June Havoc

Biography: Anyone who's ever seen the Broadway musical Gypsy is aware of the fact that June Havoc and her older sister Louise were literally pushed into show business in infancy by their virago of a stage mother. A vaudeville headliner at the age of five, Havoc escaped her mother's clutches at 13 when she eloped with another actor (sister Louise, of course, grew up to become "intellectual stripteaser" Gypsy Rose Lee). When vaudeville died in the early '30s, she worked -- when she could find work -- as a model and dancer. After several seasons of stock companies and Catskills resorts, she made her first Broadway appearance in 1936, regaining her earlier stardom in the original 1940 production of Pal Joey. Signed to an RKO Radio film contract in 1941, she became dissatisfied with the quality of her movies and returned to Broadway. Back in films by 1947, she earned critical acclaim with her well-modulated performance as an "anti-semitic Jew" in the Oscar-winning Gentlemen's Agreement. InAnyone who's ever seen the Broadway musical Gypsy is aware of the fact that June Havoc and her older sister Louise were literally pushed into show business in infancy by their virago of a stage mother. A vaudeville headliner at the age of five, Havoc escaped her mother's clutches at 13 when she eloped with another actor (sister Louise, of course, grew up to become "intellectual stripteaser" Gypsy Rose Lee). When vaudeville died in the early '30s, she worked -- when she could find work -- as a model and dancer. After several seasons of stock companies and Catskills resorts, she made her first Broadway appearance in 1936, regaining her earlier stardom in the original 1940 production of Pal Joey. Signed to an RKO Radio film contract in 1941, she became dissatisfied with the quality of her movies and returned to Broadway. Back in films by 1947, she earned critical acclaim with her well-modulated performance as an "anti-semitic Jew" in the Oscar-winning Gentlemen's Agreement. In 1954, she starred as lady lawyer Wilhelmina Dodger in the TV sitcom Willy, and some ten years later hosted her own syndicated talk show. June Havoc's later professional activities included an autobiography, Early Havoc; an autobiographical play, Marathon 33, which she wrote and directed; and a one-woman show, An Unexpected Evening With June Havoc.… Expand