There’s a pretty good chance that anyone under the age of 50 never heard of superstar strip-teaser Gypsy Rose Lee.

For those over 50, Lee’s name is synonymous with

burlesque entertainment. Her memoir published in 1957 detailed her childhood in vaudeville and became a Broadway stage musical and film, “Gypsy.”

Charlotte (Chotzi) Foley Van Bemmel, a town resident for 28 years and now living in Goldfield Ranch, was a young actress and dancer and played straight woman to Lee’s comedic talents in “Gypsy” for about a year.

“It was a terrible act but we enjoyed ourselves. I loved Gypsy,” said Van Bemmel, now 92. She recently talked about her 13-year theatrical career, ending when she married a carpenter stagehand and quit to raise a family.

“Gypsy was a special lady,” Van Bemmel said. “According to reports, she had a hard upbringing. She was kind and generous.”

Van Bemmel’s start in show business came through modeling for a Washington, D.C. photographer in the early 1950s.

Entertainer “Alphonse the Great Drapo” offered her a job. The act consisted of creating an evening dress using a single piece of fabric on a model in 20 seconds. She got the job in New York where she also modeled and appeared at various corporate events, including Westinghouse, to promote products. At one time, she toured 10 cities to introduce the Edsel automobile.

She studied singing and dance, leading to her first musical comedy, “Of Thee I Sing,” a George and Ira Gershwin revival in 1952.

Broadway producer and composer Jule Styne of “Gypsy” fame told her to change the spelling of her nickname to “Chotzi”.

“As long as you’re playing a stripper, you might as well use a name that sounds like a stripper,” Styne advised.

For a year and a half, from 1956-57, she performed in “Mr. Wonderful,” starring Sammy Davis Jr. Van Bemmel recalls it was the first Broadway show with an integrated cast.

“It took us six months to get used to each other. In the long run, it all worked out.”

She remembers Davis’ generosity. On opening night, he gifted Tiffany cufflinks to male cast members and a string of pearls to the females.

Earlier in her career, she was booked as a show girl at the Las Vegas Flamingo Casino when Lena Horne was the star act. yet black people were not allowed in the casino.

Later, she performed with Beatrice Lillie in the Zeigfield Follies of 1957.

“There were times that we were living on an Orange Julius (fruit drink beverage) and a hot dog for the day. It wasn’t all fun and games.”

When Van Bemmel wasn’t performing in a Broadway production, she became a show girl at the Latin Quarter. The New York City nightclub was owned by Lou Walters, father of TV news personality Barbara Walters.

“Every time I was out of work, I would go back. Mr. Walters was nice to me. One time I got stranded in LA and he sent me money for a plane ticket back to New York and then I worked off the cost of the ticket.”

Although she wore skimpy outfits in her acts, Van Bemmel said she never encountered sexual harassment or inappropriate propositions.

“When I was at the Latin Quarter, and I worked there six or eight months at a time, there was never anyone who came upstairs to the dressing room. Never.”

On one occasion during a job interview with film and theater producer Mike Todd, Van Bemmel said she walked out in tears. He told her he would not hire her because her breasts were not large enough.

“I was so embarrassed and angry,” she said.

She left show business after 13 years. “At first I missed it, and then I did other things.”

She became a speech pathologist after graduating from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. She was employed at a rehabilitation hospital and later, for five years, worked with developmentally disabled children.