Gypsy: The Art of the Tease (24 page)

f o u r

The Rise and Fall of the Striptease Intellectual

p. 104 “I am a practitioner”: quoted in Mencken,
The American Language, Supplement I,
586–87.

p. 105 “Ecdysiast, he calls me”: ibid.

p. 105 “One of the great fashionable occasions”: Daché,
Talking Through My
Hats,
187.

p. 105 “Someone whistled”: ibid., 190.

p. 106 “There she was”: ibid., 192.

p. 106 “Bigger than Stalin”: quoted in Todd, 64.

p. 107 “
Voos ette aytrainjeer
”:
Streets of Paris
script, Shubert Archive.

p. 108 “Tall, sleek and mischievous”:
New York Times,
May 20, 1940, 19.

p. 108 “Humor in strip-teasing”:
New York Times,
May 20, 1940, 21.

p. 108 “We want to watch”:
New Yorker,
June 1, 1940, 19.

p. 110 “Mike picked up the myth machine”: Havoc,
More Havoc,
228.

p. 110 “A stripper who don’t strip”: Todd, quoted in Collyer,
Burlesque,
54.

p. 111 “I could think of a lot better things”: Henry Miller,
Nightmare Notebook,
n.d.

p. 113 “A sulky, extra sensitive character”: Flanner,
Paris Was Yesterday,
xviii.

p. 114 “Odd but it was lively”: Seebohm, quoted in Shteir,
New York Times Book
Review,
November 10, 1996.

p. 114 “Gypsy did not strip”: Untermeyer, quoted in Carr,
Lonely Hunter,
123.

p. 114 “The Yaddo pallor”: Gypsy to Lee Wright, July 7, 1941, F8845, Harold Rome Biographical Series 7b, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

198

Notes to Pages 114–124

p. 114 “Frankie is in love”: McCullers,
Illumination and Night Glare,
33.

p. 115 “Came around for meals”: MacNeice,
The Strings Are False,
35.

p. 116 “Mak[ing] with the book words”: GRL Press Pack,
The G-String Murders,
Harold Rome Biographical Series, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

p. 116 “Your mind”: November 29, 1940, Correspondence, b3 f8, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 116 “I’m lonesome”: December 15, 1940, in ibid.

p. 116 “I left too early”: Todd to Gypsy, telegram, n.d., Series One, Sub-Series 1, b3, f8, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 117 “I’d be out there”: quoted in Todd,
A Valuable Property,
70.

p. 118 “Zip”: thanks to Richard Rodgers estate.

p. 118 “Can you draw sweet water”:
New York Times
review of
Pal Joey.

p. 119 The “Striptease Intellectual”:
American Mercury,
January 1941, 36.

p. 119 “Phony emotionalism”:
Chicago Daily Tribune,
January 2, 1941, 15.

p. 120 “The Naked Genius”: February 19, 1941, Gypsy to Lee Wright, January 20, 1941, F8845, Harold Rome Biographical Series, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

p. 120 “The Girl with the Diamond Studded Navel,” Gypsy to Lee Wright, March 5, 1941. Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

p. 120 “You see it takes almost an hour”: Gypsy to Lee Wright, July 21, 1941, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

p. 120 “That annoys
me
too much”: Gypsy to Lee Wright, January 20, 1941.

Harold Rome Biographical Series, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University.

p. 121 “Bob’s inferiority complex”: June’s then husband, Jesse, to Gypsy, February 2, 1941, Series One, Sub-Series 1, b2 f8, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 121 “Our men need the money now”: June 25, 1941, Temple University Theatre Collection.

p. 123 “Well constructed”: Simon and Schuster correspondence, author’s private collection.

p. 123 “Talking dog”: Laurents,
Original Story,
379.

p. 123 “Isn’t even
Crime and Punishment
”: Gypsy, 1941, review of her own book,

“Down the Aisle” column. GRL Papers.

p. 124 “With eyebrows raised”:
New Yorker,
October, 11, 1941.

p. 124 “Readable”:
Chicago Daily Tribune,
October 26, 1941, Series One, Sub-Series 1, b1, f8, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 124 “A stunt”:
Daily Worker,
October 22, 1941.

p. 124 “As American as hot dogs”:
New York Times,
March 22, 1942, xi.

p. 124 “Gypsy Rose Lee has not only”:
New York Herald Tribune,
n.d.,
Star and
Garter
publicity files, Shubert Archives.

199

Notes to Pages 125–149

p. 125 “God is love”: October 7, 1943, Series One, Sub-Series 1, b1, f10, GRL

Papers, BRTC.

p. 126 “I’d be a dope to play”: n.d., GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 128 “Prim”: clipping, January 17, 1960, Temple University Theatre Collection.

p. 128 “Is this a war”:
Chicago Daily Tribune,
February 8, 1942, 1.

p. 133 “The poor man has been robbed”: Damon Runyon column, September 30, 1942,
New York Herald Tribune.

p. 134 “Hardly suitable as a husband”: Guggenheim,
Confessions of an Art Addict,
271.

p. 135 “We are glad to note”:
New York Times,
October 25, 1942.

p. 137 “If she’s an artist”:
New York Times,
January 6, 1943, 23.

p. 137 “Idolized”: John Cage, video interview, Dallas Public Library Cable Access Studio, 1987.

p. 138 “I miss you”: telegram, January 24, 1943. Correspondence, B3, f8, GRL

Papers, BRTC.

p. 139 “Does a striptease”:
New York Times,
May 14, 1943, 21.

p. 139 “Without actually doing so”: GRL Papers.

p. 142 “The Great Private Oshins”:
New York Times,
July 29, 1943.

p. 142 “Ironic isn’t it”: script of
The G-String Murders,
b43, f1–6, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 143 “No one expected”:
Boston Post,
September 1943, GRL Clippings Files, 1940–1949, BRTC.

p. 143 “A polite bore”:
New York Times,
November 7, 1943, xi.

p. 143 “With all due respect”:
New York Times,
January 1, 1945.

p. 144 “You’ve got to show the boys”:
Chicago Daily Tribune,
June 18, 1943, 21.

p. 144 “You say you can”: letter from Gypsy to Todd, n.d., B44, f7, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 145 “A sample book”:
Time,
January 1943, Dorothy Wheelock folder, b23, f5, GRL Papers. BRTC.

p. 146 “Anyone who writes”: April 13, 1942, GRL Clippings Files, 1940–1949, BRTC.

p. 147 “Gypsy’s Growing Pains,” July 15, 1944,
New York Journal American,
GRL

Clippings Files, 1940–1949, BRTC.

p. 147 “She used to make dinners”: Preminger,
Gypsy and Me,
258.

p. 148 “This is a period picture”:
Belle of the Yukon
Press File, MHL.

pp. 148–149 “Time. Diamond bracelets”: Quote from
Belle of the Yukon.

p. 149 “Her usual earthiness and humor”:
New York Times,
March 30, 1945, 18.

p. 149 “Can’t you write about other people?”: Rose to Gypsy, August 18, 1945, Series One, Sub-Series 1, b1, f12, GRL Papers, BRTC.

200

Notes to Pages 150–162

p. 150 “Current time magazine”: telegram, Craig Rice to Gypsy, January 24, 1946, B7, f10, GRL Papers, BRTC.

f i v e

Selling Striptease

p. 151 “Startled televiewers”:
Time,
October 4, 1948.

pp. 151–152 “There were no technical difficulties”:
Chicago Daily Tribune,
October 24, 1948, SW14.

p. 152 “So I’d have something to take off”: quoted in
Chicago Daily Tribune,
March 31, 1950, A10.

p. 153 “Were she as high”: letter from “monkey girl” to Hedda Hopper, n.d., Hedda Hopper Collection, MHL.

p. 153 “I can hardly wait”: letter from Gypsy to Hedda, n.d., in ibid.

p. 154 “In practically every exhibit”: ibid.

p. 154 “Fairy godmother in a Cinderella striptease”:
Variety,
September 7, 1949, 56.

p. 155 “City chicken”:
New York World-Telegram,
September 17, 1937, GRL

Clippings Files, 1930–1939, BRTC.

p. 157 “Gypsy Rose Lee”:
Variety,
January 10, 1951, 54.

p. 157 “Harry Truman”: Preminger,
Gypsy and Me,
205.

p. 158 “A dear and close associate”: quoted in
Time,
September 20, 1950.

p. 158 “Look at me”: ibid.;
Post,
September 14, 1950, Temple University Theatre Collection.

p. 159 “No actor should join”: draft of editorial, Series One, Sub-Series 2, B7, f5, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 160 “He met a beautiful girl”:
New York Mirror,
July 16, 1957, GRL Clippings Files, 1950–1959, BRTC.

p. 161
“What Are Your Dreams?”
: b14, f13, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 161 “I am not cut out”: n.d., GRL Clippings Files, 1950–1959, BRTC.

p. 161 “It was a very beautiful occasion”:
New York Mirror,
July 15, 1957, GRL

Clippings Files, 1950–1959, BRTC.

p. 161 “Strangled her”: GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 162 “The first year of marriage”:
The American Weekly,
January 17, 1960, GRL

Clippings Files, 1960–1969, BRTC.

p. 162 “Haven’t heard anything”: letter from Gypsy to June Havoc, June 6, 1951, Series One, Sub-Series 1, B1, f5, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 162 “Mother died at 6:30”: draft of letter, January 2, 1954, Appointment Calendars, Series Two, Sub-Series 1, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 162 “Speak well of all”: Series Two, Sub-Series 1, GRL Papers, BRTC.

201

Notes to Pages 162–182

p. 162 “Mike was killed”: March 22, 1958, in ibid.

p. 163 “And what about wired brassieres?”: “Formfit Talk,” Plaza Hotel Lun-cheon, April 26, 1950, Hedda Hopper Collection, MHL, MPAA.

p. 163 “You love those slow burning”: Series One, Sub-Series 2, f17, b6, GRL

Papers, BRTC.

p. 164 “Jeep among limousines”: quoted in Flinn,
Brass Diva,
285.

p. 164 “Audiences watch me”: May 15, 1951, Series Two, Sub-Series 1, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 164 “At one stage”:
New York Herald Tribune,
September 12, 1951, Temple University Theatre Collection.

p. 168 “Her clever remarks”:
Saturday Review,
May 25, 1957, GRL Clippings Files, 1950–1959.

p. 168 “The story of a woman”: Laurents,
Original Story,
376.

p. 169 “Reads book reviews”: Laurents and Styne,
Gypsy,
101.

p. 169 “I must not play Casa Cugat”: April 5, 1959, f1, b12, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 169 “Oh darling, I’ve given”: Laurents,
Original Story,
379.

p. 170 “I don’t mind working”: Series xi, Sub-Series 2, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 170 “Too chaste in demeanor”:
New Yorker,
May 29, 1959, 65.

p. 171 “You can’t sell sex”: op. cit.

p. 172 “We are all absolutely convinced”: quoted in Jowitt,
Jerome Robbins,
325.

p. 172 “Mama, I’m Pretty”: Laurents and Styne,
Gypsy,
94.

p. 173 “My mother”: Laurents and Styne,
Gypsy,
96.

p. 173 “I can’t think of Rose”: Appointment Calendars, n.d., Series Two, Sub-Series 1, Personal Papers, 1936–1971, GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 173 “Mastodon”: Kerr, May 22, 1959, in
New York Theatre Critics Reviews,
1959,
301.

p. 174 “A nightmare incarnation”: Kenneth Tynan,
New Yorker,
May 30, 1959, 65.

p. 174 “Juggernaut”: Brooks Atkinson review,
New York Times,
May 22, 1959, xi.

p. 174 “Folklore doesn’t become”:
New Yorker,
May 9, 1961, 188.

p. 174 “We love you, Gypsy”:
New York Times,
May 10, 1961, 53.

p. 175 “It was like an Italian palazzo”: Interview with Barbara Preminger, August 10, 2008.

p. 175 “unworldly”: Interview with David Patrick Columbia, June 10, 2008.

p. 179 “Rehearsals have been”: Gypsy to Hedda Hopper, September 11, 1961, Hedda Hopper Collection, MHL, MPAA.

p. 181 “Had a fit”: November 22, 1966, Temple University Theatre Collection.

p. 182 “I’ve worked so hard”: Appointment Calendars, n.d., GRL, BRTC.

p. 182 “Like a juke box”: Appointment Calendars, Series One, Sub-Series 2, GRL Papers, BRTC.

202

Notes to Pages 182–188

p. 182 “I asked what she thought”:
New Yorker,
January 15, 1966, GRL Clippings Files, BRTC.

p. 183 “Sometimes you have no specific talent”:
New York Post,
January 16, 1966, GRL Clippings Files, 1960–1969, BRTC.

p. 183 “Dirty kosher Chinese fortune cookies”:
Los Angeles Times,
January 13, 1969. g1.

p. 183 “I think sometimes”: GRL Papers, BRTC.

p. 183 “All people play roles”:
Sunday News,
July 23, 1968, 25s.

p. 184 “All I’ve got to say”:
Charlotte News,
1963, b6, f9, GRL Papers, BRTC.

Conclusion

p. 187 “One of the most enduring”: Frank Rich,
New York Times,
May 4, 2003, ARi.

p. 188 “The sizzle of outlaw sexuality”: Paglia, column in
Salon,
November 11, 1997.

p. 188 “JonBenets of America”: Frank Rich,
New York Times,
January 18, 1997, 23.

203

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Bibliography

Primary Sources

Gypsy Rose Lee (GRL) Collection, Billy Rose Theatre Collection (BRTC), New York Library for the Performing Arts

Gypsy Rose Lee (GRL) Clippings File, Museum of the City of New York Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Library, Margaret Herrick Motion Picture Archive