An Interview With Author David C. Tucker Pt. 1

The Long Live Lucy Forum is proud to present an original interview with author David C. Tucker regarding his book The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms and Lucille Ball.



1. Why did you decide to write a book about the leading ladies of 1950s sitcoms?

So much has been written about our movie history, but less about our TV heritage. I love old movies, and their stars, but I wanted to know more about the pioneering stars who made the TV sitcoms I grew up loving. I read a book about ten film actresses from the Golden Age of Movies, and that sparked an idea – I started making my own “Top Ten” list.

2. Many of the actresses in your book have passed away. Was it difficult uncovering their stories?

I was lucky enough to get interviews with two who are still very much with us – My Little Margie’s Gale Storm, and Betty White. I also interviewed people who knew or worked with these ladies, including Eve Arden’s son Doug, writer/producer Sherwood Schwartz, and others. I spent a great deal of time doing library research, and screening these actresses’ TV shows and movies. It was also very helpful to be able to collect rare magazine articles and other memorabilia on eBay.

I loved finding out some of the tidbits that I’d never heard before, such as the fact that a Lucy radio comedy was being pitched to sponsors in the mid-1940s, prior to My Favorite Husband – one that would have teamed her with actor Keenan Wynn.

3. Lucille Ball and Betty White have remained household names for over 50 years. What quality do these actresses have (or have more of) than the lesser known actresses in your book?

In Betty White’s case, I think her versatility has kept her working and in the public eye. She’s shown that she can do sitcoms, dramatic shows, game shows, talk shows, and even recently a daytime soap opera. When I asked her this question, however, her response was that she was just “the luckiest old broad on two feet”! She’s a very modest lady.

As for Lucy, I personally don’t think we’ll ever stop loving I Love Lucy. As I said in the introduction to the book, when I watch 1970s sitcoms like All in the Family, they seem to me now more dated than Lucy’s 1950s shows. The people who made I Love Lucy more or less *invented* the TV sitcom, and they’re a hard act to follow.

Busy As A Bee: Betty White
Click photo to enlarge.


View part two of this interview.

An Interview With Author David C. Tucker Pt. 2

This is part two of The Long Live Lucy Forum's original interview with David C. Tucker, author of The Women Who Made Television Funny. View part one.


4. How did television viewers react to seeing Lucille Ball, an older woman, pregnant?

Though nowadays we’re quite accustomed to seeing pregnant actresses continue in their TV roles while they’re expecting, this was quite a novelty in 1952. There was a great deal of resistance on the part of CBS and the sponsor to permitting this storyline. Had I Love Lucy not been the #1 show on television at the time, they probably would have vetoed it altogether.

But viewers were so emotionally involved in the lives of the Ricardos, more so than most sitcom characters, that they responded with great affection and delight to the news. Many of them knew that, in real life, Lucy and Desi had long wanted children, and had suffered through a miscarriage before Lucie was born.

Watch that famous scene in the Tropicana when Lucy breaks the news to Ricky, even today, and see if there’s not a little moisture in your eyes by the time it’s over!

Having A Baby: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
Click photo to enlarge.

5. I've heard about Lucille Ball using a device, recommended to her by Ann Sothern,that lifted her face up. Did Ann Sothern use this device on her series? Were devices like this common among actresses back then?

Yes, both ladies, at one time or another, used such a device, as did stars like Bette Davis. Keep in mind that Hollywood is not necessarily friendly to women over a certain age, and that there is a lot of pressure on actresses, even those in comedy, to remain youthful-looking. The modern-day equivalent, perhaps, aside from plastic surgery, would be something like Botox.

In the 1960s, however, after her second sitcom ended, Ann Sothern grew tired of trying to maintain a glamorous appearance, and began delving into character roles. She allowed herself to gain some of the weight she’d been fighting in the 1950s, and made some interesting films like “Lady in a Cage.” She often said that she found such roles more challenging than leads.


Funny Ladies: Lucille Ball and Ann Sothern
Click photos to enlarge.

6. Recently, there was an essay in Vanity Fair Magazine by Christopher Hitchens titled, "Why Women Aren't Funny."
Why do you think some men still feel this way?

Well, obviously, I don’t agree! :--) I chose to write about the women of 1950s comedy, rather than the men, because I found their work so much more intriguing.

What I gleaned from Mr. Hitchens’ essay was that he believes our society still tends to validate women for being attractive, whereas men are judged from a broader perspective. Whether or not you agree with that, it does seem to be the case that there are relatively few actors who really have a knack for comedy. Joan Davis, who starred in I Married Joan, encouraged her own daughter to pursue comedy, telling her there were already too many aspiring glamourpusses in Hollywood, but not very many good comediennes.

Thanks for the interesting questions!

***
Credits: DizzyArnizzy (Josh) provided the color images of Lucille Ball and Ann Sothern. Book cover art courtesy of McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. All other images were provided by GidgetGrape (Sharon). Questions 4 and 5 were written by MoreThanOneSubject (Claude). Questions 1-3 and 6 were written by GidgetGrape (Sharon). Questions answered by David C. Tucker.

The Long Live Lucy Forum wishes to express its thanks and gratitude to David C. Tucker for allowing us to interview him for our blog. The Women Who Made Television Funny is available in bookstores in now. Pick up a copy!

Lucy's Biggest Fan Having A Ball

Michael Stern, who Lucille Ball called her number one fan, is writing a book about his experiences with the first lady of comedy. The book is called I Had A Ball and doesn't have a set release date yet.

You can visit Stern's website at lucysnumberonefan.com. Stern will also be the guest on tomorrow's "Star Notes." "Star Notes" is the Internet radio program devoted to Lucille Ball. It is hosted by Lucy Historian Tom Watson. "Star Notes" airs every Saturday from 4-6 PM Eastern Time at shokusradio.com.

Thanks to DizzyArnizzy (Josh) for the scoop on this story.

Lucy's FBI File

Get the scoop on Lucy's FBI File by reading Celebrity Secrets: Government Files on the Rich and Famous by Nick Redfern.

Here is an excerpt from Kristi Turnquist's book review:

Nick Redfern digs into declassified government files to see what the FBI and others were snooping into. A hefty chunk of entries cover the Communist-obsessed '50s, when J. Edgar Hoover was convinced there were Reds hiding inside every Hollywood home. Even all-American Lucille Ball turned out to have some Commie roots, as one report reveals: "Ball stated that in 1936 she registered to vote as a Communist or intended to vote the Communist Party ticket because her grandfather, Fred Hunt, had been a Socialist all his life and she had registered as a Communist to make him happy." Lu-ceeeee!

Celebrity Secrets: Government Files on the Rich and Famous by Nick Redfern retails for $14 and is available for purchase now.

Book art courtesy of Amazon.com.



Related Links and Blog Entries:
Nick Redfern's Website
Hoover Loved Lucy

Lucy Featured In New Classic TV Book

Author David C. Tucker has included a chapter about Lucille Ball in his new book entitled, "The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms."

The 215 page book pays tribute to television's earliest and often overlooked female pioneers including Lucy's close friend, Ann Sothern.

The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms" is available for purchase now. For more information visit:


http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-2900-4

Book cover art courtesy of McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

"Lucy At The Movies" Book Being Published In The Fall

Lucy At The Movies, a new book chronicling Lucille Ball's lengthy film career, will be published this fall. The hardcover book written by Cindy De La Hoz will be 386 pages long and contain hundreds of rare production stills, including some from Ball's personal collection. Lucy at the Movies will also contain information on Lucy's earliest big screen appearances, short subject films and movies that Lucy didn't make.

Of the book, Lucie Arnaz said:

"This was an enormous undertaking. But it's clear that it was also a labor of love. I know my mother would be very impressed and flattered by your dedication to her film work and chronicling her career in general, as you have in the biography section, and would deeply appreciate all of your hard work. This encyclopedia of information on, not only the film career of Lucille Ball, but the way films were made, is an invaluable history of the motion picture industry and those who first created it."

Amazon.com lists the book's release date as October 2007. If you would like to receive a personally autographed copy of "Lucy At The Movies,"you can pre-order the book from The Lucy-Desi Center's Gift Shop.

The Lucy-Desi Center's Gift Shop

(Lucie Arnaz quote and photo courtesy of The Lucy-Desi Center)

More Raves For The "I Love Lucy" Scrapbook

Ron Berthel of The Reno Gazette-Journal writes:

Those who want to relive TV history can visit every episode of "I Love Lucy" -- all 193 of them -- through "The 'I Love Lucy' Scrapbook" (Running Press, $35).

Elizabeth Edwards, a longtime friend and employee of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, covers the nine-year run of the classic 1950s sitcom in photos, facts and reproductions of letters, telegrams, postcards, newspaper clippings, print ads, documents, lyrics and personal notes from archives and collections.

Among the removable artifacts are a piece of white tulle like that used in the tutu Lucy wore in episode No. 19, "The Ballet"; a swatch of wallpaper from the disastrous "Redecorating" episode; and a receipt for $483 for 700 pounds of meat, giving Ricky good reason to have a beef with Lucy in "The Freezer," episode No. 29.

Celebrating the arrival of Little Ricky -- probably the most famous birth in TV history -- are a paper sleeve holding a realistic (but not real) 45 rpm record of "There's a Brand New Baby at Our House" and a pocket with a removable and tattered birth certificate dated Jan. 19, 1953.

"Lucy" Is A Holiday Essential

The San Jose Mercury News has named "I Love Lucy: The Complete Fourth Season" as one of 50 essential DVD Sets to give or get this holiday season. Season Four contains the classic "California, Here We Come" episode and features cameos by many of the era's most popular celebrities.

Recently The Boston Herald listed “The I Love Lucy Scrapbook” by Elisabeth Edwards as a great gift for baby boomers.

Merv Griffin's Carmel Valley Estate For Sale

Merv Griffin, best known for his long-running TV series, "The Merv Griffin Show" is selling his Carmel Valley Estate for $6.2 million. The Monterey County Herald stated that from the late 1970s into the 1990s Griffin entertained Lucille Ball and other celebrities at his estate.

One weekend, industrialist Armand Hammer flew down in his private jet, with Lucille Ball and her husband, Gary Morton, and Cary Grant and his wife and daughter. Also around for the weekend was Arthur Murray, the famous dance instructor, and his wife, Kathryn, and Eva Gabor of "Green Acres" fame.

Griffin wrote about the weekend in his 2003 memoir, "Merv: Making the Good Life Last." The group spent the weekend lounging around the pool, playing board games and relaxing.

"Grant wandered around draped in a large caftan, looking like a Tibetan holy man," Griffin wrote, prompting Ball to keep calling him the "great High Lama."

Lucy & Desi Scrapbook Inspires Pop-up Pirates Book

From Philly.com :

Swashbuckling Pat Croce could have just written a book about the golden age of pirates.

Instead, his new Pirate Soul (Running Press) is what he calls a 'mini-museum' - including a fold-out treasure map, replicas of trading cards stashed in little pockets, a replica Jolly Roger flag suitable for hanging. It's like a Pop-up Book for adults.

'I wanted something cool that I could sell at Pirate Soul,' says Croce, of the pirate museum he opened early last year in Key West, Fla. The book was modeled on a book about I Love Lucy's Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, which included copies of love letter, birth certificates and scripts.

He says he took a cut in the standard author royalty by insisting that Running keep the cover price under $30.

How un-piratelike.

Tentative LDCH Release Date, Lucy's Great Grave, Etc.

I have a bunch of random Lucy news and mentions so I thought I would put it all here for you in one post.

Tentative LDCH Release Date

According to Still in Love With Lucy by Thomas Watson, CBS/Paramount Home Video is aiming for February 13 as the release date for The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

Lucy's Great Grave
Lucille Ball's life story is documented in the book Great Graves of Upstate New York by Chuck D'Imperio, a disc jockey at WDOS-WSRK Radio. There's an article about Mr. D'Imperio here.

William Frawley and Vivian Vance are also mentioned in a new book by Brian Thomsen.

Lucille Ball in the 1930s
This blog has an interesting timeline of Lucy's Life in the 1930s.

Carol Burnett talks about Lucy in her stage show.

“After I won the Mister Hercules contest, a Hollywood agent convinced me to go to California to meet with Desilu Productions owners Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz,” Lupus said. “At first I was cast in small parts, but later I got the Willy Armitage role and acted for seven years.”

Remembering Carol C. Watkins: "Her friend Desi Arnaz once told her, 'Carol, you are the real Lucy.'"

Lucy Knew Death Was Near

Palm Springs' first elected mayor and author of View From the Saddle: Characters Who Crossed My Trail, Frank Bogert, said that Lucille Ball knew she would die shortly before her death. Bogert was the publicity manager for the former El Mirador Hotel where he befriended Ball.

This is an excerpt:

Ball is the celebrity he remembers most. Two weeks before she died, she called him. They spoke for a long time. Bogert said she knew she would die soon.

"She was the most wonderful friend I've ever known," he said.

Read the full article here:
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061004/NEWS01/610040324