FAQ

Gypsy is a somewhat fictionalized musical biopic of the early years of Gypsy Rose Lee [1914-1970], beginning when she was a backup to her younger and more talented sister June and ending when Gypsy (played by Natalie Wood) finally hit her own fame as a classy burlesque dancer who emphasized the "tease" in "striptease" over the "strip". Although the film is about Gypsy Rose Lee, it actually focuses on her domineering stage mother, Rose Hovick (Rosalind Russell).

Two books, actually. The screenplay for Gypsy is based on the book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable by Arthur Laurents, which itself was adapted from Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee. The movie was remade for television as Gypsy (1993) in 1993.

Yes. Wood sings three songs: "Little Lamb", "If Mama Was Married", and "Let Me Entertain You". Rosalind Russell did some of her own singing, too, but was mostly dubbed by singer and actress Lisa Kirk.

June Hovick changed her name to June Havoc and became an actress in her own right. She got her first acting break on Broadway in the musical Pal Joey and moved on to Hollywood roles in movies like Gentleman's Agreement (1947) (1947). June wrote two memoirs, Early Havoc (1959) and More Havoc (1980) as well as a play, Marathon 33, based on Early Havoc. Her last appearance as an actress was on the daytime drama General Hospital (1963) in 1990. Havoc died of natural causes on 28 March, 2010, at the age of 97.

After being told by Gypsy to "let go of me," Rose wanders out onto the empty stage where she sings "Rose's Turn", in which she bemoans what she could have done as a performer if she hadn't spent her life promoting Gypsy and June. At the end of her song, she hears Gypsy clapping. They apologize to each other for some of the mistakes they made along the way, and Gypsy invites Rose to go with her to the party and loans her a mink coat. In the final scene, Rose and Gypsy walk off the stage with their arms around each other.