Rose Thompson Hovick
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Rose Evangeline Hovick (née Thompson; August 31, 1890 – January 28, 1954) was an American talent manager best known as the mother of two famous performing daughters: burlesque artist Gypsy Rose Lee and actress and dancer June Havoc. Her career as her daughters' manager is dramatized in the musical ''
Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
''.


Life and career

Rose Evangeline Thompson was born in Wahpeton, North Dakota on August 31, 1890, the daughter of Anna (née Egle) and Charles J. Thompson. Her maternal grandparents were German. Rose Thompson married her first husband, Jack Hovick, when she was a teenager. She gave birth to Rose Louise Hovick on January 8, 1911 in Seattle, Washington and her second daughter, Ellen June Hovick, in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 8, 1912. Some sources indicate she was born Ellen Evangeline Hovick in 1913, but Hovick acknowledged the earlier year not long before she died. She reportedly had numerous birth certificates for both girls that listed them as being either several years older or younger than they actually were. The former were to evade child labor laws and the latter for reduced or free fares. As a result, for many years, they never were sure of their actual ages.Karen Abbott (2010) ''American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare, The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee'', New York: Random House; ; Laura Jacobs (March 2003) "Taking it all off", '' Vanity Fair'', Vol. 511, p. 198. Later in their careers, the two daughters adopted their more famous stage names: Gypsy Rose Lee and June Havoc. Rose's drive to create a performing career for her daughters eventually led to the end of her marriage to Jack Hovick, who disagreed with her intentions for the girls. Rose married her second husband, Judson Brenneman, a traveling salesman on May 26, 1916 at the Unitarian church in Seattle, Washington, with Reverend J.D.A. Powers officiating.Ancestry.com. Washington, Marriage Records, 1865–2004 from Washington State Archives. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Archives. Many years later, Rose ran both a farm in Highland Mills, New York and a boardinghouse, some of whose tenants were lesbians, in a 10-room apartment on the seedy West End Avenue in Manhattan. At some point, a young woman by the name of Genevieve Augustine, who was said to be Mother Rose's lover, allegedly made a pass at the visiting Lee; in a jealous rage, Mother Rose shot the woman dead. This incident was explained publicly as a suicide. After the young woman's mother demanded an investigation, a case was opened, but a jury declined to indict. Mother Rose's biographer strongly refutes the notion that Augustine was Rose's lover and doubts Rose's complicity in her death in light of her previous attempts at suicide. Karen Abbott's biography of Gypsy Rose Lee refers to two other violent incidents from Thompson Hovick's life. One involved an unidentified "hotel manager" whom Thompson Hovick pushed out a window to his death. She claimed self-defense and was not charged. She also tried to shoot Bobby Reed, the young man who eloped with Baby June in 1928, in a police station after cops found him and brought him to the station house. A police officer had told the two to make their peace. Reed approached with his hand extended, and Thompson Hovick withdrew a concealed gun and aimed it at Reed, but the safety was still on, and no bullets were discharged. A policeman tried to hold her, but she broke free and viciously attacked the hapless Reed, punching and scratching him. Thompson Hovick reportedly continued demanding money and gifts from her daughters until her death in 1954.


''Gypsy''

Thompson Hovick became known as the ultimate stage mother by way of the musical '' Gypsy: A Musical Fable'', based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee. Originally staged in 1959, ''Gypsy'' – with music by
Jule Styne Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...
, lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
, and book by
Arthur Laurents Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. With a career spanning seven decades he received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, ...
– has been performed in countless venues on stage and in film. She is portrayed as a domineering stage mother who will do anything to advance the success of her daughters in show business. While the character as portrayed in ''Gypsy'' commonly is referred to as "Mama Rose" (or "Momma Rose"), this is a sobriquet that does not appear in the script, and adamantly was dismissed by its author Arthur Laurents. In the musical ''Gypsy'', the character is called Momma, Rose, or Madam Rose. The role has been portrayed on stage and screen by a number of notable Broadway and film stars, including
Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
in the original 1959 Broadway production of ''
Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
'', Angela Lansbury in the original London production and a Broadway revival, and
Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, model, comedian, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in ...
in the Warner Bros 1962 film ''
Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
''. Stage revivals have starred
Tyne Daly Ellen Tyne Daly (; born February 21, 1946) is an American actress whose six-decade career included many leading roles in movies and theater. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work, a Tony Award, and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of ...
, Angela Lansbury, Linda Lavin, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone,
Betty Buckley Betty Buckley (born July 3, 1947)LuKanic, Steven A (1995). Film Actors Guide'. Los Angeles, CA: Lone Eagle Publishing. p. 55. . is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for an additional Ton ...
,
Leslie Uggams Leslie Marian Uggams (; born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winning a T ...
,
Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...
, and Audra McDonald. LuPone's 2008 revival of ''Gypsy'' won her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, as did Lansbury's 1973 portrayal and Daly's 1990 portrayal. A
television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
starring
Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
premiered in 1993.


Death

Hovick died of
colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...
on January 28, 1954, aged 63, in
Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...
. She had suffered a stroke two weeks earlier.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovick, Rose Thompson 1890 births 1954 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer in New York (state) People from Seattle People from Wahpeton, North Dakota American people of German descent LGBTQ people from North Dakota 20th-century American LGBTQ people