--- title: Gypsy Rose Lee: Stripper Would Have 101 Years Old description: Jan. 9, 1914: Gypsy Rose Lee, the burlesque star famous for her wit, is born canonical: https://time.com/3652404/gypsy-rose-lee/ author: Jennifer Latson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-09T15:30:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:27.333Z article:section: History og:title: Gypsy Rose Lee: Stripper Would Have 101 Years Old og:description: Jan. 9, 1914: Gypsy Rose Lee, the burlesque star famous for her wit, is born og:url: https://time.com/3652404/gypsy-rose-lee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bfc88a8c9e90036/698777e8cd6848b7de098e44/grl.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Gypsy Rose Lee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gypsy Rose Lee: Stripper Would Have 101 Years Old twitter:description: Jan. 9, 1914: Gypsy Rose Lee, the burlesque star famous for her wit, is born twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bfc88a8c9e90036/698777e8cd6848b7de098e44/grl.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Surprising Fact About History's Most Famous Stripper by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jan 9, 2015 3:30 PM UTC  Gypsy Rose Lee at home in New York City on May 7, 1940 Gypsy Rose Lee at home in New York City on May 7, 1940New York Daily News Archiv / Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jan 9, 2015 3:30 PM UTC Gypsy Rose Lee’s astronomical fame as a stripper is perhaps even more impressive considering one surprising aspect of her routine: the act that made her name didn’t actually feature getting completely naked. She objected to “theatrical nudity,” according to her 1970 obituary in the [New York _Times_](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9504E3DE1438EE34BC4051DFB266838B669EDE), not on moral grounds, but because it made for bad theater. “[Bare flesh bores men](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9504E3DE1438EE34BC4051DFB266838B669EDE),” she’s reported as saying. But crowds didn’t flock to her shows just to see nudity. They came for her wit as much as her reputation for “[disrobing gracefully](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9504E3DE1438EE34BC4051DFB266838B669EDE).” When overeager members of the crowd urged her to show more, she disarmed them with humor, according to an [NPR interview with the author Karen Abbott](http://www.npr.org/2011/01/08/132746887/gypsy-for-an-american-rose-a-thorny-story), who wrote a biography of the burlesque star. “Oh, boys, I couldn’t,” Gypsy would say. “I’d catch cold.” She was born Rose Louise Hovick on this day, Jan. 9, in 1914 — at least [according to the _Times_](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9504E3DE1438EE34BC4051DFB266838B669EDE); different birthdates appear in different news outlets, probably because Hovick’s mother [reportedly](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/theater/30havoc.html) carried multiple birth certificates for her two young daughters, to get around child labor laws when they appeared in vaudeville acts. As a child, with an overbearing stage mother (the larger-than-life Momma Rose from the musical _Gypsy_, which was based on Hovick’s memoir of the same name) she was known as the shy, bookish one in the family. “Rose in those years was a pudgy, lonely girl who found solace between one-night stands in reading Shakespeare,” [her obituary recounted](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9504E3DE1438EE34BC4051DFB266838B669EDE). But Gypsy developed an undeniable talent for burlesque. She put the “tease” in striptease, with a slow, deliberate style that captivated her audiences. “One of my grandmother’s cousins saw Gypsy perform,” [Abbott told NPR](http://www.npr.org/2011/01/08/132746887/gypsy-for-an-american-rose-a-thorny-story). He reported back that the star “took a full 15 minutes to peel off a single glove — and that she was ‘so damn good at it that he gladly would have given her 15 more.’” She also grew up to be similarly skilled, if less celebrated, as a writer. She applied her literary talents to her memoir and two murder mysteries, _The G-String Murders_ and _Mother Finds a Body_, drawn from her life in the burlesque world. TIME’s [1941 review](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,766268,00.html) of _The G-String Murders_ sums up the storyline succinctly: “Two bitchy strip queens are murdered with their own G-strings.” While the plot may have been pulpy, the writing shone, according to the review, which described the novel in glowing terms that could have applied equally to Gypsy’s stage performances: “lurid, witty, and highly competent.” **_Read the full book review, here in TIME’s archives_**: [For the Publicity](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,766268,00.html) **_Read TIME’s original review of_** **Gypsy** **_, here in the archives:_** [New Musical on Broadway](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,811173,00.html) ### Striptease Superstar: Rare and Classic Photos of Gypsy Rose Lee  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee with fellow performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee in front of a crowd in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. A sign announces the arrival of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Gypsy dictates a letter to her secretary, Brandy Bryant, who doubles up by doing a strip bit in the show." George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (left) and other performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (right) dresses other performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (center) dresses other performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee writes in her dressing room in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (top) with another performer in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (right) coaches another performer in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee (center) and other performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Audience at a Gypsy Rose Lee burlesque show in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "In a reverse strip-tease act, Gypsy introduces near-nudes like Florence Bailey, and dresses them on the stage. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee burlesque show in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee autographs programs for fans after a show in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee and some of the dancers in her show pose for publicity pictures with the carnival's "midget," K. O. Erickson. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee with her third husband, the painter Julio de Diego, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee holds her 4-year-old son (by Otto Preminger), Erik, outside of her trailer, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. "Gypsy's friends in carnival include a sword swallower, a fire-eater and this cheerful bearded lady, Percilla Bejano, whose husband is the Alligator Man." George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee with fellow carnival performers in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Gypsy's husband Julio . . . paints the entrance while Gypsy and son watch. His attraction \[in the carnival\] is called Dream Show." George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose rides the Little Dipper with her son, Erik, and her husband, Julio, in Memphis, Tenn., 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee gives her son, Erik, cotton candy while her husband Julio De Diego watches, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee with her husband Julio and son Erik, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Gypsy Rose Lee with her husband, Julio de Diego, 1949. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Between shows Gypsy and family manage to sneak off for sundown fishing on Wolf River where Gypsy caught a catfish." George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, offstage, 1949. 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