GYPSY ROSE LEE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 04/13/1936 - HFSID 41278

GYPSY ROSE LEE
Letter from Lee dated 1936, terminating a contract with Mr. Leonard Sillman, stating "The notice is given you only for the reason that in your answer to me letter of January 25, 1936 you did not appear to agree with the position taken by me"
Typed letter signed: "Gypsy Rose Lee", ¾p, 8½x11. New York City, 1936 April 13. To Mr. Leonard Sillman, New York City, exercising her right to terminate a contract. In full: "With further reference to the agreement between us dated December 5, 1935, and to your answer to my letter of January 25, 1936, I now hereby give you written notice that I exercise my right to terminate the said agreement as therein provided. This notice is given you only for the reason that in your answer to my letter of January 25, 1936 you did not appear to agree with the position taken by me in that letter." The year after she signed this letter, Lee made her film debut, appearing in two films: Ali Baba Goes to Town and You Can't Have Everything. By 1939, the woman who turned strip tease into an art form, would headline at the World's Fair in New York. Born Rose Louise Hovick, Gypsy Rose Lee (1914-1970) was put on vaudeville stages as a child by her ambitious mother, playing secondary roles behind her younger sister "Baby June", who became the actress June Havoc. Lee found her true niche as Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous name in strip tease. In addition to appearing in films from 1937-1969 and on television from 1956, Lee also wrote a play (which became the 1945 film, Doll Face) novels and an autobiography. Her 1957 autobiography, Gypsy, premiered as celebrated Broadway musical in 1959 and was later made into two feature films of the same name. Lightly creased with folds, Vertical fold at the first "y" in Gypsy, horizontal fold underlines signature. ½-inch tear at lower right blank edge. Chipped at blank right edge and lower left blank edge. Slightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.