Weaver to Star as Gypsy Rose Lee in Upcoming HBO Film

Oscar-nominee Sigourney Weaver, who will next appear Off-Broadway in A.R. Gurney's Crazy Mary at Playwrights Horizons, will star as Gypsy Rose Lee in the upcoming HBO film "Gypsy and Me," Variety reports.

Weaver will play Lee - the title character of the classic 1959 musical Gypsy - in the TV film, is based on her son Erik Lee Preminger's book My G-String Mother: At Home With Gypsy Rose Lee.  Known as burlesque's most intellectual stripper, Lee was also an actress who appeared on Broadway in DuBarry Was a Lady, The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, and more.  The HBO film will be set in the 1950s.

The film will feature a teleplay by Martin Sherman (Bent).  A director, as well as the remainder of the casting, have not yet been announced.

Weaver received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Hurlyburly, and previously appeared at Playwrights Horizons in Gemini. Other Broadway credits include The Mercy Seat, The Guys, The Merchant of Venice and Beyond Therapy. Best known as a film actress, she has been Oscar-nominated for her performances in the films Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl. Holes, Tadpole, Heartbreakers, The Ice Storm, Death and the Maiden, Ghostbusters I and II and the other Alien films are among additional screen credits.

Photo of Sigourney Weaver by Ben Strothmann