base on the memoir of gypsy rise lee and who paint a much more affectionate picture of their mother than do her sister and actress baby june havoc and in her autobiography and early havoc on which they shoot horse and don not they . be loosely base . i saw ethyl merman in the original broadway production of gypsy and and she be great a mama rise but certainly more merman than rise . i be disappoint with rosalind russell portrayal in the 1962 movie version . an otherwise excellent actress and russell be a very wooden substitute for merman . bette midler and by contrast and be good and more believable than merman and i would recommend her performance a the definitive one .