This afternoon as my daughter was flipping channels she came across the musical "Gypsy" on TCM. I can't remember if I have ever seen this film in it's entirety, but piecing all the pieces together that I have seen, I have probably seen the whole thing. It reminded me that when I was little, I don't know, maybe 5 or 6, I announced to my parents that I wanted to be Gypsy Rose Lee when I grew up. I know...says a lot about me doesn't it? But I digress. I'm sure I had seen the movie as a child and thought how beautiful Natalie Wood was and how much I'd like to be that "star" Mama Rose kept talking about. It wasn't that at age 5 or 6 that I wanted to be a striptease artist much to my parents relief I am sure, but it is probably one of the earliest memories I have of when I decided I wanted to be on stage and a performer. Today as I watched the movie it occurred to me that I had never seen a picture of the real Gypsy Rose Lee. With the modern wonders of technology, I pulled up images on Google. She was really a beautiful woman. I also saw as I searched that her birthday was yesterday, February 9th. So Happy Birthday, Gypsy Rose Lee, and thanks for inspiring me to "entertain."
I love Gypsy Rose Lee too, Terri. You should read her autobiography, "Gypsy," basis for the musical. She only wrote two books (the other was I believe a murder mystery!) but she was an amazingly gifted writer.
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