The Real Story of Gypsy Rose’s Grandma Is Just As Wild As What You’ve Seen On 'The Act'
In the latest episode of Hulu's The Act, viewers are introduced to Gypsy Rose's grandma, Emma Pitre.
The TV show alleges that Dee Dee and Emma had a difficult relationship, resulting in Dee Dee killing her own mother.
Here's the true story of what really happened to Emma Pitre.
Hulu's new TV show, The Act, has been bringing viewers inside the intense world of Gypsy Rose Blanchard-a woman who was the victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (recently renamed factitious disorder imposed on another, or FDIA). The fictionalized show chronicles Gypsy Rose's childhood dealing with her mother Dee Dee, who convinced Gypsy (and everyone else) that she had leukemia, asthma, vision, hearing impairments, muscular dystrophy, and epilepsy-even though she was actually a healthy child.
The Act has been packed with a cast of fascinating characters, and the latest episode introduced a new one: Gypsy Rose’s grandma, Emma Pitre (played by Margo Martindale).
In the show, Emma is portrayed as super-overbearing and controlling. As she’s dying, Emma even tells Dee Dee, "I knew [Gypsy] was better off with me from the day she was born." The show also suggests that Dee Dee didn’t exactly treat her mother well. But what really happened to Gypsy Rose's grandma Emma IRL? It's **almost** stranger than fiction...
Emma had her issues, just like Dee Dee.
According to an interview with Dee Dee's stepmother, Laura Pitre, in the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, "[Dee Dee's] mama was a little bit like her," she said. "Her mama was a shoplifter and all kind of stuff. I don't know how many times she had to go to court for shoplifting and other things," Dee Dee's father, Claude, added.
In The Act, Dee Dee shoplifts on the reg, and in reality, several of Dee Dee's relatives claimed in the documentary that she allegedly wrote bad checks, committed credit card fraud, and shoplifted.
As for Dee Dee's relationship with her mom...it wasn't good.
Dee Dee may have actually starved Emma while she was sick, effectively killing her. In the documentary, Claude, Laura, and Gypsy’s stepmother Kristy Blanchard all allege that Dee Dee had a hand in Emma’s death.
"Dee Dee was starving [Emma]," Kristy said. "Dee Dee wasn't giving her anything to eat. I asked her sister-you know, I was like, 'I hate to ask this, but you think Dee Dee had anything to do with her mom's death?' And she, you know, said, 'Now I wonder.'" Laura also had this to say in the documentary: "To leave your mama dirty and asking for food and not want to feed her? That's evil."
In The Act, Dee Dee can be seen lying to a doctor about the medication she’s given to Emma and ignoring her mother’s cries for help.
Still, it’s hard to say what actually happened. Both Emma and Dee Dee are dead (Emma died in 1997, and Dee Dee was killed by Gypsy Rose’s boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn in 2015).
Emma’s obituary makes no mention of a cause of death.
Cue the speculation-but what is known about Emma's death is that it occured at exactly 11:47 a.m. June 9, 1997 at age 59. She was buried under a joint tombstone in Hebert Cemetery in Golden Meadow, Louisiana.
The obituary also noted that Emma was survived by her husband Claude Pitre Sr. (who went on to marry Laura) and her children: Claude Jr., Claudia, Evans and Tate Pitre, Dorla Serigny and Claudine Blanchard. She was also survived by 17 grandchildren. One of Emma's children, Todd Pitre, died before his mother.
Oh, and Dee Dee may have tried to poison her stepmom, too.
Dee Dee and Gypsy went to live with her dad Claude and stepmom Laura in Louisiana after Dee Dee and Rod Blanchard divorced. There, Dee Dee did all of the cooking and her stepmother suddenly became sick, according to an article on Thought Catalog.
Laura, in the HBO doc, alleges that Dee Dee tried to poison her by putting weed killer in her food. Laura ended up bedridden for the next nine months as a result.
In the Thought Catalog article, Bobby Pitre, Dee Dee's nephew, told the publication that Dee Dee was "called out" for her treatment of Gypsy and Laura's illness at a family gathering. Claude and Laura kicked Dee Dee out, and she and Gypsy moved to Slidell, Louisiana. After Dee Dee left-surprise, surprise-Laura made a full recovery.
This family...whew.
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