Bigs Quote by Karen Abbott
![“Gypsy [Rose Lee], who was called Louise as a kid, gave her first performances here with her sister [June Hovac], playing for the local Masonic lodge halls. It was a tight-knit community, and the support and success the act enjoyed here enabled them to hit the road and make it in big-time vaudeville.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c33/karen-abbott-13658_bigs_gypsy-rose-lee-who-was-called-louise-as_2173429.jpg)
“Gypsy [Rose Lee], who was called Louise as a kid, gave her first performances here with her sister [June Hovac], playing for the local Masonic lodge halls. It was a tight-knit community, and the support and success the act enjoyed here enabled them to hit the road and make it in big-time vaudeville.”
![“It was a great challenge to reconstruct Gypsy Rose Lee life, and my interviews with her sister [June Havoc] proved invaluable. It's not often that writers have access to living primary source material; this was the only person who experienced life on the vaudeville circuit with Gypsy during the…” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6d4/karen-abbott-13658_1930s_it-was-a-great-challenge-to-reconstruct_3186142.jpg)
![“Her sister [June Havoc] said the musical portrayed who Gypsy [Rose Lee] wanted to be before the burlesque thing happened she wanted to be this beautiful, romantic person with dreams. So Gypsy told the story of her life as she wished she'd lived it: embellishing, softening the edges, eliminating…” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f9d/karen-abbott-13658_beautiful_her-sister-june-havoc-said-the-musical-p_3013386.jpg)
![“Gypsy [Rose Lee ] was a masterful storyteller, and her memoir and by extension, the musical weren't only Gypsy's monument; they were also her chance for monumental revisionism.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe2/karen-abbott-13658_chance_gypsy-rose-lee-was-a-masterful-storytell_259518.jpg)
![“She [Gypsy Rose Lee] was a sophisticated self-satirist with a contagious delight in the comedy of sex. She was coy; she was sly; she always had a witty quip; she had an intensely dramatic presence.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b3e/karen-abbott-13658_comedy_she-gypsy-rose-lee-was-a-sophisticated-s_1447479.jpg)
![“Gypsy [Rose Lee] is as unique as she is timeless. Her story is classic Americana, and the strangest rags-to-riches saga you'll ever read; I like to call it Horatio Alger meets Tim Burton.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/829/karen-abbott-13658_americana_gypsy-rose-lee-is-as-unique-as-she-is-ti_902352.jpg)
![“Gypsy [Rose Lee] wasn't a linear person, and she didn't live life in a linear fashion. She was relentlessly self-inventing, and moved backward as often as she moved forward.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2a8/karen-abbott-13658_fashion_gypsy-rose-lee-wasn-t-a-linear-person-an_2555037.jpg)
![“I think Gypsy [Rose Lee] would be appalled at today's rawer, more blatant displays of the female form. She was, in her own way, a prude.” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/35c/karen-abbott-13658_display_i-think-gypsy-rose-lee-would-be-appalled_10445.jpg)
![“I thought both she [Gypsy Rose Lee] and her story would be ill-served by a conventional, birth-to-death narrative, and so I structured the book like one of her stripteases: revealing a peek of shoulder, then a glimpse of knee, pulling back a bit before you go a bit further, until all is revealed…” quote by Karen Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ba0/karen-abbott-13658_birth_i-thought-both-she-gypsy-rose-lee-and-he_637177.jpg)
![“The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before going in with [Larry] Holmes. That would have made all the difference.” quote by Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d63/gerry-cooney-20863_bigs_the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-m_1534.jpg)
