Actress June Havoc Dead at 97
June Havoc
June Havoc, whose childhood in vaudeville as Baby June was fictionalized in the musical Gypsy, died Sunday of natural causes at 97.
The actress-writer — the younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee — died at her home in Stamford, Conn., her publicist and friend, Shirley Herz, said Monday.
Havoc had a successful acting career, though mostly in supporting roles. Her breakout Broadway role was Gladys Bumps, the scheming chorus girl, in the original 1940 production of Pal Joey.
Perhaps her most notable movie role was as Gregory Peck's secretary — a Jew passing for a gentile — in 1947's Gentleman's Agreement.
Watch highlights from Gypsy
Her other film credits included 1942's My Sister Eileen and 1948's When My Baby Smiles at Me. Among her movies as a lead: the crime drama Intrigue (1947) and romantic thriller Lady Possessed (1952).
In 1963, Havoc wrote and directed Marathon '33, a Broadway play about her Depression era experiences as marathon dancer. She also wrote three other plays and two memoirs.
Gypsy (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents) is considered one of the best musicals ever written. The original 1959 production starred Ethel Merman, and it has been revived several times since. It also became a 1962 movie starring Rosalind Russell.
Havoc's final appearances came in 1990 on television, in several episodes of the soap General Hospital.