And Fascinating: Joan Rivers introduces June Havoc … as if everyone knows her. Ummm, I didn’t. So I looked her up. Jumping jehosaphat. She was “Baby June” – the vaudeville prodigy and younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee… immortalized in the 1959 Broadway play “Gypsy”, “the greatest Broadway musical ever.” But, dig into June’s life and there there’s even more to her story, lots more…
On Joan Rivers and decorating: I watched that documentary, “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,” which was released last year. She is huge into decorating — which is already clear in her 1969 TV show. Asked last year about her regal French-style Manhattan apartment, she quipped,
This is how Marie Antoinette would have lived if she had had money.
On June Havoc: What a story, what a life! Vaudeville performer and silent film star from as early as age two (?)… younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee… eloped at age 13 or was it 15 or 16?… tried to shoot her mother when the mother had the boy arrested… destitute during the Depression, survived by doing dance marathons; for five months, she held the all time record for marathon dancing of 3,600 hours… she then became pregnant by a married man, a marathon promoter… endured to became a successful star of film and stage… wrote memoirs and turned them into Broadway plays…. helped restore an historic Connecticut village… and it sound like her homes were just lovely. June Havoc died just last year, read her New York Times obituary here, it’s all quite amazing. Our Reality TV has NOTHING on this one. Among the most poignant moments in the reprise of her life:
Over the years Ms. Havoc tended to be diplomatic when speaking of her mother and her sister. But in a 2003 interview with Alex Witchel of The New York Times, she was particularly straightforward:
“My sister was beautiful and clever — and ruthless. My mother was endearing and adorable — and lethal. They were the same person. I was the fool of the family. The one who thought I really was loved for me, for myself.”
Golly, what one can learn from the thread of a Joan Rivers tv show about kitchens.
On this 1969 episode of “That Show”: I learned some things, too.
***If you have a little time, I invite you to help me chronicle the tips within this 22-minute segment. What did you learn or enjoy? Leave a comment!*** I’ll start with:
Use soda water to clean stainless steel. Put some club soda on a sponge or rag and wipe it over your stainless steel countertop or sink to remove spots. Thank you, Brini Maxwell, Sally Pepper Adams, Joan Rivers, and June Havoc <3 .