June Havoc--1980 TV Interview, "Gypsy"

Actress June Havoc discusses her life and career and her childhood as the Baby June of "Gypsy," as well as her sister Gypsy Rose Lee, in this one-hour 1980 TV interview.

[@lugano1999]

She was 68 at the time this interview took place. She lived on to 2010 when died at 98... She had a fascinating life and a great talent. And endless charm.

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

And starred in 1910smovies

[@jubalcalif9100]

Well said and well put. Still quite lovely at age 68. A true "force of nature" !

[@brucecoleman4228]

What a beautiful VOICE. Her annunciation is so CLEAN. Great Diction.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I certainly have a notion to second THAT emotion !

[@patronsaintofnow9765]

This. Speaking clearly, 'properly' and annunciating is a lost art today, so it honestly shocks one to hear someone do it.

[@smurf902]

​@@patronsaintofnow9765it is awful today - people emulate street talk. The vernacular today is the street talk of the 80s and 90s ...it's like fashion. All slummy sports wear

[@bestdisco1979]

Fascinating interview. I was in Gypsy the musical at the age of twelve with Angela Lansbury during 1973 so I feel very attached to this.

[@sosure]

that is Mega Cool!

[@SymphonyBrahms]

I also saw Angela Lansbury in Gypsy. She was brilliant in the role of Madame Rose.

[@580Dick]

What A great interview. Cavitt did something that most talk show hosts no longer do, listen to their guests.

[@deplorabledave1048]

`Joe Rogan listens. Thats why he is a gazillionaire.

[@richardzimmerman7934]

@@deplorabledave1048 that’s hysterical

[@johnstirret5021]

Dick Cavitt always presented a more intelligent show than all the other talk show host. I agree that he listened to his guest, which is why his show was so good.

[@jubalcalif9100]

@@johnstirret5021 I heartily concur !

[@MaxRyan777]

Fascinating! I'm a huge Gypsy the musical fan and this sheds sooo much light on Rose and the REAL story. What a class act miss Havoc was.

[@poetryjones7946]

See if you can find June’s book “Early Havoc”, it really sheds light on all the fake spin about her sister Gypsy.

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

Me too

[@joshdrayton1230]

If you read Carolyn Quinn's book about Rose, Mama Rose's Turn, it quickly becomes apparent that both Gypsy Rose Lee and June Havoc's versions of the family saga are highly fictitious. Rose was not the harmlessly quirky character June describes here, she was a nasty and often dangerous piece of work. All too often the more people bang on about their commitment to telling the truth, the more actively they are manufacturing their own fiction.

[@vickibolsover6559]

What a fascinating woman. She lived until she was 97. What a life. her sister and her mother died years earlier. She was lucky she was able to live to such a great age. Wonderful stories. so fascinating.

[@stevenbowen7674]

I looked her up just now after hearing her in a couple of radio Suspense episodes. She was quite good

[@jubalcalif9100]

Yes. She even outlived her only child (her daughter, April Rose Hyde) who passed away in 1998 at the age of 66.

[@anurag684]

And her field of work is also pretty huge

[@Erline-d1x]

To have known June Havoc was such a joy. She had the most beautiful sparkling blue eyes. I miss my dear friend. I met her when I was just a child. Her voice was so commanding, I could listen to her all day. I was blessed to have known her. She was my artist director. She was such a caring person. We remained friends throughout the years. I miss you always my dear friend.

[@justinherbert9146]

Every so often I cross paths with someone like June - so bright and full of life, so fascinating and engaging - I enjoy their company, the conversation with someone like her - you learn things. God bless June, RIP

[@EagleRockers]

Alan, I was completely enraptured with this! I've been a Gypsy/June Havoc fan for almost 60 years and did not know this interview existed. My God, she spilled the beans about what was really going on 'backstage.' I can't thank you enough for this gift! They don't make them like her anymore.

[@TombCat]

How interesting she is. Open and engaged, she is so very enlightened, insightful and responsive to all questions: and yet she is always an actress - giving a bit of a performance. She is being honest in a performative way. Commercialized, as she would say.

[@michaelmatar7136]

She is so captivating

[@pgronemeier]

Yea, THE definition of 'Emoting' LoL

[@barrett7893]

Yes she was…

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

Just love her voice. She is so fascinating. One of my favorite musicals is Gypsy. So many myths about June, Gypsy Rose Lee and Mama Rose

[@pgronemeier]

WoW! She died in 2010 at 97!!

[@lorianderson-musgrave3609]

I love her joy and realism.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Me too ! So enthusiastic !

[@lotteweill]

Yet again, thanks for posting Alan. Havoc is magically genuine. I was lucky enough to see her play Marathon '33 in it's exciting 1963 Actor's Studio production. Set in a dance marathon, it captured much of what she describes to Cavett. The NY critics were too dumb to appreciate its theatricality. It barely ran over a month. Julie Harris played Havoc.

[@bookwoman53]

I saw Ms. Havoc as Miss Hannigan in the last year of the original run of the Broadway production of Annie. I was 8 years old and had no idea who she was.

[@goldierocks9221]

Thoroughly enjoy her stories.

[@Owlzindabarn]

What a delightful woman. I met her about 12 or 13 years after this interview. Got her autograph.

[@ncjeffhyder]

I think it was around that time that she was in flat rock at the playhouse.

[@catlover34fl]

Thank you for this fascinating interview. June Havoc is lovely to hear and lovely to look at.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I agree 100 per cent.

[@NealKanter]

I could listen to June all day, truly one of the greatest.

[@lisanoble8777]

What a lovely woman! I had no idea of her struggles in life. Bless her.

[@ritamarie2976]

Such a beautiful and eloquent woman. Her stories are interesting and compelling. Thanks for the great watch!

[@barbaraferron7994]

I believe she is playing Baby June. She was taught the role from when she was 2. So it has been ingrained into her character. Her mother would have wanted her to always be in character even off stage, for promotional purposes.

[@Bailey2006a]

Why hasn't someone put her life on film????. Her story is riveting

[@hugoaniro8166]

Haven't you seen gypsy? It's fiction but you get an idea

[@EagleRockers]

@@Ephemeral2023 Natalie was one of the biggest female stars at that time. It's called box office.

[@EagleRockers]

@@Ephemeral2023 Who would you have cast at the time?

[@EagleRockers]

@@Ephemeral2023 After some research, there weren't many 'truly big stars' in that age range at the time. Would you believe Warner Bros. was thinking of Ann-Margaret for the part? Do you think Audrey Hepburn was too old by then (she was in her early 30s)?

[@cmcb09]

Some of her anecdotes are fictitious, Mary Astor playing her mother for one. Mary Astor was only 6 years her senior. And didn't start in films until 3 years after the two films June did as a child. Also June shaving 3 years off her age. Who knows what else she doctored for effect. With how easy it is to do your research now the whole story would probably be picked apart.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

She is positively enchanting!

[@fonso1030]

I don’t really care if she did or didn’t alter the facts, her life is show business, and even if it weren’t, it really isn’t any of my business what happened in their private lives. I’m just thankful that this wonderful woman was captured on tape for the future. I only wish more people like this existed today.

[@MrCrowebobby]

My old dance school pianist, who was born in 1892 and working in Manhattan nightclubs at 15, always said she would pay the price of a Broadway show just to watch Havoc walk across stage.

[@christopherleodaniels7203]

Forty plus years later, and I remember this. She was making the rounds, selling the book, including a stint on All My Children, playing herself. Fascinating lady.

[@allmc2008]

Who was she on All my Kids!!

[@christopherleodaniels7203]

@@allmc2008 …Her Autobiography ‘More Havoc’ was published in 1980, and she played herself on All My Children, on a book signing tour. Various characters appropriately gushed over her and got their autographed copies.

[@DeepScreenAnalysis]

I loved that era when old time celebs were on the soaps. Joan Fontaine played an acting agent on Ryan’s Hope 😂😂

[@grecogrant2511]

It's sad we will never have these people and stars again those were the days

[@highbaritone]

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

[@constantreader7944]

The truth of her life, as she says, is so much more fascinating that what was depicted in Gypsy. If you read her autobiography, there are about four or five more Gypsy worthy musicals or movies that could be made from her real life stories. Read her autobiography. Amazing.

[@maxlinder5262]

She is an amazing woman . having lived a life that was filled completely that it overflowed so much . spilling all around her ..that she wrote about it to cleanse herself of any toxic waste that she had gone through .......... Yes a film should or better a documentary should be done to show what her and he families life was like........

[@Tecobelli]

Thank you for posting. She was so underrated and had an inspiring life.

[@GeeBee909]

June Havoc was a great conversalist

[@michaelplunkett8059]

She did 2 wonderful roles on Murder She Wrote 7 and 9 years after this. One set back in time and filmed on the RMS Queen Mary and the other completing a clever 40s noir movie.

[@Dianaemanuel]

This was around the time she toured as Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd. What a role to take on at 68!

[@brookerichardson9177]

Wow great bit of Americana. I have been a big fan of June and the Gypsy Rose Lee stories since I discovered Junes book Early Havoc.

[@davidallen508]

She was good in “Gentleman’s Agreement” but watching it today,she looks very 1940’s while Dorothy McGuire is timeless.

[@TheGuillermo519]

mesmerizing storyteller.

[@bostonblackie9503]

There is a recording of she and her husband talking about theatrical radio. (Podcasts are trying to bring it back!) They were both an absolute delight. He directed the best and most popular show on American radio "Suspense" on which she appeared often. One episode she did with Charles Laughton. The plot was she appeared on stage and Laughton was an admirer. You eventually figure out he's a murderer, or serial killer. It gives you the creeps! She didn't want to listen to that one. Regarding her autibiography, it is said neither she or her sister wrote books until their mother died. Out of fear she would sue them. The mother took Gypsy to court for non support and won. Both she and her sister were very smart women, but had their differences. When Gypsy was dieing of cancer she called June and they made up.

[@philipcramer940]

wow! what a conversation. June is amazing. I wasn't aware of the family dynamic from her perspective. Gypsy had a talk show on 📺 in the 1960s. You can find vids on KZbin. I'm gonna see if I can find copies of June's books.

[@bettiblanchard873]

Loved this. Thanks.

[@BrendainPA]

Thank you so very much for posting these interviews - they were wonderful and riveting.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Totally agree !

[@nonosays]

She was absolutely fascinating.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I agree 100 per cent !

[@simba30]

What beautiful fantastic woman so full of life and expression. Riveting

[@Modmansf]

Thank you, Alan Eichler. Your uploads -- your channel -- have given me great pleasure and knowledge of a time now remote but vastly appealing. I especially enjoyed Miss Havoc's story about her meeting George M. Cohan.

[@tadimaggio]

Anyone who wants a glimpse of just how hellish dance marathons were should look up the 1969 film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'. It has a wonderful cast (including a brilliant early performance by Jane Fonda in the lead.) The sort of death that June Havoc described occurs in the film; it may literally give you chest pains.

[@aeichler]

I was Anita O'Day's manager and she was in six of them. She told me "Horses" was exactly how it was. June also did a riveting play about them, "Marathon '33," which should be revived or filmed. It starred Julie Harris and Doris Roberts was also in it.

[@tadimaggio]

@@aeichler Thank you so much for your reply. (As a man of the theater myself, I can only imagine how many juicy stories you have on mental file.) I am a close friend of a husband-and-wife acting couple, with whom I've worked on a number of shows over the years, who were close friends of June Havoc's for many years until her death. It was striking to me how many phrases they quoted her as using recurred in this interview. (For one thing, they repeatedly quoted her as saying that her mother was a "woman of passion"). I was struck by the fact that Cavett never asked June about the murder Rose committed, supposedly because the victim was an aggressive lesbian who made unwanted advances to Gypsy. (Rose beat the rap; very few straight people went to prison in the pre-World War II era for killing gays.) If you haven't already done so, you might consider writing a memoir; reminiscences of entertainment insiders always find an audience.

[@christinecollins6648]

Brilliant film. Was my father who told me how tragic dance competitions were , really. We watched that film together

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

My father too told how awful dance marathons were during the Depression

[@stevenbowen7674]

And tragically Gig Young who played the Emcee apparently killed is wife and himself 9 yrs later

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

She is so...ELEGANT!

[@bookwoman53]

I saw Ms. Havoc as Miss Hannigan shortly before the original Broadway production Annie closed in 1983. I was seven then and kept the Playbill and remembered her name. I learned about her long career much later.

[@johndalton3180]

Something ethereal about her. Lovely.

[@jl3322]

Interesting, Articulate and so Amazing.

[@debra13]

She is quite the actress...

[@elspethcoogan1499]

I think she is theatrical, but that makes her storytelling all the more captivating. She is the product of her upbringing and, being an actress, it is an aspect of her personality; she’s performing even when not playing a part. We all do this to some degree, it is part of our ego structure. But June comes across as authentic, whilst her love of life and interest in people is evident.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

LOVE her laugh!!!

[@chrisjeffries2322]

She was indeed an up beat lady.

[@jamesgonzales7994]

She was so fun!!!❤❤ I hope she found happiness and love and peace

[@smurf902]

For those curious about the exit music, it's a jazz version of Glitter and be Gay from Candide. Curious!

[@EpiscoPiper]

THANK YOU!! I knew I recognized it but could not figure out why!

[@chancebronson9375]

Wow ? I am just overwhelmed I want more of June Havoc look for Hibachi Florida

[@richardkennedy8481]

God bless her in Heaven.

[@Marsha-at-Home-Endeavor]

This was at a time when you got the full interview awkwardness and all.

[@CanadianMonarchist]

She seems to be a fascinating companion.

[@terr777]

Apparently, you can dance before you walk. My mom recorded in my baby book that at 8 months, my first words were "hound dog" and I was "dancing a jig" at the time.

[@edmundpower1250]

15 hundred dollars a week back in 1920-25😮😮😮😮😮 as a child 😲😲

[@BethCampbell-b9c]

Wow, that was interesting and fascinating! Thank you for posting this!

[@sandrashevey8252]

I have never seen Cavett so relaxed and so happy.....no scorpion sting to this interview...

[@sethfelson]

Really? Dick pushed and pushed for her Mother's deathbed scene three or four times in the first act despite June saying it was too much to write let alone speak of.

[@deb7518]

Scorpion's sting? I've been watching Cavett since I was a kid, and that's never a phrase I would have associated with him.

[@sandrashevey8252]

​@@deb7518 The only apt phrase. I too have watched Cavett since inception and knew his Yale room mate Chris Porterrfield, an editor at `Time` magazine. Did a major piece (an entire page) on Dick for the `LA Times` Calendar magazine c1970s.

[@davidpar2]

Well they were both scorpios in this interview, so it was probably neutralized

[@sandrashevey8252]

@@davidpar2 My father wrote and performed in the act `Dainty June and the News Boys` c1920s. June Holvig was I think re-named by my father. `Here comes havoc!` She is very likeable. I also find Rosalie Holvig (Gypsy Rose) very likeable.

[@KJ-xc6qs]

What a beautiful person.

[@waldolydecker8118]

Beautiful woman

[@lindadorr3738]

My God ! She was so ON !

[@orion8835]

Havocs entire manner of speech and energy is entirely different from the Dinah Shore 1979 interview where she was decidedly grumbly far less whimsical and less “up”. Only the year before. Weird. Fascinating stories of a brutal live theatre vaudeville life. Gypsy R. Lee died at 59 not 56 however. And the Mama Rose died at 63 not 56 as stated here. It seems even then the younger sister here was shaving years off her relatives in a show biz veneer. At either rate very pretty woman with an incredibly communicated delivery of a very unusual American entertainment world. A world full of glamour, crooks, scamps and talented yet desperate people.

[@annstillwell730]

Sometimes that can be the interviewer or perhaps she personal stuff or pressures at that time.

[@christinecollins6648]

Dick Cavet was charming and I find, quite handsome- may have given her a spark

[@ncjeffhyder]

Well, her mother blurred the lines of time by forging the families birth certificates multiple times.

[@SWDetboy]

This was Nice...

[@rtk9630]

Still a pretty lady and insightful

[@barrett7893]

When’s June did this interview her sister gypsy Rose Lee Had passed away 10 years ago.. 😢 😔 😢 June Passed away in 2010. June was 97 years old..

[@SymphonyBrahms]

June told one story about their lives and Gypsy told another story about their lives. Perhaps the truth lay somewhere in between.

[@Horsefeathers30]

Refreshing honesty

[@blackdunaway]

What a pistol of a character, thanks for posting

[@randysills4418]

June Havoc lived to be 97!

[@Tunick1902]

As a kid I thought she was so much prettier than her famous sister...but now I feel differently. June Havoc is so inauthentically animated here that it's almost ridiculous.

[@christinecollins6648]

I feel the reverse. Being brought up on a serious of stages her diction may sound a little too perfect ( but that’s all she would have heard), but her enthusiasm seems genuine

[@Tunick1902]

@@christinecollins6648 That's not perfect diction. That's a poor person's idea of high toned speech.

[@bookwoman53]

She is performing and her laughter seems insincere. She has certainly done lots of interviews and perfected her answers and stories.

[@michaelplunkett8059]

​@@Tunick1902That is the accent of a lifetime performer who had theater and movie speech training back in the day.

[@michaelmatar7136]

Thx U

[@WillScarlet16]

I know June publicly disliked 'Gypsy' for making her mother look too noble; But if you watch 'Gypsy,' that's exactly what you'd expect June the character to say.

[@annstillwell730]

Yeah being from the theater she should have just accepted it as the fictionalized story it was. She might of been a little jealous of gypsy's success. She had her own success but it sometimes that's not enough.

[@jchow5966]

Wow!!!! This was epic!!!!!

[@JohnnyGNV]

Isn't there a clip on You tube (silent I think) of Louise 'dancing' with June that is really quite old? June is saying here that she and Louise (later to be Gypsy Rose Lee) never appeared on the same stage -

[@JimMac23]

They did appear on the same stage as children in vaudeville.

[@rianaangwin3179]

Enchanting Lady

[@lindafulton5108]

I never saw the sister look with June and Gypsy until today.

[@ConstantGardener-q9q]

Fascinating

[@adamodeo9320]

brilliant woman also very beautiful

[@patrickhamilton6207]

I’m afraid even June herself is a little fuzzy on some facts. She says here that her mother died in 1954 “at 56.” Gypsy being born in 1911 and June in 1912 doesn’t add up. That would’ve made Rose 13 and 14 giving birth to her daughters. So, Wikipedia has Rose being born in 1890. That adds up. Why would June get all that messed up? Odd.

[@nahbirdie4773]

My grandmother had my mom and her siblings that young. In those days it was normal as soon as you hit puberty. 12-13 was a marriageable age. it was common

[@patrickhamilton6207]

@@nahbirdie4773 I don’t think it was “normal” to have kids at 12. No. Sorry.

[@stevenbowen7674]

​@@patrickhamilton6207 I certainly agree

[@stevenbowen7674]

​@@nahbirdie4773in 1900, the average age of motherhood was 21 yrs. 12-13 is and has been anything but common.

[@patrickhamilton6207]

June Havoc was a very gifted and quite beautiful actress in her day. Might it be she's I teensy bit jealous of sister Gypsy's legendary success. I read that she held up the opening of GYPSY in 1959 with a lawsuit stating that they weren't permitted to use the name June. So, they renamed her Baby Claire" instead and called it A MUSICAL FABLE. Seems Miss Havoc changed her mind and DID want herself portrayed on stage. Maybe sister Gypsy "talked" her into it with a check. Who knows.

[@loutimmons3099]

Oh, goodness, June. Gypsy is billed as a FABLE. No one said it was a documentary of your family. Same for The Sound of Music. How tired I am of people "correcting" the story. The musical states is it "INSPIRED BY..." again, The Sound of Music is NOT NOT NOT a documentary! And thank goodness for the film version (the stage version is totally saccharine; the film is not).

[@randysills4418]

Ms. Havoc gives 1898 as her Mother's birthdate, but I read elsewhere that it was 1891. If it were 1898 that she was born, she would have had her first daughter at twelve or thirteen...

[@nahbirdie4773]

My grandmother had my mom and her siblings that young. In those days it was normal as soon as you hit puberty. 12-13 was a marriageable age. it was common

[@JimMac23]

She has forgotten. Her mother was born August 31, 1890.

[@renaniidepinheiroepereira4104]

Sometimes her voice here resembles Gypsy's voice when she talked about her "strip routine".

[@florinest]

♥♥♥♥♥

[@kendalson7100]

Poor June. After Gypsy hit it big she never got over being known as "Gypsy's sister". Watching her disassemble is fascinating. Mama Rose did a big number on them. The sugar bowl story was laughable.

[@ananigma7]

She's mad as a box of frogs!

[@MJ69ism]

This is baby Jane would have been, I still prefer Bette Davis it is weird there are some similarities

[@MileyonDisney]

She was pretty wacky - and I don't mean comedienne-wise. Cavett doesn't know how to handle it.

[@jTiroff]

Seems Drunk 😧 Old Lush

[@dddddadadad1796]

Ok. She’s annoying.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Compared to who? Brittney? Lady Gaga? yeah, I don't think so

[@hugoaniro8166]

Why does he look so sloppy ? Ugh

[@waldolydecker8118]

quit whining...not wearing a tie doesn't make him look "sloppy." Its a relaxed television interview, not a formal dinner at Buckingham Palace.

[@dddddadadad1796]

He was handsome as hell..

[@Tecobelli]

Thank you for posting. She was so underrated and had an inspiring life.

[@JimMac23]

She wasn't underrated. She was a child star in Vaudeville and an adult star in movies.