From the S&S archives:
GI son greets Gypsy Rose Lee

MUNICH (S&S) — Gypsy Rose Lee is just as affable, bouncy, flamboyant, and, in her own laughing words, big-mouthed as ever.

The still-youthful, 51-year-old burlesque queen, author and TV and movie star hit Munich with a splash, promptly starred in a Hollywood-style plane "departure," then offered spicy quotes on a wide variety of subjects.

Her only son, Pfc. Erik Kirkland, stationed with the 24th Inf Div in Augsburg, Germany, met her at planeside along with Army and official observers and the press. With cameras grinding and clicking, she made a number of trips up the plane ramp and had plenty of affection for the 20-year-old son she hasn't seen in a year.

"Prop" Luggage

Miss Lee's famous furs and costumes came separately, but this didn't stop the show. She climbed aboard a nearby luggage tractor, with assistance from her son, and hoisted her skirt several inches to display a still-curvy leg. Her apparel was a Technicolor delight — bright lavender from shoes to wraparound turban. Her rings and bracelets bore amethysts.

When she finally got her feet on the ground, Gypsy explained that the costume was from her latest movie, "Mother Superior," which she had just finished before coming to Europe to spend a couple of weeks with her son.

Going Strong

Miss Lee is going strong these days with movie roles and a daily television show. Questioned on the TV show format, she quipped "It's just a lot of laughing and scratching. I interview different personalities from show business and sometimes they sing or perform." Judy Garland and Steve Allen have made recent appearances.

Calling her three soldier-show appearances "just an audition" the veteran stage trooper : ribbed officials by adding, "maybe if 1 do good they'll bring me back for more shows so I can save $1,000 (for plane tickets). She was scheduled to narrate a movie entitled "A Curious Evening with Gypsy Rose Lee" in three Munich and Augsburg service clubs.

While scrambling to keep up with cameramen — she wanted movie shots of her own for publicity purposes — Miss Lee ignored the cart of personal belongings.

"I don't have any money and worry only about my knitting," she said.

Since she doesn't smoke or drink, "Just ordering a drink gives me a hangover and smelling a bar rag makes me drunk." Miss Lee answered the query, Then what? with the retort, "I knit." A sweater for Erik was in process, she explained.

After admonishing a photographer for a long series of pictures by stating "Don't take more pictures ... It's hard work holding my stomach in and my chin up," Miss Lee explained that she made her unofficial stage debut at the age of three, "in my grandpa's cabin by singing 'Hard-Boiled Rose.' "

To cap things off she had a ready retort for the time-worn movie question about her dimensions? Her reply: "Same as 20 years ago, only a little lower."