFcOXfwC |oclc= 223876642}}
* {{cite book |title=American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee |last=Abbott |first=Karen |year=2010 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4000-6691-9 |oclc=608296594 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanrosenati0000abbo }}
* {{cite book |title=Lady of Burlesque: The Career of Gypsy Rose Lee |last= Strom |first=Robert |year=2010 |publisher=McFarland & Co. |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-3826-6 |oclc=601050289 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.historylink.org/File/5686 Gypsy Rose Lee] at [[Washington State History Online Encyclopedia]]
* <!-- <ref name="cjonline/16539897007"> -->{{cite news |last1=Biles |first1=Jan |title=Before burlesque, Gypsy Rose Lee performed at Jayhawk Theatre |url=<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20230123032116/https://www.cjonline.com/story/entertainment/local/2017/06/17/burlesque-gypsy-rose-lee-performed-jayhawk-theatre/16539897007/ -->https://www.cjonline.com/story/entertainment/local/2017/06/17/burlesque-gypsy-rose-lee-performed-jayhawk-theatre/16539897007/ <!-- |access-date=16 August 2023 --> |work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]] |date=2017-06-17 |location=[[Topeka, Kansas]]}}<!-- </ref> -->
* <!-- <ref name="sjsondheim/RoseJune"> -->{{cite web |title=Gypsy: Rose and June |url=http://www.sjsondheim.com/RoseJune.html |website=<!-- sjsondheim.com - --> The Quotable Stephen Sondheim Page <!-- |access-date=16 August 2023 --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106162542/http://www.sjsondheim.com/RoseJune.html |archive-date=6 November 2005 |url-status=usurped <!-- |quote=Copyright © 1996–2004 sjsondheim.com The Quotable Stephen Sondheim Page Designed and Produced by sjsondheim.com Produtions All Rights Reserved --> }}<!-- </ref> -->
;Papers
* [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4480 Gypsy Rose Lee papers, 1910–1970], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* [https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b19755620 Gypsy Rose Lee scores, 1909–1967], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* [https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/search?q=Gypsy+Rose+Lee&filters%5BmaterialType%5D%5B0%5D=resourcetypes%3Amov&filters%5BdateAfter%5D=1966&filters%5BdateBefore%5D=1968&sort=date&sort_direction=asc&page=1 Gypsy Rose Lee. Produced for KGO-TV San Francisco] (video, 1966–1968), held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
;[[Metadata]]
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{IMDb name|497346}}
* {{Tcmdb name|110941%7C64338}}
* [http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/gypsy-rose-lee/152864 Gypsy Rose Lee] at TVGuide.com

{{Gypsy Rose Lee}}
{{Burlesque Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Gypsy Rose}}
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