June Havoc
in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Born	Ellen Evangeline Hovick November 8, 1912 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	March 28, 2010(2010-03-28) (aged 97) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, dancer, director, writer
Years active	1918–1990
Spouse	Bobby Reed (1929–19??) Donald S. Gibbs (1935–1942)[1] William Spier (1948–1973)[2]
Children	April Hyde (April 2, 1930 – December 28, 1998)
Parents	John Olaf Hovick Rose Thompson Hovick

June Havoc (November 8, 1912 – March 28, 2010)^[3][4] was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother.^[5] She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood, and stage directed, both on and off-Broadway. She last appeared on television in 1990 on General Hospital. Havoc was the younger sister of burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee.

Life and career[link]

She was born as either "Ellen Evangeline Hovick" or "Ellen June Hovick," in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, probably in 1912, although some sources indicate 1913. She herself was uncertain of the year – according to The New York Times obituary, her mother forged several birth certificates.^[6] (Her mother reportedly had five birth certificates for her.^[6])

Her lifelong career in show business began when she was a child, billed as "Baby June".^[7] Her only full sibling, Rose Louise Hovick (1911–1970), was called "Louise" by her family members. Their parents were Rose Thompson Hovick (1890–1954) and John Olaf Hovick, a Norwegian American,^[4][8] who worked as a newspaper advertising man.

13 November 1927 ad in the Decatur Review

Following their parents' divorce, the two sisters earned the family's income by appearing in Vaudeville, where June's talent often overshadowed Louise. Baby June got an audition with Alexander Pantages (1876–1936), who had come to Seattle in 1902 to build theaters up and down the west coast of the United States. Soon, she was launched in Vaudeville and also appeared in Hollywood movies. She couldn’t speak until the age of three, but the films were all silent. She would cry for the cameras when her mother told her that the family's dog had died.^[9]

In December 1928, aged 15 or 16, Havoc, in an effort to escape her overbearing mother's ambitions for her career, eloped with Bobby Reed, a boy in the vaudeville act. Rose reported Reed to the police and he was arrested. Rose had a concealed gun on her when she met Bobby at the police station. She pulled the trigger, but the safety was on. Eventually, Reed was released and June married him, leaving both her family and the act. The marriage did not last, but the two remained on friendly terms. By the age of 17, she had an affair with an older married man, Jamie Smythe, reportedly a big-time marathon promoter. He fathered her only child, April Hyde (April 2, 1930 – December 28, 1998),^[10][11] who was an actress in the 1950s known as April Kent.^[12]

June's elder sister, Louise, gravitated to burlesque and became a well-known performer using the stage name Gypsy Rose Lee. June adopted the surname of Havoc, a variant of her birth name. She got her first acting break on Broadway in Sigmund Romberg's Forbidden Melody in 1936. She later starred in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey on Broadway. Havoc moved to Hollywood in the late 1940s, appearing in such movies as Gentleman's Agreement. She married for a second time, in 1935, to Donald S. Gibbs; they later divorced. Her third marriage, to radio and television director and producer William Spier (1906–1973), lasted from January 25, 1948 until his death.^[6]

Havoc and her sister Gypsy continued to get demands for money from their mother, who had opened a boardinghouse for women in a 10-room apartment on West End Avenue in New York City, the property rented for her by Gypsy, and a farm in Highland Mills, New York. Rose shot and killed one of her guests (who, according to Erik Lee Preminger, Gypsy's son, was Rose's lover and had made a pass at Gypsy). The incident was explained away as a suicide and Rose was not prosecuted.^[13]

Rose died in 1954 of cancer. The sisters then were free to write about her without risking a lawsuit. Gypsy's memoir, titled Gypsy, was published in 1957 and was taken as inspirational material for the Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents Broadway musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable. June did not like the way she was portrayed in the piece but was eventually persuaded not to oppose it for her sister's sake. The play also sparked such famous songs as "Small World", "Together (Wherever We Go)", and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". The play and the subsequent movie deal assured Gypsy a steady income. Gypsy Rose Lee died of lung cancer in 1970, aged 59, and is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California.

Havoc wrote two memoirs, Early Havoc and More Havoc. She also wrote a play entitled Marathon '33, based on Early Havoc with elements of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? The play starred Julie Harris, and ran briefly on Broadway.

Death[link]

Havoc died at her Stamford, Connecticut home on March 28, 2010, at age 97.^[14] Her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the garden of her Connecticut home.^[2]

Honors[link]

Havoc was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 1964 for Marathon '33,^[15] which she also wrote.^[16]

Legacy[link]

The June Havoc Theatre, housed at the Abingdon Theatre in New York City, was named for her in 2003.^[17][18]

Filmography[link]

Features[link]

Short subjects[link]

• Hey There! (1918)
• Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 6 (1942)

Television work[link]

• Willy, as Wilma "Willy" Dodger, a lawyer for a vaudeville troupe in New York City (CBS, 1954–1955)
• What's My Line? January 18, 1953 Mystery Guest
• The Mother Bit (1957) Studio One program
• Mr. Broadway (1957)
• The Untouchables – The Larry Fay Story (1960)
• The June Havoc Show (1964) (cancelled after a few weeks)
• The Outer Limits: Cry of Silence (1964) with Eddie Albert and Arthur Hunnicutt
• The Boy Who Stole the Elephant (1970)
• Nightside (1973)
• The Paper Chase episode "The Clay Footed Idol" as Mrs Margaret Peters (1979)
• Search for Tomorrow (cast member in 1986)
• Murder, She Wrote ("The Grand Old Lady," 1989) -- an episode introduced by Angela Lansbury's leading character and starring Havoc as a guest mystery-solver from the past, told in the era she lived in.
• General Hospital (cast member in 1990)

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: June Havoc

• June Havoc at the Internet Movie Database
• June Havoc at the Internet Broadway Database
• June Havoc at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• June Havoc at Find a Grave
• Baby June (June Havoc) in the 1918 Harold Lloyd film, On the Jump

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Buddy Ebsen
Lt. Christian Rudolph "Buddy" Ebsen, Jr., USCGR
Born	Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr. (1908-04-02)April 2, 1908 Belleville, Illinois
Died	July 6, 2003(2003-07-06) (aged 95) Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California
Occupation	Actor/Dancer
Years active	1928-2001
Height	6-foot 3½ inches
Spouse	Ruth Cambridge (m.1936-1942; divorced) Nancy Wolcott (m.1944-1985) Dorothy Knott (m.1985-2003; his death)
Website
http://www.buddyebsen.com/

Buddy Ebsen (April 2, 1908 - July 6, 2003) was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones,^[1] and played Barnaby Jones in the movie version of The Beverly Hillbillies. Ebsen also played Fess Parker's sidekick in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett miniseries (1953–54), and was cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939) until he fell ill due to an allergy to the makeup.

Early years[link]

Ebsen was born Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr. in Belleville, Illinois. His father, Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Sr., was Danish and his mother, Frances, was Latvian. Ebsen was raised in Belleville until the age of 10, when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. In 1920, Ebsen and his family relocated to Orlando, Florida, in 1920. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at a dance studio his father operated in Orlando.

Ebsen graduated from Orlando High School in 1926. Initially interested in a medical career, Ebsen attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, from 1926 to 1927, and then Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, from 1927 to 1928. Family financial problems caused by the collapse of the Florida land boom forced Ebsen to leave college at age 20.

Professional career[link]

Ebsen left Orlando in the summer of 1928 to try his luck as a dancer in New York, arriving with only $26.75 in his pocket, equal to $362 today, and worked at a soda fountain shop. He and his sister Vilma Ebsen performed as a dance act in supper clubs and in vaudeville — they were known as "The Baby Astaires". On Broadway, the Ebsens appeared as members of the chorus in the musicals Whoopee, Flying Colors and ]Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. A rave review from New York columnist Walter Winchell, who saw them perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey led to a booking at the Palace Theatre in New York City, the pinnacle of the vaudeville world.

MGM signing[link]

In 1935, Ebsen and his sister were approached by the MGM movie studio for a screen test. They then signed a two-year contract, with a two-year option, for $1,500 a week each, equal to $25427 today. After relocating to Hollywood, the siblings made their film debuts in the 1936 filmBroadway Melody of 1936. This was to be Vilma's only film — a contract problem prevented her from making other films and she soon retired from show business.

Ebsen went on to appear in numerous films, both musicals and non-musicals, including the 1936 Born to Dance, the 1936 Captain January (in which he danced with Shirley Temple), the 1938 Broadway Melody of 1938 (with Judy Garland as his dance partner), and the 1938 The Girl of the Golden West. Ebsen partnered with actresses Eleanor Powell and Frances Langford, among others, and also danced solo.

Ebsen was noted for his unusual, surreal dancing and singing style (for example, his contribution to the "Swingin' the Jinx Away" finale of Born to Dance). His abilities might have been a reason why filmmaker Walt Disney chose Ebsen to be filmed dancing in front of a grid as an aid to animating Mickey Mouse's dancing in Disney's 1929 t0 1939 Silly Symphonies animated short films..

[edit] The Wizard of Oz

When Ebsen turned down studio head Louis B. Mayer's offer of an exclusive contract with MGM, Mayer warned him that he would never get a job in Hollywood again. However, despite this dispute, MGM did cast Ebsen as the Scarecrow in its 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen then swapped roles with actor Ray Bolger, who was originally cast as the Tin Man. Ebsen recorded all his songs as Tin Man, went through all the rehearsals, and started filming. However, Ebsen soon began experiencing cramps and shortness of breath, eventually leading to hospitalization. Doctors determined that Ebsen was suffering an allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in the Tin Man makeup; Ebsen was forced to leave the production for health reasons.^[2]

In an interview included on the 2005 DVD release of the Wizard of Oz, Ebsen recalled that the studio heads did not believe he was sick until someone tried to order him back to the set and was intercepted by an angry nurse. Ebsen was replaced by Jack Haley, with the makeup quickly changed to a paste. As noted in a documentary on the 2005 DVD, MGM did not publicize the reason for Ebsen's departure; even Haley was not told until later. Although Haley re-recorded most of Ebsen's vocals, Ebsen's Midwestern voice (as opposed to Haley's Bostonian accent), with the enunciated "r" in the word "wizard", can still be heard on the soundtrack during several reprises of the song "We're Off to See the Wizard". Ebsen's recording of the Tin Man's only solo song, If I Only Had a Heart, still exists and is included on the 2-CD Deluxe Edition of the film's soundtrack, while a still photo recreation of the sequence featuring shots of Ebsen as the Tin Man was included as an extra with all VHS and DVD releases of the film since 1989. Until his dying day, Ebsen complained of lung issues from involvement in "that damned movie."^[3] Ironically, Ebsen outlived all of the major cast members of The Wizard of Oz by at least 16 years, and lived at least 10 years longer than any of them.

World War II[link]

After recovering from the illness, Ebsen became embroiled in a contract dispute with MGM that left him idle for long periods. He took up sailing, eventually becoming so proficient in seamanship that he taught the subject to United States Navy officer candidates. In 1941, with the start of U.S. involvement in World War II, Ebsen applied several times for a officer's commission in the Navy, but was repeatedly turned down. Ebsen applied for a United States Coast Guard commission, was accepted, and promptly given the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. This war-time rank was one step up from the rank of Ensign, the usual rank given newly appointed naval officers in peacetime. Ebsen served as damage control officer and later as executive officer on the Coast Guard-manned Navy frigate USS Pocatello, which recorded weather at its “weather station” 1,500 miles west of Seattle, Washington. These patrols consisted of 30 days at sea, followed by 10 days in port at Seattle. Ebsen was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard as a lieutenant in 1946.^[4]

Return to acting[link]

Ebsen made his television debut on an episode of The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre in 1949. This led to TV appearances in: Stars over Hollywood, Gruen Guild Playhouse, four episodes of Broadway Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Corky and White Shadow, the H.J. Heinz Company's Studio 57, Screen Directors Playhouse, two episodes of Climax!, The Martha Raye Show, Playhouse 90, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Johnny Ringo, two episodes of Bonanza, an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, three episodes of Maverick playing assorted homicidal villains, and 77 Sunset Strip. Ebsen received wide television exposure when he played Georgie Russell, a fictional companion to frontiersman Davy Crockett, in the wildly popular Disneyland television miniseries Davy Crockett (1954–1955).

In the 1958-1959 season, Ebsen co-starred in the 26-episode half-hour NBC television adventure series Northwest Passage. This series was a fictionalized account of Major Robert Rogers, a colonial American fighter for the British in the French and Indian War. Ebsen played the role of Sergeant Hunk Marriner. Keith Larsen (1924–2006) played Rogers. Northwest Passage was one of the first U.S. television programs that was broadcast in color.

In 1960, Ebsen appeared in episodes of the Rawhide and Tales of Wells Fargo tv shows, which he would reprise in episodes of both shows during 1962 in the roles of different characters. While Ebsen shared screen time with Sheb Wooley and Paul Brinegar in the earlier Rawhide episode, he would act alongside Clint Eastwood in the second..

In 1961 to 1962, Ebsen had a recurring role as Virge Blessing in the ABC series Bus Stop. This series was a drama about travelers passing through the bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise, Colorado. Several episodes were directed by Robert Altman. Ebsen's role had been played by Arthur O'Connell in the earlier film version on which the series was loosely based. Ebsen also appeared twice as "Mr. Dave", a homeless hobo, on The Andy Griffith Show, playing opposite Ron Howard. Ebsen also played Jimbo in The Twilight Zone episode The Prime Mover (Season 2 - Episode 21) in 1961.

[edit] Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Throughout the 1950s, Ebsen performed in films, mainly Westerns. One notable exception was an acclaimed role as Doc Golightly, an older, rural veterinarian deserted by his young wife, played by Audrey Hepburn, in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's. This role brought Ebsen to the attention of the casting director of the CBS television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.

[edit] The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971)

Irene Ryan and Ebsen, 1970

Ebsen became famous as Jed Clampett, an easygoing backwoods mountaineer who strikes oil and moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California in the long-running, fish-out-of-water CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Aside from the top-billed Ebsen, other principal cast members included Irene Ryan as Jed's mother-in-law, Daisy Moses, also known as Granny; Max Baer, Jr. as Jed's dim-witted nephew Jethro Bodine; Donna Douglas as Jed's only child, the curvaceous, critter-loving Elly May Clampett; Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale, a bank president who oversees the Clampett fortune; and Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway, Drysdale's secretary.

Although scorned by critics, The Beverly Hillbillies attracted as many as 60 million viewers between 1962 and 1971 and was several times the highest rated show on TV. The show also spawned similar Paul Henning produced rural sit-coms such as Green Acres and Petticoat Junction which were eventually linked together in cross-over episode arcs. The Beverly Hillbillies was still earning good ratings when it was canceled by CBS (because programmers began shunning shows that attracted a rural audience). One episode, "The Giant Jack Rabbit", was the highest rated half-hour on television to that time and remains the most watched half-hour sitcom episode.

Not all was harmony among cast members on The Beverly Hillbillies set,, especially between the politically conservative Ebsen and the more liberal Kulp. Said Douglas, "They had a different view, so they had some heated discussions about that. They would go at it for weeks." In 1984, Kulp unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Pennsylvania. To her dismay, Ebsen supported her Republican opponent, incumbent Representative Bud Shuster, going so far as to tape an ad for Shuster that labeled Kulp as "too liberal." Ebsen claimed she was exploiting her celebrity status and did not know the issues.

[edit] Barnaby Jones (1973-1980)

Ebsen returned to television in 1973 as the title character of Barnaby Jones, which proved to be his second long-running television series. Barnaby Jones was a milk-drinking detective who came out of retirement to investigate the death of his son. Critics and CBS executives ridiculed the age of the show's audience, but it lasted eight and a half seasons, and 178 episodes. When Barnaby Jones was cancelled, it was one of the last surviving 1970s detective dramas. Lee Meriwether, 1955 Miss America, played Barnaby's widowed daughter-in-law, Betty Jones. Ebsen appeared as Barnaby Jones on two other television productions as well: a 1975 episode of Cannon, and in the 1993 film, Beverly Hillbillies.

Other television credits[link]

Ebsen's last regular television series was Matt Houston on ABC, starring Lee Horsley. Ebsen played Matt's uncle, Roy Houston, during the show's third season in 1984-1985.

Ebsen narrated the documentary series Disney Family Album during the 1980s on the Disney Channel and Steven Kellogg's "Paul Bunyan" on the PBS series Reading Rainbow in 1985. He made his final guest-starring appearance in 1994 on an episode of the short-lived TV series revival, Burke's Law.

Later years[link]

Although generally retired from acting as he entered his 80s, he had a cameo in the 1993 film version of The Beverly Hillbillies as Barnaby Jones, with the TV theme underscoring the scene. This was Ebsen's final motion picture role. Actor Jim Varney was cast in Ebsen's role as Jed Clampett.

In 1999, Ebsen provided a voice for an episode of the Fox Entertainment program King of the Hill (the oldest person to ever star on the show). Ebsen was set to play a cameo role on the Howard Stern-produced syndicated sitcom Son of the Beach, but was forced to cancel it due to bad health.

Ebsen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1765 Vine Street, as well as a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Death[link]

Ebsen died of pneumonia at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California, on July 6, 2003, at the age of 95. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Personal life[link]

Ebsen married Ruth Cambridge in 1936 and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alix. The couple divorced in 1942. In 1944, Ebsen met and married Nancy Wolcott. They had five children: Susannah, Cathy, Bonnie, Kiersten, and Dustin. In 1985, the 41-year marriage ended in divorce. That same year, Ebsen met his third wife, Dorothy Knott. The couple had one child.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011} Throughout his long life, Ebsen had many hobbies: public speaking, traveling, singing, playing guitar, golfing, spending time with his family, riding horses, swimming, gardening, fishing, sailing, painting, and building sailboats. He became a folk artist and, as an avid coin collector, co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club in 1987 with much younger actor Chris Aable. Ebsen's favorite leisure time activity undoubtedly was dancing. As Ebsen entered his 90s, he continued to keep active, and there were media reports that he had begun work on his first novel about a year before his death.

Quotes[link]

• "'As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.' Often the values of the influences imposed on us by our mothers and fathers, our teachers and certain friends, are not realized until years later, when we, as a sailor does, look back at our wakes to determine the course we have steered that got us to where we are. Today when I look back, then look around me to see with whom I am standing, I fully realize the influence on my life that must be credited to DeMolay."^[5]

• On being a best-selling author: "Writing fiction, there are no limits to what you write as long as it increases the value of the paper you are writing on."^[6]

• In 1965, about his stage performances: "I probably enjoyed show business most when I was doing plays like The Male Animal and Good Night, Ladies, when people would lay down their money and laugh and you'd see them walk out happy. By God, I'd feel honest. I could go home with a good taste in my mouth. You'd feel better, you'd feel more alive and like you were justifying your existence."^[7]

• Of The Beverly Hillbillies: "The one flaw in this is that you can't hear the people laughing."^[7]

Filmography[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Buddy Ebsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Buddy Ebsen at AllRovi
• Buddy Ebsen at the Internet Broadway Database
• The official Buddy Ebsen Virtual Museum
• The official Buddy Ebsen web site
• Fan tribute site
• AP obituary