The Istoriaphile’s Corner

In May of 1959, a musical opened on Broadway that became an landmark show.  With “Gypsy”, Styne, Sondheim and Laurents created a terrific play with songs that have become standards and a role actresses fight to play like actors fight to portray King Lear.  The show was loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee which were, according to her sister, pretty loose with the truth already.   What people see on the stage is a compelling, entertaining, occasionally disturbing story of show business and family.  Karen Abbott researched the lives of Miss Lee, her sister, June Havoc and their mother Rose Thompson Hovick for her book, American Rose and showed that the musical barely scratched the surface. If survivors are worthy subjects of study, then college courses should be dedicated to the Hovick sisters.  Their very identities are a mystery.  They were born in the northwest during the first years of the twentieth century’s second decade but their mother, Rose Thompson Hovick  forged so many birth certificates with different birth dates and names that neither woman could be sure of those details later on in life.  What their mother was sure of was her vision: both of her girls…