June Havoc
| June Havoc | |
|---|---|
 in Gentleman's Agreement (1947) | |
| Born | Ellen Evangeline Hovick November 8, 1912 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | March 28, 2010 aoremovetag(aged 97) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, dancer, director, writer |
| Years active | 1918–1990 |
| Spouse | Bobby Reed (1929–19??) Donald S. Gibbs (1935–19??) William Spier (1949–1973) |
| Parents | John Olaf Hovick Rose Thompson Hovick |
June Havoc (November 8, 1912 – March 28, 2010) was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood, and stage directed (both on and off-Broadway). She last appeared on television in 1990, on General Hospital. Havoc was the younger sister of burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee.
Life and career
She was born as either "Ellen Evangeline Hovick" or "Ellen June Hovick," in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, probably in 1912, although she herself was uncertain of the year, due to her mother, Rose Thompson, frequently forging numerous birth certificates, according to The New York Times obituary. (Her mother reportedly had five birth certificates for her.) Other sources indicate 1913.
Her lifelong career in show business began when she was a child, billed as "Baby June". Her only sibling, Rose Louise Hovick (1911–1970), was called "Louise" by her family members. Their parents were Rose Thompson Hovick (1890–1954) and John Olaf Hovick, a Norwegian-American, who worked as a newspaper advertising man.
Following their parents' divorce, the two sisters earned the family's income by appearing in vaudeville where often June's talent overshadowed Louise. Baby June got an audition with Alexander Pantages (1876–1936) who had come to Seattle in 1902 to build theaters up and down the West Coast of the United States. Soon, she was launched in Vaudeville and also appeared in Hollywood movies. She couldn’t speak until the age of three, but the films were all silent. She would cry for the cameras when her mother told her that the family's dog had died.
In December 1928, aged 15 or 16, June, in an effort to escape her overbearing mother's ambitions for her career, eloped with Bobby Reed, a boy in the vaudeville act. Rose reported Bobby to the police, and he was arrested. Rose had a concealed gun on her when she met Bobby at the police station. She pulled the trigger but the safety was on. Eventually, Reed was released and June married him, leaving both her family and the act. The marriage did not last but the two remained on friendly terms. By the age of 17, she had an affair with an older married man, Jamie Smythe, reportedly a big-time marathon promoter. He fathered her only child, April Hyde (April 2, 1930 – December 28, 1998), who was an actress in the 1950s, known as April Kent. (cf: IMDB, "April Kent")
June's elder sister, Louise, would gravitate to burlesque and became a well-known performer, using the stage name of Gypsy Rose Lee. June adopted the surname of Havoc, a variant of her birth name. She got her first acting break on Broadway in Sigmund Romberg's , in 1936. She later starred in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey on Broadway. Havoc moved to Hollywood in the late 1940s, appearing in such movies as Gentleman's Agreement. She married for a second time, in 1935, to Donald S. Gibbs; they divorced. Her third marriage, to radio and television director and producer William Spier (1906–1973), lasted from 1947 until his death.
Havoc and her sister Gypsy continued to get demands for money from their mother, who had opened a boardinghouse for women in a 10-room apartment on West End Avenue in New York City, the property rented for her by Gypsy and a farm in Highland Mills, New York. Rose shot and killed one of her guests (who, according to Erik Lee Preminger, Gypsy's son, was Rose's lover who had made a pass at Gypsy). The incident was explained away as a suicide and Rose was not prosecuted.
Rose died in 1954 of colon cancer. The sisters then were free to write about her without risking a lawsuit. Gypsy's memoir, titled Gypsy, was published in 1957, and was taken as inspirational material for the Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents classic Broadway musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable. June did not like the way she was portrayed in the piece, but was eventually persuaded not to oppose it for her sister's sake. The play also sparked such famous songs as "Small World", "Together Wherever We Go" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". The play and the subsequent movie deal assured Gypsy a steady income. Gypsy Rose Lee died of lung cancer in 1970, aged 59 and is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California.
Havoc wrote two memoirs, Early Havoc and More Havoc. She also wrote a play entitled Marathon '33 (based on Early Havoc). The play ran briefly on Broadway, starring Julie Harris.
Death
Havoc died at her Stamford, Connecticut home on the Palm Sunday morning of March 28, 2010, at age 97.
Her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the garden of her Connecticut home.
Honors
Havoc was nominated for a Tony Award for best director in 1964, for Marathon '33, which she also wrote.
Legacy
The June Havoc Theatre, housed at the Abingdon Theatre in New York City, was named for her in 2003.
Filmography
Features:
Short subjects:
Television work
References
External links
- June Havoc at the Internet Movie Database
- June Havoc at the Internet Broadway Database
- June Havoc at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- June Havoc at Find a Grave
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Havoc
