1
00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,920
As far as I'm concerned, there's
nothing better than a good night out

2
00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:09,200
at a burlesque show

3
00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,960
especially when the headline is the
lovely Immodesty Blaize...

4
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,280
..one of the finest exponents of the
art of the striptease.

5
00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,200
It's naughty and bawdy but it's all
done in the best possible taste.

6
00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,280
(VOICE DROWNED OUT BY MUSIC)

7
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,280
So what's the likes of me doing
watching strippers you might ask?

8
00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,160
Well, believe it or not, my love for
burlesque and strippers

9
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,360
began at the age of 11
when I stumbled across a musical

10
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,320
on the telly called Gypsy.

11
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,960
Inspired by a true story, Gypsy is
the tale of an American girl

12
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,120
who blossoms into the most famous
stripper of all time -

13
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:45,720
Gypsy Rose Lee.

14
00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,240
# You can pull all the stops out

15
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,200
# Till you call the cops out... #

16
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,080
And this number is the absolute
showstopper...

17
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,800
..in which a large than life, bugle
blowing stripper, Miss Mazeppa,

18
00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,800
initiates young Gypsy into the world
of burlesque.

19
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:03,880
# You can sacrifice your sacro... #

20
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,360
And from the moment I saw it, I was
hooked.

21
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,880
Now, I know you probably find this
hard to believe,

22
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,360
but at one time I was an altar boy
and a very pious one.

23
00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,840
I took it seriously. Extremely
seriously.

24
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,800
I was... I should have been on the
cover of a chocolate box,

25
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,960
I was so devout. However, after
seeing gypsy that night on the TV,

26
00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,640
the following Sunday,
we had a different altar boy.

27
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So the thurible, which, you know,
you have the incense in,

28
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,160
was slightly more active than
normal.

29
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,560
It was like this. And also when I
was going down the altar steps,

30
00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,080
whereas I used to just go down like
that,

31
00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,040
I started to do this with the
cassock.

32
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:41,800
And doing a real stripper's dip.

33
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It was highly embarrassing for my
mum and dad,

34
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but, for me, it was wonderful

35
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,200
because the altar was the nearest
thing

36
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,320
I thought I was ever gonna get to a
stage.

37
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,200
When I eventually took up the cause
and became a drag queen,

38
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,440
the musical was a big influence on
my act.

39
00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,920
I was still doing it in 2001 at the
Royal Variety Performance...

40
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:04,640
Wait for it.

41
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,800
..in front of the Queen.

42
00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,800
(BLOWS TRUMPET)

43
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,600
It took the Duke of Edinburgh a long
time to get over that.

44
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,400
Over the years, I've tried to find
out about the real Gypsy Rose Lee

45
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,600
but she kept her cards close to her
chest

46
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,200
and she's a difficult person to get
to know.

47
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,760
What annoys me is I don't know
enough about her

48
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,880
so I'm off to New York to find out
who was the real Gypsy Rose Lee

49
00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,000
and what made her tick.

50
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,960
(BLOWS THE BUGLE)

51
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,120
Which is gonna be very difficult
because she was once described

52
00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,480
as the most private public woman in
show business.

53
00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,480
So I've got my hands full. Never
mind.

54
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,520
(MIMICS AMERICAN ACCENT) New York
here I come.

55
00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:01,800
In the 1930s, Gypsy Rose Lee became
one of the most recognisable
faces in America.

56
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,360
A genuine superstar, and a woman so
captivating

57
00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,160
that a Hollywood film would
eventually be made about her life.

58
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But what kind of person was she?

59
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,600
And how on earth did a stripper
reach such incredible heights?

60
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,080
Well, that's what I'm here to try
and find out.

61
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,920
Here I am in New York.

62
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,560
As you can see, the weather is lousy,
but who cares? I'm in New York.

63
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,720
I've got to be honest with you,
I love this city. I really do.

64
00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,160
And of course, this is home of,
well, burlesque.

65
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,040
These days, we tend to associate
burlesque with stripping

66
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,440
but when it began in the mid 19th
Century

67
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,760
right up until the 1940s,

68
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,400
a typical bill also featured singers
and comics

69
00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,520
including future big names such as
Abbott and Costello

70
00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,600
and Phil Silvers.

71
00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,240
It was lewd and rude and it must
have been fabulous.

72
00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,520
In Gypsy's day, the mothership
of burlesque was Minsky's Republic -

73
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,560
owned and run by the enterprising
Minsky Brothers

74
00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,840
and located just off Broadway.

75
00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,520
It was in this building that Gypsy
made her name

76
00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,080
although, these days, it puts on a
rather different sort of show.

77
00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,520
Fabulous!

78
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,480
Oh, I wish I had a time machine!

79
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,600
Originally, there was a runway that
came out like that

80
00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,520
and for the first time, the customers
could see the girls close up.

81
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,800
Although it was called Varicose
Alley

82
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,560
because...erm...some of the
showgirls were...

83
00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,200
How can put this? ..passed their
sell by date.

84
00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,520
You know? And the lighting was quite
cruel so they didn't look good.

85
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,720
But it didn't matter because
the punters were near naked flesh.

86
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,520
They could smell the girls and they
could hear them breathing

87
00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,640
and that's all that mattered.

88
00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,760
The Minsky Brothers tried to give
their theatre a veil of
sophistication.

89
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,360
When you think of what's gone in
here, really, in the past.

90
00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,640
Velvet drapes and doormen dressed as
French gendarmes

91
00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,440
were an attempt to evoke Paris's
Folly Bergere

92
00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,000
but I suspect much of that would
have gone over the heads

93
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,960
of their clientele.

94
00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,720
Burlesque was cheap entertainment for
the working classes

95
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,080
and, in Gypsy's day, it served a
very important purpose.

96
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,760
In October 1929, the US Stock Market
collapsed

97
00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,280
and 13 million people were driven
out of work.

98
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,680
For the largely disenfranchised male
population,

99
00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,440
bawdy burlesque offered a perfect
escape from the trials of life.

100
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,960
Imagine this place. The air thick
with cigarette smoke

101
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,720
and the perfume from the strippers on
the runway.

102
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,720
And the place packed...

103
00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:47,760
..mainly with lots of gentlemen
with...erm...

104
00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:49,840
How can put this politely?

105
00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:53,080
..newspapers over their laps, if you
know what I mean.

106
00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,880
Sailors up there in the Gods,
shouting, "Get 'em off!"

107
00:05:57,880 --> 00:05:59,840
"Give 'em a glove."

108
00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,040
History was made in March 1931,

109
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,640
when, in this very theatre, a young
Gypsy Rose Lee

110
00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,080
became burlesque's biggest star.

111
00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,080
God, I wish I was born in those
days.

112
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,840
I'd love to have seen this place in
full swing. I really would.

113
00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:23,400
Gypsy rushing down the stairs from
her dressing room.

114
00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,960
Putting her fag out and having a
quick swig of brandy.

115
00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,240
Straightening her bows.
Straightening her bra.

116
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,680
And out on stage and delivering the
goods. It must have been wonderful.

117
00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,520
All successful strippers had
a gimmick that made them stand out

118
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,600
from the crowd.

119
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,280
So what did Gypsy have that made her
top of the bill?

120
00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:42,600
Our own Gypsy Rose Lee!

121
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,800
Would I lower my gown a fraction?

122
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,880
And expose a patch of shoulder.

123
00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,880
A recording of her act suggests a
woman with a refined manner.

124
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,960
And would I raise my skirts for
slyness and dexterity?

125
00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,000
I can hear the crowd roaring now.

126
00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,400
"Get 'em off."

127
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,360
And Gypsy would be up there giving it
a...

128
00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,040
"Ooh, would you like to see a little
bit more, gentlemen?"

129
00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,120
It just must have been wonderful.

130
00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,920
I need to get to the bottom of
Gypsy's gimmick

131
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,360
if you'll pardon the expression but I
can't come to this temple of
burlesque

132
00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,440
without first showing off my own
little gimmick.

133
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,440
Don't panic viewers. I'm not about
to strip.

134
00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,360
I feel a blast of my bugle coming
on.

135
00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:26,760
Are you ready?

136
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:28,720
(BLOWS MILITARY TUNE)

137
00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,080
(TUNE BECOMES RAUNCHY)

138
00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,720
Voila. Ha-ha-ha!

139
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,240
When Gypsy first stepped on to the
runway at Minsky's,

140
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she was just 20 years old

141
00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,560
and within two years, she was such
hot property that the Minsky Brothers

142
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,200
were paying her equivalent of £24,000
each week.

143
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,480
I don't know what her gimmick was
but when you look at it there,

144
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,080
I mean, she's not a stunner.

145
00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,800
She's not like what you'd expect of
a burlesque stripper -

146
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,320
big boobs and brash. She's not at
all.

147
00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,680
And she's got, like, spare tyres
and...

148
00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,960
(LAUGHS) God, I sound a right bitch
but I'm not.

149
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,760
I'm just, you know, observing.

150
00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,440
To help me understand the root of
Gypsy's appeal...

151
00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:29,880
Now swing back to front.

152
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,880
..I've arranged to meet one of the
biggest names in striptease.

153
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:34,960
You're gonna remove the glove.

154
00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,680
You have to loosen the fingers to
make it slide off easier.

155
00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:42,680
Jo 'Boobs' Weldon is a sexy
encyclopaedia of all things
burlesque.

156
00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:46,600
She also happens to be the
headmistress of the New York
School of Burlesque

157
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,200
where she teaches the tricks of the
trade to the next generation

158
00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,120
of aspiring stars.

159
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,160
You want to put that in every single
solitary movement.

160
00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,720
I'm hoping Jo can shed some light on
the secret of Gypsy's appeal.

161
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:00,480
Hello. Jo.

162
00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,520
Hi. You made it. Hi. How you doing?

163
00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,880
It's good to see you.
Good to see you.

164
00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,520
But the first thing I'm learning
is it doesn't always pay to be early.

165
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:11,200
Can I watch? Absolutely.

166
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:12,960
You can participate. OK.

167
00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:14,880
Sorry.
(LAUGHS)

168
00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,960
We're gonna do a little bit of bump
and grind, you guys.

169
00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,920
Visualise an apple on one hand;
an orange at the other.

170
00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:24,960
And a coffee bean between your legs.

171
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,600
And you bump the apple...

172
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:30,960
..bump the orange and grind the
coffee.

173
00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:35,080
Bump, bump, bump, grind.

174
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:37,960
And without me saying anything.

175
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,240
Grind the coffee. Other way. We're
gonna bump the orange.

176
00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,360
Bump the apple. And grind the
coffee.

177
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,080
Oh, I wish school would have been
like this years ago, I tell you.

178
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,080
I would never have stayed off.

179
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,600
As with any skill, the art of
striptease takes years to perfect.

180
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:01,680
You certainly know your stuff.

181
00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,800
And I'm looking for Jo's expert
opinion

182
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,520
on what made Gypsy such a master.

183
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,320
What do you think was the secret of
Gypsy's success?

184
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,640
Cos when you look at pictures
of her, she's got a beautiful face.

185
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,240
But she hasn't got the equipment, if
you pardon the expression.

186
00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,120
The boobs and everything.

187
00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:19,960
Her gimmick was her personality.

188
00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:24,560
Her gimmick was her intelligence,
her playfulness, her openness.

189
00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:28,280
She spoke directly to the audience
breaking the fourth wall

190
00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,240
and it made each of them feel as if
she was telling them

191
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,200
something about herself, like
showing her personality.

192
00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,880
You're right. She was the first
stripper to speak.

193
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,320
It sounds like such a small thing but
Gypsy's voice

194
00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:44,400
was her touch of brilliance and by
revealing her personality,

195
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,400
as well as her body, she did
something no other stripper had done.

196
00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,240
And she blew the competition out of
the water.

197
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,720
Jo, on this piece of modern
technology here,

198
00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:58,040
we've got a couple of the old girls
from the glory with their gimmicks.

199
00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,480
This is Rosita Royce. Didn't she do
it with doves?

200
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,720
Yeah, I would be afraid to work with
doves.

201
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,400
And that is not a dove.
No, they're parrots.

202
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,520
A cockatiel and a parrot.

203
00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,920
She likes a cockatoo. She's wearing a
big feather cape.

204
00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,280
I wonder how the birds feel
about that.

205
00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,720
Probably not amused. Do they feel
threatened at all?

206
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,040
The strippers of Gypsy's era were
years ahead of their time.

207
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,240
I think animal lovers might object.

208
00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,480
This was an age that expected them
to conform.

209
00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,120
It's just so playful. Exactly.
And cheeky.

210
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,480
But they were out there liberated
and uninhibited.

211
00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,680
There she is. Georgia Sothern.

212
00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,640
Here you are. Look at her.

213
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,280
God, she goes wild, doesn't she?

214
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,520
That would have been her gimmick,
wouldn't it, that? The head banging.

215
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,240
She was probably the original head
banger, wasn't she? Definitely.

216
00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,000
I mean, it's not erotic by any means.
But it's... It's fascinating.

217
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,720
Compared to the wild and weird
routines going on around her...

218
00:11:58,720 --> 00:11:59,800
She's great.

219
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,560
..Gypsy oozed intelligence and class.

220
00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,480
She called her act The Psychology of
a Stripteaser

221
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,520
and as she slowly revealed herself,
she joked with the crowd

222
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,560
that the whole process bored her
senseless.

223
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,320
Do you think she was a comic as
well?

224
00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,640
Yeah. Definitely. I do.
Her sense of humour.

225
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,320
The way that she made fun of
herself. Well, she did.

226
00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,000
"Oh, I take all this with a grain
of salt." Exactly. "This is boring."

227
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,000
All that business. "And I'm really
thinking about painting."

228
00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:27,720
She's doing this. Oh, well, you
know.

229
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:29,800
"But I'm thinking about whatever."

230
00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,120
Yeah. Would you ever consider doing
Gypsy's number? Yeah.

231
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,040
But I would really, like, to put my
own twist on it.

232
00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,680
My own personality. See what would
happen in my own costume.

233
00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:42,920
Show the love by also being myself.
Cos she was hersself.

234
00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,000
Well, do you fancy giving it a go?
I'll narrate the story.

235
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,800
I'm feeling brave. I think I'll give
it a try.

236
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,920
Come on. I'll zip you up in your
corset.

237
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:52,440
Thank goodness.

238
00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:58,440
Now, you'll have to bear in mind that
Gypsy was performing this

239
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,600
around 80 years ago so although she
was funny,

240
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:06,200
you're not likely to find Jo Brand
performing this kind of material!

241
00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,360
I'm thinking of my country house,

242
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,280
And the jolly fun in shooting grouse.

243
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,120
But in the 1930s, what she did was
truly groundbreaking.

244
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,200
So, for one night only,
we're bringing it back to New York

245
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,520
with our tribute to the queen of
burlesque.

246
00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:27,360
Now, the things that go on in a
stripteaser's mind,

247
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,320
Would give you no end of surprise.

248
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,160
But if you are psychologically
inclined,

249
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,600
There's more to see than meets the
eye.

250
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,480
For example, when I lower my gown a
fraction,

251
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,760
And expose a patch of shoulder,

252
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,880
I'm not interested in your reaction,

253
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:48,880
Or the bareness of my shoulder.

254
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,800
I'm thinking of some paintings by
Van Gogh or Cezanne,

255
00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:00,080
Or the charm I had in reading Lady
Windermere's Fan.

256
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,920
And when I lower the other side,

257
00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,280
And expose my other shoulder

258
00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,240
Do you think I take the slightest
pride,

259
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,080
In the whiteness of my shoulder?

260
00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,600
I'm thinking of my country house,

261
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,320
And the jolly fun in shooting
grouse.

262
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,560
Gypsy's audiences found
their talking strip so captivating,

263
00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,520
she could apparently get away with
taking nothing off at all

264
00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:27,520
for around 15 minutes.

265
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,080
The combination of body and brain was
so popular,

266
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:35,280
she made almost no changes to this
act in over 20 years.

267
00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,560
I mentally computing just how much
I'll give to charity.

268
00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,600
She'd found the ultimate gimmick.

269
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,120
And were I to display my charms...

270
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,720
..in all their dazzling splendour,

271
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:53,000
And prove to you conclusively that
I'm of the female gender.

272
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,680
Clutching an old velvet drop,

273
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,880
And looking demurely at every man,

274
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,080
Do you believe for a moment I'm
thinking of sex...

275
00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,720
..well, I certainly am.

276
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:15,800
What a fabulous show.

277
00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:28,380
60 years after Gypsy Rose Lee peeled
off her final silk glove,

278
00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:31,300
she's still regarded as the queen of
burlesque.

279
00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:35,060
She was a pioneer of the
art revealing not only her body

280
00:15:35,060 --> 00:15:38,980
but also, by talking to the
audience, her personality and wit.

281
00:15:38,980 --> 00:15:43,660
In doing so, she gave striptease
class that no-one before achieved.

282
00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:49,420
But I'm keen to find out how Gypsy
first got involved with stripping.

283
00:15:49,420 --> 00:15:52,420
After all, it's not the most obvious
career choice!

284
00:15:52,420 --> 00:15:55,820
Though I have to say, I do rate it
as an option.

285
00:15:55,820 --> 00:15:57,660
I'm gonna tell you something now.

286
00:15:57,660 --> 00:15:59,780
I work in the clubs over the years
doing Lily.

287
00:15:59,780 --> 00:16:03,260
I worked with a lot of strippers.
Some did it out of necessity.

288
00:16:03,260 --> 00:16:05,060
Often they were single mothers.

289
00:16:05,060 --> 00:16:07,580
So I've got nothing but admiration
for them.

290
00:16:07,580 --> 00:16:10,980
And people who wag their finger at
them, I've no time for you.

291
00:16:10,980 --> 00:16:13,060
No time at all. Very sorry.

292
00:16:13,060 --> 00:16:15,860
As far as I'm concerned, being a
burlesque stripper

293
00:16:16,100 --> 00:16:18,420
is a very honourable profession.

294
00:16:19,820 --> 00:16:22,180
To work out what led Gypsy into the
business,

295
00:16:22,180 --> 00:16:24,580
I need to travel back to her
childhood

296
00:16:24,580 --> 00:16:26,700
which should be a fascinating
journey.

297
00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:29,700
If I can find my way!

298
00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:31,740
250 where?
West 57th Street.

299
00:16:31,740 --> 00:16:33,780
The lengths of these addresses.

300
00:16:33,780 --> 00:16:36,260
250 West 57th Street.

301
00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:38,740
Try saying that when you've had a
few drinks.

302
00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:40,620
Let's get a cab. Hang on.

303
00:16:40,620 --> 00:16:42,900
280 West 57th.

304
00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:44,860
250 West 57th.

305
00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:49,900
Can't you ask him? It'd be a lot
bloody easier! 250... For God's sake!

306
00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:51,860
Taxi!

307
00:16:54,340 --> 00:16:57,020
250 West 57th Street, please.

308
00:16:57,980 --> 00:17:02,140
Gypsy Rose Lee was the stage name of
Louise Hovick.

309
00:17:03,340 --> 00:17:08,380
Born in 1911, Louise first performed
at the tender age of four

310
00:17:08,380 --> 00:17:12,180
in a song and dance act on America's
vaudeville circuit.

311
00:17:12,180 --> 00:17:16,780
Just in case you don't know,
vaudeville was American's music hall.

312
00:17:16,780 --> 00:17:19,940
It was a, sort of, early addition of
Britain's Got Talent.

313
00:17:19,940 --> 00:17:22,420
Kid acts. Animal acts. You name it.

314
00:17:22,420 --> 00:17:25,540
There you are. The Flints' Hypnotic
Skirt Dance.

315
00:17:25,540 --> 00:17:29,500
Now, I've no idea what that is but
there's a load of fellas in frocks

316
00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,620
doing what looks to me like a
can-can.

317
00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:34,420
Actually, it looks like a load of
old tat. (CHUCKLES)

318
00:17:34,420 --> 00:17:39,540
Performing alongside talent like
this, Louise's act was successful.

319
00:17:39,540 --> 00:17:43,020
But in those days, it was actually
her younger sister June

320
00:17:43,020 --> 00:17:44,980
who was the star of the show.

321
00:17:47,580 --> 00:17:49,620
Here she is here in action.

322
00:17:49,620 --> 00:17:52,060
June. Alias Baby June.

323
00:17:52,060 --> 00:17:54,580
On points. Quite remarkable.

324
00:17:55,940 --> 00:18:00,580
They toured around America in an act
called Baby June and the Newsboys.

325
00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:04,620
There's the star of the show. June is
lying on the floor

326
00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:07,260
with all the newsboys pointing at
her as you do.

327
00:18:07,260 --> 00:18:09,420
And Louise is one of the newsboys.

328
00:18:09,420 --> 00:18:12,380
Just plonked in there. Pushed to the
side lines.

329
00:18:12,380 --> 00:18:15,820
Louise was intentionally kept out of
the limelight by their manager

330
00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:18,660
who called her overweight and
talentless.

331
00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:21,180
It must have been absolutely
humiliating.

332
00:18:21,180 --> 00:18:23,940
That manager was Rose, Louise's
mother.

333
00:18:25,220 --> 00:18:29,260
So this very pretty lady here
was Rose Hovick.

334
00:18:29,260 --> 00:18:31,340
Don't judge a book by its cover!

335
00:18:31,340 --> 00:18:36,860
Underneath this ball of femininity
was a tigress. Absolute tigress.

336
00:18:39,860 --> 00:18:41,940
Thank you. See you. Bye.

337
00:18:41,940 --> 00:18:46,340
Rose was fiercely ambitious and her
primary concern was the act.

338
00:18:46,340 --> 00:18:48,540
250 West 57th Street.

339
00:18:48,540 --> 00:18:52,340
And if her daughter's feelings got
hurt along the way, too bad.

340
00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:55,740
Hello, could you tell me what floor
Nancy Carson's on, please?

341
00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:59,060
Now, I want to find out whether
young Louise's early experiences

342
00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:01,900
could somehow have led her down the
path to striptease.

343
00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:04,220
Nancy. Ah, come on in.

344
00:19:04,220 --> 00:19:07,460
I've come to see Nancy Carson, an
agent who's represented

345
00:19:07,460 --> 00:19:11,260
child stars for more than 30 years
including the young Ben Affleck

346
00:19:11,260 --> 00:19:13,300
and Britney Spears.

347
00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:16,340
Wasn't she just adorable?
She radiates sunshine. Really.

348
00:19:16,340 --> 00:19:18,460
Darling child. Yeah.

349
00:19:18,460 --> 00:19:22,060
Do you meet genuine Madam Roses?
I do.

350
00:19:22,060 --> 00:19:24,020
I mean, I can tell right away.

351
00:19:24,020 --> 00:19:26,740
If I'm talking to the child like I'm
talking to you.

352
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:31,300
I'll say, "Do you dance, honey?" And
the mother yells, "She's wonderful!

353
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:34,220
She taps. Show her. Show her, honey.
Show her!"

354
00:19:34,220 --> 00:19:39,140
I know I don't care how good that
child is

355
00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:42,180
that mother is out, we're not doing
it!

356
00:19:42,180 --> 00:19:46,020
Sadly, in the 1920s, agents like
Nancy didn't exist

357
00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:48,740
to protect young Louise from a
mother like Rose.

358
00:19:48,740 --> 00:19:51,020
I don't know if you've seen any of
this.

359
00:19:51,020 --> 00:19:53,100
Oh, how wonderful. Look at this.

360
00:19:53,100 --> 00:19:56,580
(READS) The Temple. We take pleasure
in being able to present

361
00:19:56,580 --> 00:20:00,260
Dainty June, the little big star of
screen and stage.

362
00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:04,340
Poor old Louise is at the bottom of
the bill singing some dreadful song.

363
00:20:04,340 --> 00:20:06,220
That is what she thought of her.

364
00:20:06,220 --> 00:20:08,540
Yeah. Take a look at this one.

365
00:20:08,540 --> 00:20:11,820
Dainty June, the greatest juvenile
artist in the world.

366
00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:14,220
Not the country, the WORLD today.

367
00:20:15,100 --> 00:20:18,060
I reckon that's Rose's phrase. Do
you? Of course it is.

368
00:20:18,060 --> 00:20:20,300
She was a brilliant publicist.
Brilliant.

369
00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:23,260
She was dynamic, forceful...
And she was a horrible mother.

370
00:20:23,260 --> 00:20:27,220
Because she owned the children. They
were her property. That's right.

371
00:20:27,220 --> 00:20:30,660
They weren't individuals and human
beings. Nail on the head.

372
00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:34,380
When I see a bad situation, it's
always that kind of thing.

373
00:20:34,380 --> 00:20:38,500
Yeah. Yeah. I read... She was a great
one for dreams, Rose.

374
00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:41,860
She'd come in and she'd say, "I had
a dream last night about a cow.

375
00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:45,980
We need a cow in the act." All of a
sudden, she makes this cow costume

376
00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:50,140
with a papier-mache head. Poor old
Louise is the rear end of the cow.

377
00:20:50,140 --> 00:20:53,500
That is exactly how she treated her.
Imagine what that did.

378
00:20:53,500 --> 00:20:55,700
Shocking, isn't it? It is shocking.

379
00:20:55,700 --> 00:20:57,700
It is. It's shocking.

380
00:20:57,700 --> 00:21:00,700
What do you think the effect of a
mother like Rose,

381
00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:04,500
a pushy stage mother like that,
would have on her children? Lifelong.

382
00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:07,020
Yeah. Lifelong. Scar them for life.

383
00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:11,140
I think that Louise probably always
felt her mother liked her
sister better.

384
00:21:11,140 --> 00:21:13,220
In a family where there's a
favourite child,

385
00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:15,620
the other child is always trying to
prove something.

386
00:21:15,620 --> 00:21:18,580
The real her wasn't good enough

387
00:21:18,580 --> 00:21:22,420
because her mother was putting her
down so much

388
00:21:22,420 --> 00:21:26,700
that she felt less than so she
created this other person

389
00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:31,500
who was Gypsy Rose Lee and
that person was a validated person.

390
00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:34,420
Exactly. Yeah. Shame isn't it?
Yeah.

391
00:21:35,940 --> 00:21:38,980
What came out of the conversation
between Nancy and myself

392
00:21:38,980 --> 00:21:42,220
was that Madam Rose was a monster.

393
00:21:42,220 --> 00:21:45,340
It was all about her and she used
her daughters to get what she wanted.

394
00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:49,380
It's quite nasty. Quite nasty.

395
00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:55,780
It's interesting to think that a
girl who grew up

396
00:21:55,780 --> 00:21:58,780
in her sister's shadow ended up
making her name with an act

397
00:21:58,780 --> 00:22:01,700
that was all about her own
personality.

398
00:22:01,700 --> 00:22:04,860
But was the transition from Louise
to Gypsy Rose Lee

399
00:22:04,860 --> 00:22:07,940
really a response to her mother's
abusive behaviour?

400
00:22:09,260 --> 00:22:11,420
I'm on my way to Sardis,

401
00:22:11,420 --> 00:22:15,140
a restaurant long favoured by New
York's showbiz set,

402
00:22:15,140 --> 00:22:18,500
to meet the author of a riveting
biography about Gypsy Rose Lee.

403
00:22:20,660 --> 00:22:24,940
Karen. Hi, Paul. Thanks for seeing
me. Thank you for having me. Cheers.

404
00:22:24,940 --> 00:22:28,060
In the course of her research, Karen
Abbott got close

405
00:22:28,060 --> 00:22:32,940
to Gypsy's sister June who also had
a hard time under Rose's rule.

406
00:22:32,940 --> 00:22:37,100
Cos she was talented, June. Oh, she
was very talented. A dance prodigy.

407
00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:39,500
But suffered for it, I should
imagine. Yeah.

408
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:43,580
Her mother took her to the professor
as they called the dance instructors

409
00:22:43,580 --> 00:22:47,820
and the instructor said, "Do not put
this little girl in toe shoes."

410
00:22:47,820 --> 00:22:50,940
She's too young. Her feet are not
yet formed. You're gonna ruin her.

411
00:22:50,940 --> 00:22:53,180
But Momma Rose saw dollar signs,
of course.

412
00:22:53,180 --> 00:22:55,740
And June would talk about her toes
bleeding

413
00:22:55,740 --> 00:22:58,500
when she was three,
she could feel the blood squishing

414
00:22:58,500 --> 00:23:00,620
as she performed on stage.
My God!

415
00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:04,220
Yeah. I mean, it really is child
abuse. Gross neglect...

416
00:23:04,220 --> 00:23:06,900
Yes. ..of these children.
Exploitation.

417
00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:10,980
Rose wasn't mothering her children,
she was destroying them

418
00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:14,020
and while Louise was being shoved
into the side lines,

419
00:23:14,020 --> 00:23:16,660
June was being pushed slowly over
the edge.

420
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,700
At the age of just 12, she had a
nervous breakdown.

421
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:23,420
By 15, she'd had enough and ran
away.

422
00:23:24,980 --> 00:23:27,700
Now you'd think that losing her
start turn would mean

423
00:23:27,700 --> 00:23:29,780
the end of things for Rose... Oh, no.

424
00:23:29,780 --> 00:23:33,340
She still had one daughter left and
the show must go on.

425
00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:38,140
Poor Louise was rebranded Rose
Louise, in an act that flopped.

426
00:23:40,060 --> 00:23:43,740
Vaudeville was dying and the future
Gypsy Rose Lee found herself

427
00:23:43,740 --> 00:23:45,860
booked into a burlesque house

428
00:23:45,860 --> 00:23:49,500
and she realised she may have found
something she could excel at.

429
00:23:51,460 --> 00:23:53,940
But it takes time to refine any act.

430
00:23:53,940 --> 00:23:58,300
And the witty artiste Gypsy Rose Lee
is unlikely to have debuted
fully formed.

431
00:23:59,820 --> 00:24:03,420
I visualised third rate burlesque as
pretty nasty. Yeah.

432
00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:07,260
You know, with gangsters,
prostitutes, drug addicts, pimps.

433
00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:10,180
All manner of low-life. What do you
think happened?

434
00:24:10,180 --> 00:24:12,660
Before she made that transition

435
00:24:12,660 --> 00:24:15,540
into the legend of Gypsy Rose Lee
at Minsky's.

436
00:24:15,540 --> 00:24:18,700
I don't believe that automatically
she became this star

437
00:24:18,700 --> 00:24:20,700
from doing this and taking her glove
off.

438
00:24:20,700 --> 00:24:24,820
I talked to June. She says Gypsy was
exposing herself like everyone else.

439
00:24:24,820 --> 00:24:28,540
She had it right out in people's
faces and was blatant about it.

440
00:24:28,540 --> 00:24:32,660
And June was appalled. She expected
her sister to differentiate herself

441
00:24:32,660 --> 00:24:35,780
and have some respect in what she
chose to do

442
00:24:35,780 --> 00:24:37,860
even though it was burlesque.

443
00:24:37,860 --> 00:24:40,980
When June went to go see Gypsy and
she talked about the men

444
00:24:40,980 --> 00:24:43,860
hiding themselves with newspapers
spread across their laps.

445
00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:47,740
All manner of lewd behaviour. And
June ran from the theatre horrified.

446
00:24:47,740 --> 00:24:50,700
The man next to her talked to her
and thought she was a prostitute.

447
00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:53,940
That's the kind of theatre it was.
Do you think Rose encouraged her?

448
00:24:53,940 --> 00:24:57,740
Or was she a good mother and said,
"My daughter's not gonna
prostitute herself."

449
00:24:57,740 --> 00:24:59,900
Part of me wonders if Rose, you
know...

450
00:24:59,900 --> 00:25:03,740
I think there's nothing she wouldn't
have let her daughters do.

451
00:25:03,740 --> 00:25:05,780
One of my favourite sayings of her
is -

452
00:25:05,780 --> 00:25:08,700
It's not the principle of the thing,
it's the money.

453
00:25:08,700 --> 00:25:10,900
She was just so demented.
Completely.

454
00:25:10,900 --> 00:25:13,620
So demented. Completely.

455
00:25:13,620 --> 00:25:15,700
Having always been second best in
Rose's eyes,

456
00:25:15,700 --> 00:25:19,860
perhaps stripping was initially
Gypsy's way of gaining validation.

457
00:25:19,860 --> 00:25:22,860
But it wasn't a damaged childhood
that made her a star.

458
00:25:22,860 --> 00:25:25,340
That was all down to her.

459
00:25:25,340 --> 00:25:28,860
You know, I'm a massive admirer of
Gypsy Rose Lee

460
00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:32,540
for what she achieved. Yes,
it was nothing short of miraculous.

461
00:25:32,540 --> 00:25:35,060
You're right. It was nothing short of
miraculous.

462
00:25:35,060 --> 00:25:37,540
You know, she started off where
everybody else did.

463
00:25:37,540 --> 00:25:40,340
June said she was the only one to
climb out of the slime.

464
00:25:40,340 --> 00:25:43,220
"My sister was brilliant. She was
the only one who could do it."

465
00:25:43,220 --> 00:25:44,580
It was her genius.

466
00:25:46,260 --> 00:25:49,420
The musical Gypsy which introduced
me to Gypsy Rose Lee,

467
00:25:49,420 --> 00:25:53,620
does portray young Louise's journey
from vaudeville to burlesque.

468
00:25:53,620 --> 00:25:55,780
But her real life was clearly far
darker

469
00:25:56,020 --> 00:25:58,020
than anything shown in the musical.

470
00:25:59,140 --> 00:26:02,380
This number, You've Got To Get A
Gimmick,

471
00:26:02,380 --> 00:26:05,020
depicts Louise's first taste of
burlesque.

472
00:26:05,020 --> 00:26:07,220
No prostitutes. No drug addicts.

473
00:26:07,220 --> 00:26:10,140
Just Miss Mazeppa, the bugle blowing
stripper.

474
00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:13,980
You can see in her eyes the little
glimmer of...

475
00:26:13,980 --> 00:26:16,340
"Hm. I'll have a bit of this."

476
00:26:16,340 --> 00:26:18,300
That's exactly what happened to me.

477
00:26:20,220 --> 00:26:22,940
Why didn't I watch a programme about
a vet instead?

478
00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:27,420
I'd be sat in the back of a cab
watching strippers today.

479
00:26:27,420 --> 00:26:29,020
Go on, girl.

480
00:26:29,020 --> 00:26:31,420
# You can sacrifice your sacro

481
00:26:31,420 --> 00:26:33,700
# Working in the back row #

482
00:26:33,700 --> 00:26:36,220
The musical may not reflect Gypsy's
reality

483
00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:38,340
but as a piece of theatre, it's
glorious.

484
00:26:39,540 --> 00:26:41,660
You can sacrifice your sacro...

485
00:26:41,660 --> 00:26:45,100
I mean that's just sacroiliac.
Is it a sacroiliac?

486
00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:48,140
Or sacrophiliac or is that where
they bury mummies? I don't know.

487
00:26:48,140 --> 00:26:49,900
I'm getting into deep waters here.

488
00:26:49,900 --> 00:26:51,980
As I was saying before I digressed,

489
00:26:51,980 --> 00:26:55,620
you can sacrifice your sacro working
in a back row

490
00:26:55,620 --> 00:26:57,780
bumping a dump till you're dead,

491
00:26:57,780 --> 00:27:00,620
but you've got to have a gimmick if
you wanna get ahead.

492
00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:02,940
Anyone who writes lyrics like that

493
00:27:02,940 --> 00:27:06,100
and especially - if you want to bump
it, bump it with a trumpet,

494
00:27:06,100 --> 00:27:08,300
is all right in my books, believe you
me.

495
00:27:10,260 --> 00:27:12,220
Thank you.

496
00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:18,220
Now when I found out I was coming on
this trip,

497
00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:20,860
I sent a letter to the chap who wrote
those words

498
00:27:20,860 --> 00:27:24,140
never expecting in a million years
that he'd agree to see me.

499
00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:26,380
But he has.

500
00:27:26,380 --> 00:27:29,820
So, brace yourself, folks. You're
about to meet a living legend.

501
00:27:29,820 --> 00:27:34,100
Hello. Hello, it's Paul O'Grady.
I'm here to see Stephen Sondheim.

502
00:27:34,100 --> 00:27:36,060
(DOOR BUZZES OPEN)

503
00:27:36,940 --> 00:27:40,060
Stephen Sondheim was just 29 when he
penned the lyrics

504
00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:43,100
for the musical's original Broadway
run.

505
00:27:43,100 --> 00:27:45,900
Fresh from his success on West Side
Story,

506
00:27:45,900 --> 00:27:49,940
Stephen was an obvious choice for
the creative team being assembled

507
00:27:49,940 --> 00:27:52,420
by Gypsy's writer Arthur Laurents.

508
00:27:52,420 --> 00:27:55,060
Thank you for doing this, by the
way. Of course.

509
00:27:55,060 --> 00:27:58,060
Aren't you beautiful?
Oh, that's Willie.

510
00:27:58,060 --> 00:28:00,900
You're a good boy, aren't you?
They're so good.

511
00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:04,380
I have to tell you this - Gypsy
changed my life.

512
00:28:04,380 --> 00:28:06,740
Oh, that's nice. After I watched
Gypsy,

513
00:28:06,740 --> 00:28:09,060
I was in the marine cadet's when I
was a teenager.

514
00:28:09,060 --> 00:28:13,220
I found a bugle and taught myself.
You taught yourself to play?

515
00:28:13,220 --> 00:28:16,060
Yeah. Yeah. That's not easy.
So years, years later

516
00:28:16,060 --> 00:28:19,300
at the Royal Variety Performance,
myself, Cilla Black,

517
00:28:19,300 --> 00:28:22,220
and Barbara Windsor did You've Got To
Get A Gimmick.

518
00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:24,500
Come on. You did it? We did it for
the Queen.

519
00:28:24,660 --> 00:28:27,820
You've got me in the gladiator
giving it the bumps with the trumpet.

520
00:28:27,820 --> 00:28:31,540
with the head between the legs with
the Queen in the Royal Box.
You did it.

521
00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:34,060
Semi-naked. That's funny.

522
00:28:34,060 --> 00:28:37,820
That's funny. That's funny.
It always kills that song.

523
00:28:37,820 --> 00:28:40,780
Whoever does it, it always kills.
It always goes well.

524
00:28:40,780 --> 00:28:45,860
Stephen's genius as a lyricist was
vital to the musical's success.

525
00:28:45,860 --> 00:28:50,300
I love the playing with words. I was
trying to show how good I was
at rhyming.

526
00:28:50,300 --> 00:28:52,420
Just showing off.

527
00:28:52,420 --> 00:28:55,180
And despite its liberal approach
to the truth,

528
00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:58,780
the musical has been vital to
preserving Gypsy Rose Lee's legend.

529
00:28:59,540 --> 00:29:03,100
What was Gypsy like? I didn't know
her very well. I met her twice.

530
00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:05,900
Er...mostly to shake hands with and
be polite with.

531
00:29:05,900 --> 00:29:08,340
She appeared for the first day's
reading

532
00:29:08,340 --> 00:29:11,860
because there were a lot of cameras
and we wanted the publicity.

533
00:29:11,860 --> 00:29:13,860
The next time was on opening night.

534
00:29:13,860 --> 00:29:16,820
That was part of the deal - she
would not be allowed to interfere.

535
00:29:16,820 --> 00:29:19,660
Arthur said to the producer, "I
cannot write this

536
00:29:19,660 --> 00:29:22,980
unless I have carte blanche. I have
to be allowed to do what I want."

537
00:29:22,980 --> 00:29:26,740
Do you know, you're talking about
the truth. It has nothing to do...

538
00:29:26,740 --> 00:29:30,460
with telling the story on the stage.
We need theatrical licence.

539
00:29:30,460 --> 00:29:32,940
That kind of truth telling belongs
in books.

540
00:29:32,940 --> 00:29:37,820
I should imagine that the casting
call for the strippers was
interesting.

541
00:29:37,820 --> 00:29:40,740
Where did you get the one with the
trumpet? Mazeppa?

542
00:29:40,740 --> 00:29:44,540
She, curiously enough, was a distant
cousin of Arthur Laurents'.

543
00:29:44,540 --> 00:29:46,580
I don't know that she was a stripper

544
00:29:46,580 --> 00:29:50,340
but she had this act and she came
and did her trumpet act.

545
00:29:50,340 --> 00:29:52,420
And ended up blowing it...

546
00:29:52,420 --> 00:29:55,900
Leaning over and blowing it
through... We fell out of our seats!

547
00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:58,660
And Jerry Robbins who directed it
said, "We hire her."

548
00:29:58,660 --> 00:30:00,620
Her name was Faith Dane.

549
00:30:00,620 --> 00:30:04,380
But what a peculiar act, don't you
think? Sure. But she had a gimmick.

550
00:30:04,380 --> 00:30:08,100
Exactly. You've got to be different
from all the other strippers.

551
00:30:08,100 --> 00:30:10,900
What do you think of Gypsy
now today? Are you proud of it?

552
00:30:10,900 --> 00:30:14,420
It's one of the best musicals. I say
that with no immodesty.

553
00:30:14,420 --> 00:30:16,740
Cos it has an energy to it.

554
00:30:16,740 --> 00:30:19,700
Because it's got these absolutely
wonderful characters.

555
00:30:19,700 --> 00:30:22,740
who drive the thing. You know we're
doing it in London next year?

556
00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:24,900
If you're looking for a Mazeppa...

557
00:30:24,900 --> 00:30:27,740
Well, don't think I wasn't going to
suggest that.

558
00:30:27,740 --> 00:30:29,900
I'm available, sir. I'm waiting.
OK.

559
00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:33,580
I'm waiting. Polished trumpet
in hand. Tassels ready to spin.

560
00:30:33,580 --> 00:30:35,580
I'm your man, Mr Sondheim.

561
00:30:39,900 --> 00:30:43,820
I find it interesting a stripper was
ever a muse for Broadway's top
talent.

562
00:30:43,820 --> 00:30:45,780
What a lovely dog.

563
00:30:46,780 --> 00:30:49,500
(CHUCKLES) Look at him. What a
cutie.

564
00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:52,940
I mean, it's one thing to be the
darling of the lairy working classes

565
00:30:52,940 --> 00:30:55,580
but it's a big leap from that to
national treasure.

566
00:30:55,580 --> 00:30:57,500
So how on earth did Gypsy pull it
off?

567
00:30:59,260 --> 00:31:01,940
Time to dig deeper into her past.

568
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,880
With routines crammed with humour
and personality,

569
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:19,840
Gypsy Rose Lee single-handedly
elevated striptease to an art form.

570
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,760
But now did she make the jump from
queen of burlesque

571
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:24,720
to national superstar?

572
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,080
Following her death in April 1970,

573
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,520
many of Gypsy's personal papers were
donated to New York's Public Library.

574
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,880
I'm hoping they might contain the
answer.

575
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:38,920
Oh, thank you.
You're welcome.

576
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,040
Gypsy's collection includes
thousands of newspaper cuttings.

577
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,000
All of them about herself.

578
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,640
Gypsy Rose Lee says French showgirls
are too undressed.

579
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,440
What's this one here now?

580
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,560
Was the little girl who had been
pushed into the shadows

581
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,520
finally revelling in the attention?
Maybe.

582
00:31:56,520 --> 00:32:00,440
But there seems to be something else
very interesting going on here.

583
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,760
This interviewer says, "Will you
tell your fans

584
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,720
how you happened to take up the art
of stripteasing?"

585
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,760
And she claims she was in a drama
called the Gay Nineties

586
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,920
and a terrible thing happened -
a shoulder strap broke.

587
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,000
"These days I wouldn't care but then
I blushed

588
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,360
and I blushed so hard the other
shoulder strap broke.

589
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,880
And all of a sudden, I'd invented
the striptease."

590
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,480
(CHUCKLES) Pack of lies.

591
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,920
Gypsy was living in an age before
the concept of marketing existed.

592
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,680
But she clearly grasped the value of
publicity.

593
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,360
Every story she gives them has a
beginning, middle and end.

594
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:37,960
And a great punchline.

595
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,440
(READS) Six men outstrip Gypsy Rose
Lee

596
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,960
and they flee with $25,000 worth of
jewellery.

597
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,600
Police suspect Follies star is only
hunting headlines.

598
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,680
It's the same old stuff.

599
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,720
Katie Price does stuff and they all
say

600
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,440
"She's only doing this to grab the
headlines."

601
00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:59,320
(READS) The robbery began in
striptease tradition -

602
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:01,520
with one man grabbing her muff.

603
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,960
(LAUGHS)

604
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,520
It's fun.

605
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,480
The great work that worked so well
for Gypsy on stage,

606
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,240
was earning her a whole new audience
off it.

607
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,400
She was a brilliant self-publicist.

608
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,080
She'd have made Max Clifford look
like a rank amateur.

609
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:22,440
By 1940, Gypsy was no longer just
the property of burlesque's
working classes,

610
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,200
she had become a 'must-have' guest
at society coffee mornings

611
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:28,760
and was well on her way to becoming
a household name.

612
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,520
Every little thing she did was
newsworthy.

613
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,640
So when Hollywood offered to buy her
story,

614
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,880
she wasn't worried if the script
followed the truth.

615
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,320
She knew it could secure her place
in history.

616
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,520
Now this is the contract from Warner
Brothers.

617
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,800
It's the deal for the movie rights.
Let's see what she got.

618
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,320
This is fascinating this.

619
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,120
About $1.6 million.

620
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,160
Well done, Gypsy. I admire her
enormously.

621
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:04,000
When you consider stripping has
always been a controversial
profession,

622
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,320
it's remarkable Gypsy was able to
gain

623
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:09,200
such a high level of public
acceptance.

624
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,040
But what about the private woman?

625
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:12,880
Well, by the magic of television...

626
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,280
..I've come to San Francisco where
I've tracked down a man

627
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,400
who probably knew her better than
anyone else.

628
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:22,920
This is a great day for me

629
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,480
because I'm finally gonna meet Erik
Lee Preminger

630
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,200
who was Gypsy Rose Lee's only child.

631
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:33,080
And he wrote the most wonderful book
which I've read and re-read

632
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,520
and read since it first came out.

633
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,280
Who better than Gypsy's son to give
me a personal picture

634
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,120
of the great lady?

635
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,880
Apparently, he's got a store room
full of his mother's stuff.

636
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,560
So guess who's gonna be searched on
the way out?

637
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,240
(LAUGHS)

638
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,840
Thank you very much.
You're welcome. Have a nice day.

639
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,800
And you. Take it easy. Bye.

640
00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,000
He's jolly, isn't he? Bye!

641
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:03,960
Talk about over egg your part.

642
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:06,320
(LAUGHS)

643
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,120
Gypsy was married three times but
never to Erik's father.

644
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:12,720
What a lovely house.

645
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:15,840
He was the result of a brief liaison
between Gypsy

646
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,240
and the Hollywood director Otto
Preminger.

647
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,880
But, according to Erik's book,

648
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,560
he was brought up not knowing who is
father was.

649
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,960
Hi, Paul. How are you? Welcome.
Erik. What a pleasure to meet you.

650
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,120
This has been a long time coming.
Hello. My wife Lynda.

651
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:36,120
Hi. Lynda. How lovely to meet you,
Lynda.

652
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,200
Let me take your coat.
Thank you very much.

653
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,680
I've adored your mother since Day 1.

654
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,680
That's wonderful. Thank you.

655
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,760
Gypsy didn't retire from stripping
till Erik was 12

656
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,880
and through all those years, he
never left her side.

657
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:51,920
Let me show you something that I
found.

658
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,800
He must have had an extraordinary
childhood.

659
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,320
I was at a coffee shop where I found
this

660
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,720
which is a picture from...
The Bristol Hippodrome!

661
00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:06,440
..the Bristol Hippodrome where I was
six years old.

662
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:10,120
Is that you? That's me. Look at
this. Who's she on with?

663
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:11,880
Morecambe and Wise.

664
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,880
Now, Morecambe and Wise became the
biggest stars on British TV.

665
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,520
Really? Yes. And they toured with
Gypsy.

666
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:22,120
Did you find it strange to watch
your mother stripping?

667
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,320
No. No.

668
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,440
When she was home, she was very
modest.

669
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,800
You know, you never saw her without
her robe

670
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,960
or undressed but there was no time
for modesty when she was working.

671
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,360
Because I lived in the dressing room
with her,

672
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,440
I learned about all her tricks.

673
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,560
The wonderful thing was
this brassiere which she fashioned

674
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:44,960
out of dental floss.

675
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,960
She would take a piece of dental
floss and wrap it around

676
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:53,160
and then tie it on these pasties and
they would pull her breasts up.

677
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,720
And you couldn't see the dental
floss? No. She covered it with paint.

678
00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,360
You do realise there's people making
notes back in England

679
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,240
saying, "Right. I know what to do
now the boobs are sagging."

680
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:06,880
Dental floss round the nipples.
Dental floss is the secret.

681
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,480
I think you've started something,
Erik.

682
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,640
The Gypsy Rose Lee boob lift!

683
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:13,520
(LAUGHS)

684
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:17,120
Now, I want to know what Gypsy was
like away from the spotlight.

685
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,720
and helpfully, it turns out Erik
wasn't her only travel companion.

686
00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:25,720
Ever the self-publicist, wherever
she went so did her movie camera.

687
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,240
Would you like to see a few?
Of course. I'd love to.

688
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,720
All right. Let me show you a few.
OK. Please do.

689
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:37,080
Erik has miles of private footage
which few have seen.

690
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:39,760
Well, how wonderful. Erm...

691
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:43,320
My mother was an avid fisher.

692
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:44,680
Is this you? That's me.

693
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,640
Look at the size of that thing.

694
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,600
I mean, this is wonderful stuff.

695
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,800
Look at her having a bath out in the
open air.

696
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,960
Now this was the only bath tub on
this carnival.

697
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:04,080
She used to fill it with leftover
ice water from the Coca-Cola machine

698
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,640
let it warm up in the sun and she
froze in it.

699
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:15,400
For a fan like me, these glimpses of
gypsy are like manna from heaven.

700
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:19,240
They're evocative of an era that's
long gone. That's it. Long gone.

701
00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:22,960
But this was Erik's life and, all
things considered,

702
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,400
it's a miracle that he's turned out
all right.

703
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,960
Doing laundry with the bearded lady.

704
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,880
It's that...? It's a woman?!
That's a woman.

705
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:35,720
Oh, my God! Erm...married to the
Alligator Man.

706
00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:39,160
It's just... You couldn't make this
up, could you?

707
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,520
Now, I'm gonna ask you the ultimate
question.

708
00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:46,320
What was your mother like?
She was an acquired taste. Yeah.

709
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,800
Erm... But I'm an acquired taste,
Erik, as well!

710
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:53,480
You know, what you saw was really
what you got.

711
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:55,560
Direct. Straightforward.

712
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,560
Extremely funny.

713
00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,560
Did not suffer fools.

714
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,680
And insisted on getting what she
wanted.

715
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:07,000
How old were you when you found out
who your father was? Well...

716
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,160
when I actually found out, I was 17.

717
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,240
I'm living in New York in my own
apartment at 17

718
00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:15,600
and I've had my girlfriend move in
with me.

719
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,600
Now, did she approve of that?
No. No.

720
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:20,160
Oh. Oh!

721
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,680
I said, "I don't see how you can
object."

722
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,440
And she said, "I've lived my life
beyond reproach."

723
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,520
And I said, "Well, then, how come
I'm a bastard?"

724
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,960
Oooh! That must have been like a slap
in the face.

725
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,840
That was probably the cruellest
thing I ever did to her.

726
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,800
And I said, "Who IS my father?"

727
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,320
What she said was, "It's none of
your business."

728
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,000
How did you feel when you said, "Who
is my father?"

729
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,520
and she said, "It's none of your
business." I understood
what she meant.

730
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,960
And it was who she slept with was
none of my business.

731
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:04,360
The fact it happened to be my father
didn't occur to her at the time

732
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,840
because she looked at things from
her point of view.

733
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:09,960
She was a star.

734
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,000
I just accepted it because it was
the way she always was.

735
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,080
Yeah. And he was...

736
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:19,120
Erik's remarkably accepting of what
seems to be appalling behaviour

737
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:23,240
on Gypsy's part but then given what
she went through in her childhood,

738
00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:25,600
maybe it's OK to forgive her a few
flaws.

739
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:30,440
Was she always Gypsy Rose Lee or was
she ever Louise Hovick?

740
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,080
She was Gypsy Rose Lee. That's who
she was.

741
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,720
Louise Hovick, that was gone.

742
00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:39,680
Why go back to somebody who's dumpy
and plain

743
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:43,720
when you can be somebody who's
glamorous and fabulous? Exactly.

744
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,160
I guess it comes as no surprise that
the stripper raised

745
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,760
by a domineering mother had a few
issues of her own.

746
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,200
Is it up here, Erik? Yes. Watch your
head. But then, who doesn't.

747
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,040
But what Gypsy accomplished is
extraordinary.

748
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,880
(GASPS) Wow! Erik, look at all this.

749
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,240
I know. Look at this beautiful
sculpture.

750
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:07,760
Yes. That... For a while we had that
in the living room

751
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:11,360
but it was sort of like having
my mother looking over my shoulder.

752
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:16,400
From difficult beginnings, she made
her life beautiful.

753
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,400
It's her portrait from Sadis.
Fabulous.

754
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:23,120
For anyone who's still thinking of
looking down their nose at strippers,

755
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:24,680
get over yourself!

756
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,360
It's a record of where she's been.

757
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,880
They're wonderful people.
And because you're such a dog lover.

758
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:33,520
Oh, no. Look at the puppies.
Oh, my Lord!

759
00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:38,240
But I think Gypsy's greatest legacy
is her impact on striptease.

760
00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:41,520
Do you recognise this?
Oh, my God!

761
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,360
She raised it out of sleazy
burlesque houses

762
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:47,960
and turned it into an art form.
You'd be able to twirl it.

763
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,600
Give me five minutes and I'll be out
there with it!

764
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,360
To Erik, this room is just an attic
full of his mother's old stuff.

765
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:58,960
Wherever there's anything of
my mother's, there are her gloves.

766
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:04,360
But, to me, it represents the life of
a true showbiz legend

767
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:06,320
and a true idol of mine.

768
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,360
It's such an important piece of
theatre history

769
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,240
and I love what those gloves have
seen.

770
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,120
You know... Where they've been.
..where they've been.

771
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:18,960
Where they've been flung and what
she's used them for

772
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,240
to her best advantage and it's just
great to see this stuff.

773
00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:24,720
Thank you for showing me all this,
Erik. My pleasure.

774
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:27,800
Honestly.
Thanks for doing the show.

775
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,240
Are you sure? I couldn't think of
anybody else

776
00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,080
I'd want to do a programme about than
your marvellous mother.

777
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:35,720
There should be a museum to this
great lady, Erik.

778
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,520
It's been a bit of a pilgrimage for
me, this trip

779
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,440
and I'm very happy to say cos
it could have gone the other way.

780
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:53,880
I could have gone home thinking,
"I don't like her."

781
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:59,080
My admiration for her and, indeed,
love for her, has increased tenfold.

782
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,600
And meeting her son, Erik, well that
was the icing on the cake.

783
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,040
It was bliss on a stick, to tell you
the truth.

784
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,440
But my pilgrimage isn't quite over
yet.

785
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:15,760
You see, although it was the musical
that sparked my interest in Gypsy,

786
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:19,120
the impact it made on me wasn't down
to Gypsy herself.

787
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,320
That was down to Stephen Sondheim's
marvellous lyrics

788
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:24,600
and the performance of an amazing
actress.

789
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:30,120
I'm ending my travels in Washington
DC, home to Faith Dane,

790
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:32,080
the incredible Miss Mazeppa.

791
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,800
Before starring in Gypsy, Faith was
working in New York strip bars

792
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:43,240
and her gimmick was playing the bugle
dressed as a gladiator.

793
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,600
When Sondheim saw this act at the
musical's auditions,

794
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:51,600
he wrote an entire number around
her.

795
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,480
Why does this still make me laugh?
I've seen it a million times.

796
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:02,440
I still roar laughing.

797
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:07,280
Now aged 89, Faith is on her way to
see me.

798
00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:15,960
I've seen various Miss Mazeppas and
various productions of Gypsy

799
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,520
through the years but there's nobody
to touch Faith.

800
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:22,800
Faith has travelled her today with
her husband Jude

801
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:24,920
and this gal is still cooking with
gas.

802
00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:26,880
(PHONE)

803
00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:30,960
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Bye.

804
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:34,680
Well, she's here.

805
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:36,840
I'm dying for this.

806
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:38,960
Dying to meet her.

807
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:40,880
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Come in!

808
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,760
Hello. Oh, my God.

809
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,240
Faith, welcome.
Look at you. Look at you.

810
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:51,440
You look fabulous.
He is such a handsome thing.

811
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,080
Lovely to meet you. Lovely to meet
you.

812
00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:57,160
Faith, come in, sweetheart.
Let me stand up.

813
00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:00,120
What a pl... Oh, I can't believe
this.

814
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,120
I'm... Look at him.
Look at you.

815
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:04,240
I'm gonna jump on your bones.

816
00:45:04,240 --> 00:45:07,960
So you're a fan of Gypsy the show?
And a huge fan of yours.

817
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:10,480
I still have my... I can triple
tongue.

818
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,360
Oh, can you? Where's the bugle?

819
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:15,640
Ha! I'm gonna die and go to heaven
here.

820
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:17,600
(LAUGHS)

821
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:19,520
You look wonderful.
Yes. Yes. Yes.

822
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,840
Have you still go the original
Mazeppa's bugle? Yes.

823
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:25,800
I got... Didn't I...? Hello there.

824
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:28,480
I just love you, Faith. Honestly.

825
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,040
Faith, you're killing me.

826
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:39,120
(GUFFAWS)

827
00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:41,120
It didn't sound as well as it
should.

828
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,080
It's not bad, though. Not at all.

829
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:46,120
And they're hard to play those
things.

830
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:53,800
I never did that before.
I brought my bugle as well.

831
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:55,880
Really? Oh, yeah.

832
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:58,200
Do you want me to go and get my
bugle? Sure.

833
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:01,760
I'll go and get my bugle. You want me
to get up and do the number?

834
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:03,800
I want you to do it.

835
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,320
Faith, that's a bit like painting in
front of Picasso.

836
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:11,360
I shall do my best, Faith.
All right. Let it rip!

837
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,040
# You can pull all the stops out

838
00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:16,040
# Till they call the cops out

839
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:19,040
# Grind your behind till you're
banned

840
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,120
# But you've got to get a gimmick

841
00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,720
# If you wanna get a hand

842
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,120
# You can sacrifice your sacro

843
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:33,360
# Working in the back row

844
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,480
# Bump in a dump till you're dead

845
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:41,640
# But you've got to get a gimmick
if you want to get ahead

846
00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:45,800
Hang on, here's the bumps.

847
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,560
# You can... You can...
You can...

848
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:49,720
# A-A-Ah

849
00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:52,920
# That's how burlesque was born

850
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:56,200
# So I...ummm and I...umm

851
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,280
# And I ummm...ummm...ummm

852
00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:01,840
# But I do it with a horn #

853
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:05,120
Hold the horn up.

854
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:07,080
(BLOWS MILITARY TUNE)

855
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,040
(TUNE BECOMES RAUNCHY)

856
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:34,520
Excellent. Splendid.

857
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,560
Oh, Faith. Well, that is indeed
praise.

858
00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:39,720
Indulge me, will you please, viewer?

859
00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:42,160
I'm having the time of my life.

860
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:45,080
I can't tell you how much I've
enjoyed myself today

861
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,760
and what a real treat it is to meet
the great Faith Dane.

862
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:50,440
Beautiful to be with you.

863
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:53,680
I didn't know I had any fans in
England.

864
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:57,120
Yeah. Yeah. I want to thank you for
liking me.

865
00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:01,160
Honestly, folks, unless Gypsy's
ghost turns up with room service,

866
00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:04,000
there couldn't be a better ending to
this trip.

867
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:05,760
I love you.

868
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:10,120
Oh, she's glorious. Right, I'm gonna
go and ring half of England

869
00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:11,880
to tell 'em who I have just met.

870
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,880
# If you wanna bump it, bump it with
a trumpet

871
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:19,760
# And get yourself a gimmick and
you...too...

872
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,920
# Can be a star! #

873
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:26,000
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