Rose Thompson Hovick
Rose Thompson Hovick (August 31, 1890 – January 28, 1954) was the mother of two famous performing daughters: burlesque artist Gypsy Rose Lee and actress and dancer June Havoc.
Life and career
Rose Evangeline Thompson was born in Wahpeton, North Dakota, the daughter of Anna (née Egle) and Charles J. Thompson. Her maternal grandparents were German.
Rose Thompson married her first husband, Jack Hovick, when she was a teenager. She gave birth to Rose Louise Hovick on January 8, 1911 in Seattle, Washington, and her second daughter, Ellen June Hovick, in Vancouver, British Columbia, on November 8, 1912 (some sources indicate she was born Ellen Evangeline Hovick in 1913, but Havoc herself acknowledged the earlier year not long before she died), although she reportedly had numerous birth certificates for both girls which listed them as being either several years older or younger than they actually were. The former were to evade child labor laws and the latter for reduced or free fares. As a result, for many years they were never entirely sure of their actual ages. Later in their careers, the two daughters would adopt their more famous stage names, Gypsy Rose Lee and June Havoc. Rose's drive to create a performing career for her daughters eventually led to the end of her marriage to Jack Hovick, who disagreed with her intentions for the girls. Rose married her second husband, Judson Brennerman, a traveling salesman, May 26, 1916 at the Unitarian church in Seattle, Washington with Reverend J. D. A. Powers, officiating.
