James “Gypsy” Haake, 1932 – 2026

Actor, dancer, and drag performer James “Gypsy” Haake, 94, died on Sept. 13. Haake performed for more than ten years at the Horizon Casino & Resort in Lake Tahoe, where he was the emcee at the Carnival Cabaret; he was also emcee at Gypsy’s in New York and La Cage Aux Folles in Los Angeles. His obit says he was a dancer in Broadway musicals, starting in the 1950s—but frustratingly, I cannot find any credits online. Mel Brooks cast him as the femme Sasha in his 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be, and he went on to appear in such TV shows and movie as The Morning After, Webster, The Fall Guy, Max Headroom, Dynasty, Married…With Children (he took the “Uncle Otto” role that Divine was supposed to play before his death), Troop Beverly Hills, Clifford, and Miley Cyrus’s 2017 “Younger Now” video. Fellow performer David Allen wrote, “He was one of the most electric person I've ever had the pleasure to know.”