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Lucille Ball

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Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball Lucille Ball one of the first known women comedians, and the woman known as the redhead with the very annoying voice, was born August 6, 1911 in an average middle class American family. Ball’s ground breaking show “I Love Lucy”, gave insight into a middle class family in the 1950’s, the only difference was Ball’s costar and husband Desi Arnez was Cuban. When I picked my topic I thought it would be cool to dig inside of Ball’s personal life with her husband and family but as I discovered she was one of the first women to have her own television show and is looked at as one of the most inspirational women in time for her contributions to television and the progression of women. But is Ball the woman behind her laughs from her show? In doing research I found that a woman by the name of Madelyn Davis, was supposedly the woman who wrote Ball’s punch lines and jokes. How is this so, her jokes seemed so original and most of the time things seemed to ad lived. The I Love Lucy show warmed hearts and filled homes with love and laughter, so is it possible that Madelyn Davis is the cause of all this? Although this may be true Lucile Ball inspired women all around to do what they feel she changed the way women were looked at in the 1950’s. Her role as a mother, wife, comedian and actress were all portrayed in the show. Lucy is most famous for her contributions to women’s progression in society and television. Lucille is known for being “In 1962, Lucy bought out former husband Desi, becoming the first (and only) female head of a studio – and once again rebranded herself as an industry powerhouse” states Deb Babbit.(p7) She also had her own personal battles and demons she faced, from being in an open inter-racial relationship to suffering miscarriages with her first two children. Most women in this time were home makers but Lucy switched up how society looked at women roles. It was not rare that you seen a woman being an actress but to have her own show


Cited: Babbit, Deb. “Ten Lessons of Lucy”. “The Savy Intern.p.1-10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 05 Nov. 2011 Gilbert, Tom. “The Woman Behind Lucy’s Laughs.” New York Times p.15. Academic Search Complete. Web. 07 Aug. 2011. Higham, Charles. The Real Life of Lucille Ball. St. Martin’s Press. 1986, Print. Landay, Lori. “Millions Love Lucy: Commodification and the Lucy Phenomenon.” NWSA Jornal. 11.2 25-47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. McCumber, Kirsten. “Lucy Leaves ‘em Laughing”. Entertainment Weekly. p68. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Apr. 1995. Monhollon, Rusty. Perspectives in American Social History: Baby Boom People and Perspectives. ABC-Clio, 2010. Print. Raw, Lawrence. “Form and Functions in the 1950’s Anthology Series. Journal of Popular Film and Television. 37.2 (2009): 90-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Stamberg, Susan. “Manipulation 101”. Electronic Media. 20.40 (2001): p18. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Oct. 2001.

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