There have been many stories about “stage mothers”, who pushed their children into show business. Harridans who forced their sometimes talented, but often ordinary children into the limelight, whether or not they wished it. None was pushier…nor more famous for being so…than Rose Hovick, Madam Rose, the mother of June Havoc and Gypsy Rose Lee.
Gypsy Rose Lee was born Louise Rose Hovick in Seattle, in 1911. Two years later, a sister, June, was born. Rose’s father had not permitted her to go into show business, so she was anxious to give her children the opportunity that she had missed. Her husband, a newspaper ad salesman, insisted that their budget could not stretch to dancing lessons for the girls, but Rose soon divorced the uncooperative man and moved her family in with her parents. By the age of 2, little June could dance on point, and was performing in local vaudeville shows. Louise didn’t seem to have either the talent, nor the interest in the theater that her mother wished, and for a while, avoided the work and exposure that her small sister was getting. Rose decided that her children were the commodity that would support her, and so Louise was forced to perform in the vaudeville shows along with June. It was a hard life, hard for an adult, and miserable for young children. Madam Rose continued to push the girls, expecting impossibly professional behavior from both of them. 
When Louise still showed no interest in the profession, she was told that if she didn’t work harder, she would be given away. Madam Rose also encouraged the girls to lie about their ages, to truant officers and train conductors, to steal the sheets and towels from hotels, and to sneak out without paying. Both girls became accomplished shoplifters. June once said that after the age of 5, she never believed anything her mother said. When June was 16, she ran off with a boy from the show, and got married, thus extricating herself from her mother’s clutches. Rose was left with the largely untalented Louise as her only support.
Vaudeville was dying. The Burlesque show was on the rise. In a sea of bump and grind strippers, Louise was now a leggy brunette with a perfect figure. Although reluctant, Louise discovered that she could now make a living with no talent at all. Her “hook” was her sense of humor. In the early 1930s, she discarded the name Louise, moved to New York, and became Gypsy Rose Lee. Her act had become a parody of strippers’ acts. She revealed little actual skin, but her comedy made her a hit with men and women alike. She became the toast of New York cafe society. She tried a run at Hollywood, without much success, and she penned a play, which also failed. Her novel, “The G-String Murders”, however was a critical and commercial success, and later was made into a movie starring Barbara Stanwyck.
In the meantime, Madam Rose, whose daughters had both found the success in show business that she had always dreamed of, became even more mentally unbalanced. She tried to blackmail both of her daughters, demanding money and gifts. Although she was well-provided for, she would appear at their performances dressed shabbily, claiming to be poor and ill. Neither June, now a successful Hollywood actress, nor Gypsy communicated with their mother except through their lawyers. In 1954, her mother, Madam Rose, died. Her last words were a threat to Gypsy, promising to drag her daughter into death with her.
With her mother gone, Gypsy was free to exploit the story of her childhood without fear of legal action. She wrote her memoirs, “Gypsy”, which was an instant best seller. She turned down a movie deal for $200,000, opting instead to sell the rights to her story for $4000 against a percentage of the gross, to be made into a musical. 
“Gypsy – A Musical Fable” which featured music and lyrics by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, has been called the greatest American musical. With songs like “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “Let Me Entertain You”, the play translated brilliantly to film, starring Rosalind Russell as Madam Rose, and a young Natalie Wood as Gypsy.
Gypsy Rose Lee retired to a home in Beverly Hills and spent her later years guest starring on television game shows and talk shows. The Queen of Burlesque, and our Tart of the Week, she died in 1970, leaving her book and the musical it inspired as her legacy.
“You will rule the heart of a king.” So the fortune teller proclaimed for the nine-year-old, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson in 1730. Even at this tender age, Jeanne already showed evidence of the great beauty, for which she would become reknowned. Her early education, as directed by her mother, included tutors in drama and music, as well as traditional subjects. She became an accomplished actress and singer. She received all the education required to make her the perfect companion to a king. 
Louis XV was a melancholy man, prone to fits of guilt over his excesses and infidelities. By all accounts, he loved his Polish queen, Maria Lesczcynska, but, although she bore him 11 children, she alone, could not satisfy his appetites. The queen accepted the inevitable parade of official mistresses. Louis met Jeanne at a masked ball at the palace in 1745. She had dressed as a shepherdess, and, inexplicably, he was disguised as a tree. Within the month, Louis had installed her in apartments in the palace, and she became his official mistress. Because she was a commoner, she could not be presented at court. Louis purchased the marquisate of Pompadour in August, 1745, and gifted the lands, title and coat of arms to Jeanne, making her the Marquise de Pompadour.
Although, contrary to opinion at the time, she had no real political influence over the king, she certainly held a powerful control over the French court. She enthralled the king by putting on plays and musicales in which she performed, while portraying the King as a god. He found her efforts both flattering, and amusing. She accompanied him on hunting trips, property tours and to card parties, all activities that most ladies of the court avoided. Pompadour’s success as the King’s mistress was due in large part to her alliances. The Queen had been snubbed by Louis’s previous mistresses, but the Pompadour treated her with respect and dignity, establishing a cordial relationship with Marie. This eased the King’s guilt and allowed him to maintain a strong relationship with his children.
Her signature greeting, “DAH-ling!!!”, has been imitated for decades, but never with the attitude that Tallulah gave it. In truth, she used the greeting because she was terrible at remembering names, once quipping that she had introduced a friend of hers as “Martini”. Her name was “Olive”.
Tallulah, then, spent eight years on the London stage. This brought her the roles she wanted and the fame she had been seeking. She was especially popular with teenage girls and young women, who would often camp out for days for seats at her openings, hoping for seats in the gallery. They imitated her dress and her mannerisms, calling each other “Dahling”. They became known as the “gallery girls”. Tallulah was delighted, and acknowledged her devoted fans both onstage and off, sometimes pausing during their enthusiastic cheering to call “Thank you, dahlings,” from the stage.
In her later years, she continued to appear in cameo roles, most notably, on “I Love Lucy”, and she performed in an extravagant show in Las Vegas, and a popular radio show. She was becoming a caricature of herself. The public expected outrageous behavior from her, and she rarely disappointed them. Although her age was beginning to show, she was always ready to display her body. Guests at her home were frequently entertained by Tallulah performing on top of the piano, dressed in nothing but a string of pearls. She began to surround herself with young men, mostly gay, and frequently red-headed. She called them her “caddies”. A series of caddies took care of her until her death from pneumonia in 1967.