Sporting one of the most unique life resumes for a performer, the unstoppable June Havoc was a vaudevillian, playwright, film actress and the owner-landlord of an entire town during her lifetime. Perhaps best known as the inspiration for the character of Baby June in the classic musical Gypsy, a theatrical offering she always emphasized was a fable not reality, Havoc also gave vampirism a distinguished glow in Larry Cohen’s A Return to Salem’s Lot. 
Of course, her vampishly dynamic performances in a series of Hollywood musicals left quite an impression on a generation of young men, as well.
Sinful Cindy Lou from Sing Your Worries Away paired her with the rubbery Buddy Ebsen and comic legend Patsy Kelly.
Meanwhile, The Man With the Big Sombrero from Hi Diddle Diddle allowed her to sonically compete with herself.
The maverick Havoc, who died in 2010 at the age of 97, actually has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was nominated for a Tony Award as the director of Marathon ’33, a play that she also wrote.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Big Gay Horror Fan 
I always felt sorry for June Havoc, as by all accounts her sister did her no favors with her liberal borrowing of her backstory, and in such a public forum as a hit (if mostly fictional) musical and film. I feel like most only remember Gypsy’s version of June, when Ms. Havoc was far more than that.
She definitely was more than that and I think really resented that image of the heartless diva-child who abandons her family….especially since she just didn’t waltz off into a better life. She struggled for years. I’ve really bern enjoying discovering some of her hereto previously unseen performances, as of late. She is definitely one of my new favorites!
American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee by Karen Abbott covers the constant action/reaction, love hate struggles the two of them maintained their entire lives. It’s an excellent book that can be found pretty inexpensively….assuming you have not read it already 🙂
I actually met Abbott at a signing for that book. I love it…and I’m so happy/jealous that she got to meet and interview Havoc as part of her research!