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LIZ’S RADIO SCRIPT
March 26, 1950
“Liz’s Radio Script” (aka “Liz Writes a Radio Play”) is episode #81 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on March 26, 1950.
Synopsis ~ Liz’s entry is a finalist in a playwriting contest, and the Coopers and the Atterburys perform it on the local radio station.
Note: Portions of this script inspired the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Writes a Play” (ILL S1;E17) filmed on September 15, 1952 and first aired on February 4, 1953.
“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benadaret was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.
MAIN CAST
Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper aka Liz Shakespeare) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.
Richard Denning (George Cooper / “John”) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.
Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury / “The Whistler”) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.
Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury / “Madge”) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.
For “Madge,” Bea Benadaret uses the same plain-talking ‘old lady’ voice she used to play Miss Lewis on “I Love Lucy.”
Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) does not appear in this episode.
Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.
GUEST CAST
Mary Jane Croft (Margaret Baldwin, a Poet) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy. ” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83.
EPISODE
ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers tonight, George is just coming home for dinner after a long day’s work.”
George is exhausted, but Liz reminds him they are going to dinner at the Atterbury’s to meet a writer named Margaret Baldwin. George recognizes the name as a girl she went to college with. George describes Maggie a gorgeous blonde. Suddenly he wants to go to the Atterbury’s but Liz doesn’t. George even changes into a clean shirt for the occasion.
On the doorstep of the Atterbury’s, George makes Liz promise not to make any smart-alec remarks to Miss Baldwin. Liz adopts a child-like voice of concession, calling the guest of honor “Miss Blank Verse.”
MR. ATTERBURY (to George): “She’s quite a girl, boy!”
LIZ: “A girl-boy?”
MR. ATTERBURY (to George): “Wait’ll you get a load of her iambic pentameter!”
LIZ: “Feh. I’ll bet it’s dyed.”Maggie comes in an gushes about George in florid words.
LIZ: “Well! If it isn’t Edgar Guest.”
Edgar Guest (1881-1959) was a British-born American poet who became known as the People’s Poet. His poems often had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life. In 1950 Favorite Verses of Edgar Guest, a collection of 100 of his poems, was published
Mr. Atterbury pretends to remember the title of Maggie’s latest book. She tells him it was called “Poems”.
LIZ: “If you ever write a sequel to it, I’ve got a smash title for you. You can call it… “More Poems.”
Iris asks Maggie if it is true that she is judging an amateur playwriting contest at the radio station.
MAGGIE: “I’m also giving a lecture at town hall about how to get the most out of Kipling.”
LIZ: “I knew she kippled the moment I saw her.”
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling’s works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories. His poems include “Mandalay” (1890) and “Gunga Din” (1890). He is considered an innovator in the art of the short story. His children’s books are classics.
Maggie says she’s been to Europe five times.
MAGGIE: “Something keeps pulling me back to Paris.”
LIZ: “What’d you do? Get your girdle caught on the Eiffel Tower?”Maggie adds that she’s continued her education, and is now Margaret Baldwin, PhD.
GEORGE: “Do you know what that means, Liz?”
LIZ: “Yeah. Margaret Baldwin, fud!”George corrects her and tells Liz that Margaret is now a doctor. Liz pretends to have a sore throat. Iris ushers everyone in to dinner.
Back at home, George chastises Liz for being jealous.
GEORGE: “I don’t want to be married to a brilliant, intellectual woman. I want to be married to you.”
Liz wells up with tears. She reminds George that she gave up her career as a writer to marry him.
LIZ: “You may not know it but you’re looking at the president of the Shortridge High School Scrawl and Quill Club. I won the senior class essay contest. I was on my way to becoming a shining literary light.”
GEORGE: “What happened?”
LIZ: “I married you and cut off my current.”
Shortridge High School (Indianapolis, Indiana) was the alma mater of “My Favorite Husband” writer Madelyn Pugh. It was there that she became interested in writing, along with classmate Kurt Vonnegut. Her yearbook was used as a prop in “Lucy Becomes a Reporter” (TLS S1;E17) in 1963. Vivian was said to have been a Shortridge graduate.
Liz finds her prize-winning essay and reads some of it to George, who is unimpressed and laughs.
LIZ: “Go ahead and laugh. They laughed at Robert Fulton, too, you know!”
GEORGE: “Robert Fulton? What did he write?”
LIZ: “You think I don’t know? ‘Showboat’”!
Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. Liz is confusing it with Show Boat, a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. It chronicles the lives of three generations of performers on the Cotton Blossom, a riverboat on the Mississippi River from the 1880s to the 1920s. The novel was made into a ground-breaking musical in 1929, which included the song “Old Man River”. Several film adaptations of the musical were made.
Liz vows that she will show George what a good writer she is by entering – and winning – the playwriting contest that Maggie is going to judge!
LIZ: “You’re looking at Liz Cooper – radio’s answer to television!”
End of Part One
ANNOUNCER: “As we return to the Coopers, we find Liz anxiously waiting for a phone call which will tell her whether she’s won the radio script-writing contest or not.”
The call comes and Liz Shakespeare (her pen name) is told she is one of three finalists (out of three submissions). She tells George that she has to furnish her own cast and perform it tomorrow night on the radio.
The Atterbury’s come over right away to begin rehearsals. Iris says that Mr. Atterbury ran to find his tights when he found out. Mr. Atterbury quotes dramatically from ‘Hamlet’.
Liz’s script is a mystery soap opera titled “John’s Other Whistler”.
Liz’s title conflates two popular radio shows, “The Whistler” and “John’s Other Wife.”
“The Whistler” was a radio mystery drama which ran from 1942 until 1955, on the west-coast regional CBS radio network. A character known only as the Whistler was the host and narrator of the tales, which focused on crime and fate. He often commented directly upon the action in the manner of a Greek chorus. Not coincidentally, Gale Gordon was one of several actors to play the Whistler. Cast members included Hans Conried, Joseph Kearns, Elliott Lewis, Gerald Mohr, Lurene Tuttle and Jack Webb.
“John’s Other Wife” was a radio soap opera broadcast on NBC from 1936 to 1942. It centered around a store executive, his wife, and a woman who worked for him. The man in the title was John Perry, who owned Perry’s Department Store. His insecure wife, Elizabeth, suspected John of being romantically involved with either Annette Rogers, his secretary, or Martha Curtis, his assistant. In the “My Favorite Husband” episode “The Quiz Show” (October 23, 1948), the show was also mashed with another radio title “Portia Faces Life” to become “Portia Faces John’s Other Wife”.
Mr. Atterbury plays the Whistler (who doesn’t have to whistle). George plays John, an elderly gentleman of 75 who gets killed at the end of the first act. Iris plays Madge, the Whistler’s 73 year-old wife. Liz is the writer, director, sound effects, man, incidental voices, and the music.
GEORGE: “Pardon me, Orson.”
George is referring to Orson Welles (1915-85), an actor, director, screenwriter, and producer (often all on the same project) who is remembered for his innovative work in radio, theatre and film. When Welles arrived in Hollywood in 1939, Ball was sent by the studio to escort him to a premiere to squelch rumors of his homosexuality. They became friends and Ball later let Welles live in her bungalow, as well as gave him an acting gig on “I Love Lucy” in 1956.
The next evening they arrive at the radio studio. Mr. Atterbury has his tights on under his pants – just in cast he has to do “Hamlet”. Maggie arrives to meet Mrs. Shakespeare, not knowing that it is Liz. Liz asks Maggie for the scripts, but Maggie says that the entrants were supposed to bring their own scripts! They have no choice but to duck into one of the radio station offices and re-type the entire script from memory.
On the air, Maggie has moved Liz’s play from first, to last.
GEORGE / ‘ANNOUNCER’: “This is the story of John and Madge, two people who live together, and loathe it.”
This is a paraphrase of the “My Favorite Husband” tag line: “Two people who live together, and like it!” spoken at the start of every program.
The writers liked the name Madge so much that in
“The Misunderstanding of the Black Eye,” the February 10, 1951
“My Favorite Husband,” and “I Love Lucy’s” “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20), Madge is the name of the wife in the suspense novel read by Lucy and Ricky. In those scripts Madge says “You don’t like me, do you?” and here – in “John’s Other Whistler” Madge says “I don’t like you.”
Liz has re-typed the script so quickly that it results in some hilarious on air mistakes:
GEORGE / ‘JOHN’ (to ‘Madge’): “You’ve got a face like a camel.”
LIZ: “That’s ‘cameo’!”IRIS / ‘MADGE’: “I don’t care. I’ve got another liver.”
LIZ: “That’s ‘lover’!”
IRIS (aside): “At my age, I’d get more use out of another liver!”GEORGE / ‘JOHN’ (to ‘Madge’): “And your nose is continued on the next page!”
Similar dialogue from “Lucy Writes a Play” (ILL S1;E17):
ETHEL: [reading from Lucy’s script] “You look very pretty, Lucita. Your hair is shining, your eyes are bright, and your nose is continued on the next page.”
ETHEL: [reading from Lucy’s script] “I think you go there to meet your liver.”
LUCY: [correcting her] “Lover!”The Whistler says that Madge is going to kill John. When ‘Madge’ is supposed to hear the doorbell, Liz does every sound except the doorbell – breaking glass, drum beat, auto horn.
On a February 1965 episode of TV’s “Art Linkletter’s House Party,” guest Lucille Ball plays an inept radio sound effects operator in a sketch called “Sam Spade, Private Eye.”
When Mr. Atterbury runs out of pages of script, he starts reciting from Hamlet! Maggie impatiently stops the play before it’s finished and decides to announce the judge’s decision. Liz wins for her comedy!
GEORGE: “How’d you learn to write comedy?”
LIZ: “Oh, you just write it serious, then type it in a hurry!”End of Episode
In the live Jell-O commercial, Bob LeMond plays a psychiatrist and Lucille Ball (using the throaty low-pitched voice) plays his subject.
LUCILLE: “Hello!”
BOB: “That’s Jell-O!”
LUCILLE: “I wondered why hello came in six delicious flavors.”The psychiatrist hypnotizes her to be a seductive French girl. The only effect is that she says “ooh-la-la” every other word.
BOB: “You realize how you sounded?”
LUCY: “Yeah. Ooh-la-la-lousy!”Art Linkletter, Bea Benadaret, Bob LeMond, CBS, Edgar Guest, Gale Gordon, I love lucy, Jell-O, John’s Other Wife, Jungle Book, Lucille Ball, Madelyn Pugh, Mary Jane Croft, My Favorite Husband, Orson Welles, Radio, Richard Denning, Robert Fulton, Rudyard Kipling, Shortridge High School, Show Boat, The Lucy Show, The Whistler -
LUCY LOVES EASTER HATS
March 26, 1961
On March 26, 1961, Lucille Ball appeared on the cover of Family Weekly, a Sunday supplement to newspapers. The inside article by Margaret Bell was titled “Lucy Loves Easter Hats” and featured Lucy and her daughter, Lucie Arnaz, trying on various Easter hats.
The article not only references Lucille’s current film The Facts of Life, but her stint on Broadway in Wildcat. At the time of publication, she had left the show for a rest in Florida, after suffering from exhaustion. Plans were for her to return, but the show proved to tiring for the television star and closed early.
The holiday Easter was not often mentioned on television. Unlike Christmas, its religious overtones were more solemn and personal. On “I Love Lucy” it was mentioned in the context of the Easter Parade, a promenade of men and women in their Easter finery, generally pre-ceding or following church services on Easter Sunday.
Prior to that, on Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” an episode titled “Liz and Iris’s Easter” (March 25, 1951) concerned the need for new dresses.
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WILL WRIGHT
March 26, 1891
William Henry Wright
was born in San Francisco, California. He was one of those familiar character actors who seems to have been born old. He specialized in playing crusty old codgers, rich skinflints, crooked small-town politicians, and the like.
Wright worked as a newspaperman before beginning a career in show business. He started his acting career in vaudeville and later moved to the stage. While on the NY stages, he picked up some film roles at Vitaphone Studios in Brooklyn.
Wright made his west coast film debut in 1940 Blondie Plays Cupid.
In 1942, he provided the voice of Friend Owl in Walt Disney’s animated film Bambi.
His first time working with Lucille Ball was on radio’s “Old Gold Comedy Theatre” production of “A Girl, A Guy, and A Gob” on February 11, 1945.
In 1949, he appeared (uncredited) with Lucille Ball in the film Miss Grant Takes Richmond.
He was seen twice on “I Love Lucy.” First, he played Mr. Walters, the locksmith from Yonkers, in “The Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4), filmed on May 16, 1952, and first aired on October 6, 1952.
Walters says that before becoming a locksmith he had show-business aspirations and once won an amateur dance contest.
WALTERS: “My friends all said I’d make another Freddy Astaire.”
Wright return to the series to play Bent Fork sheriff (and father of Teensy and Weensy) in “Tennessee Bound” (ILL S4;E14), filmed on November 18, 1954, and first aired on January 24, 1955.
He returned to Desilu Studios to film an episode of “Our Miss Brooks” aired in February 1956.
From 1954 to 1958, he did three episodes of Desilu’s “December Bride” – all as different characters.
In 1958 and 1961, he appeared on Desilu’s “The Real McCoys”.
In a 1955 episode of “The Danny Thomas Show” (filmed at Desilu Studios) Wright was teamed with Kathryn Card (Mrs. McGillidcuddy) in an episode titled “A Trip To Wisconsin”.
In 1960, Wright returned to “The Danny Thomas Show” to play Mr. Johnson, a citizen of Mayberry, in the episode “Danny Meets Andy Griffith”, which served as a pilot of “The Andy Griffith Show”. The episode has Danny jailed for going through a stop sign.
When “The Andy Griffith Show” was picked up for series (filmed at Desilu), Wright played the character of department store owner Ben Weaver in three episodes in 1960, 1961, and 1962.
In December 1961 he played Rob Petrie’s father on an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (filmed at Desilu).
His final role was (ironically) playing a dying grandfather on a May 1962 episode of “Bonanza.” Will Wright passed away on June 19, 1962, at age 68.
He was married to Nell Ida Peabody from 1920 until his death. They had one child together.
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STROTHER MARTIN
March 26, 1919
Strother Douglas Martin Jr.
was born in Kokomo, Indiana. His mother’s name was Ethel!
For a short time, the Martins moved to San Antonio, but soon returned to Indiana.
At 17 he won the National Junior Springboard Diving Championship. He served as a swimming instructor in the Navy during World War II.
After the war, Martin moved to Los Angeles and worked as a swimming instructor and as a swimming extra in water scenes in films.
He made his screen debut as a springboard diver in the 1950 film The Damned Don’t Cry! His television debut came in 1951 with an episode of “Stars Over Hollywood” titled “Prison Doctor.”
His only appearance opposite Lucille Ball was as the roadside café waiter in “Off to Florida” (ILL S6;E6) filmed on September 13, 1956, and first aired on November 12,1956. The episode starred Elsa Lanchester.
Coincidentally, in 1953, Martin played a soldier in George Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion which starred — Elsa Lanchester!
In April 1965, Martin played a Southern playwright named Harper Worthington Yates on an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (filmed at Desilu Studios) titled “Baby Fat.”
Martin perhaps is best known as the prison captain in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, in which he uttered the line, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate."
His final screen appearance was in the feature film Hotwire (1980), released posthumously.
“No man can achieve immortality. We don’t live for what comes after we are dead, but for what we can achieve in this life – the only chance we have.” ~ Strother Martin, three days before his death
Strother Martin died on August 1, 1980. He was married to Helen Beatrice Meisels from 1966 until his death.
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ED BEGLEY SR.
March 25, 1901
Ed Begley was born in 1901 in Hartford, Connecticut. His first success was the 1947 Arthur Miller play All My Sons, followed by Inherit the Wind (1955-57), which ran for 806 performances on Broadway and won Begley the 1956 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
He made his screen debut in Boomerang! in 1946. In 1962 he won an Oscar for his supporting role in Sweet Bird of Youth.
He made his television debut in July 4, 1950 on an episode of “Armstrong Circle Theatre” titled “The Sky Rocket”.
Most of Begley’s TV career consisted of appearances on various anthology series:
- “Cameo Theatre” (1950)
- “The Philip-Morris Playhouse” (1954)
- “The Motorola Television Hour” (1954)
- “Robert Montgomery Presents” (1953 & 1954)
- “Ponds Theatre” (1954 & 1955)
- “Philco Playhouse” (1953 & 1956)
- “Goodyear Playhouse” (1953, 1955 & 1956)
- “Omnibus” (1956)
- “The Alcoa Hour” (1955 & 1956)
- “Kraft Theatre” (1954-1958)
- “Armchair Theatre” (1959)
- “United States Steel Hour” (1957-1960)
- “ITV Television Playhouse” (1960)
- “The Dick Powell Theatre” (1962)
- “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” (1964)
- “Chrysler Theatre” (1966)
In May 1960, he appeared in “City in Bondage” for “Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” produced by Desi Arnaz, the penultimate entry in the series.
Begley made his one and only appearance acting opposite Lucille Ball as Coronel Bailey (Bean King) in “Lucy the Bean Queen” (TLS S5;E3) on September 26, 1966. Lucy tries to outwit Bailey’s ‘double your money back guarantee’ on his baked beans in order to make a quick buck.
He was back on the Desilu Studios lot to film an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (aired in February 1962) where he played a Judge. He also filmed at Desilu when he did two episodes of “My Three Sons” (1962 & 1968), the first of which with William Frawley.
His final screen role was aired posthumously for on the series “Corwin” for Canadian Television in November 1970.
He died in April 1970 at age 69. He was married three times and had three children, one of whom was named after him and also became an actor. Ed Begley Jr.
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LIZ & IRIS’S EASTER
March 24, 1951
“Liz and Iris’s Easter” (aka “Diet for Easter Dresses”) is episode #124 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on March 24, 1951. This is the penultimate episode of the series.
Synopsis ~ The boys make a deal with the girls, if Liz and Iris can slim down to the same dress size they wore ten years ago, George and Rudolph will buy each of them a whole new Easter outfit.
Note: This episode was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Diet” (ILL S1;E3) filmed on September 28, 1951, and first aired on October 29, 1951.
“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.
MAIN CAST
Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.
Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.
Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.
Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.
Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) is not heard in this episode.
Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.
GUEST CAST
Frank Nelson (Mr. Morgan, Manager at Miller’s Department Store) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”. Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs. His trademark was playing clerks and other working stiffs, suddenly turning to Benny with a drawn out “Yeeeeeeeeees?” Nelson appeared in 11 episodes of “I Love Lucy”, including three as quiz master Freddy Fillmore, and two as Ralph Ramsey, plus appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” – making him the only actor to play two different recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Nelson returned to the role of the frazzled Train Conductor for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. This marks his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.
Playing floorwalkers and other sales staff was a specialty of Nelson’s. The surname Morgan may be a nod to Kenny Morgan, then husband of Lucille’s cousin Cleo, as well as being Lucy’s press agent.
Shirley Mitchell (Miss Evans, Sales Girl at Miller’s Department Store) was born in Toledo, Ohio, on November 4, 1919. She started her acting career on radio in Chicago but soon moved to Los Angeles. Mitchell was a regular on radio in series such as “Fibber McGee and Molly” and “The Great Gildersleeve”. She became friends with Lucille Ball in the late 1940s when she was featured in four episodes of “My Favorite Husband.” Mitchell reunited with Lucille Ball on “I Love Lucy” playing Marion Strong, a member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), “Lucy Tells the Truth” (ILL S3;E6) and “Lucy’s Club Dance” (ILL S3;E25). Shirley Mitchell died of heart failure on November 11, 2013, seven days after her 94th birthday.
EPISODE
ANNOUNCER: “And now let’s look in on the Coopers. Tonight we’re going to ask you to go back with us to an evening two weeks ago. George and Liz are entertaining George’s boss, Mr. Atterbury, and his wife, Iris. Dinner is over and they have just settled down in the living room.”
Liz cuddles and coos with George, much to the dismay of Mr. Atterbury. Liz is feeling affectionate toward George because he’s promised to buy her a new Easter hat. Iris says that Rudolph has cut all the Easter sales ads out of their newspapers. Liz is feeling that her new hat will not go with last year’s outfit, but George puts his foot down – no new Easter outfit – just the hat.
LIZ: “But George! What am I going to wear to the Easter parade?”
GEORGE: “A new hat – and that’s it!”
LIZ: “Alright, but I’m liable to collect a crowd!”
MR. ATTERBURY: “You’ll really be the grandest lady in the Easter parade!”
While in the attic searching for her “Saxophone” (ILL S2;E2), Lucy Ricardo finds a fancy bonnet she says she wore on 5th Avenue for the Easter parade, which was not a formal parade, but an informal stroll on Easter morning in order to show off one’s Easter finery. The tradition started in the 1880s and inspired Irving Berlin to write the song “Easter Parade” for the 1933 Broadway musical As Thousands Cheer. The song later served as the basis for the 1948 MGM film Easter Parade. Mr. Atterbury is quoting a lyric from the title song: “you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.” This is the only mention of Easter on the series.
LIZ: “George used to say he wanted to show off my cute little figure? Whatever happened to those husbands?”
MR. ATTERBURY: “The same thing that happened to those cute little figures.”Liz and Iris object to the comment, insisting they have the same measurements as the day they were married.
GEORGE: “Let’s face it. We’ve all put on a little weight in the interim.”
MR. ATTERBURY: “That’s not the only place!”To prove her point, Liz and Iris go upstairs to try on one of her old dresses. But the dress won’t come down over the hips. Iris pulls on the dress, but to no avail. Liz holds her breath and she succeeds – except for a bad case of gap-o-sis – she can’t zip up the sides. Iris is successful in zipping Liz up and they go downstairs to show off.
Liz is in the dress, much to George’s astonishment. Trouble is, Liz can’t is holding her breath and can’t speak. Iris has to do all the talking for her. Liz is turning blue. George deliberately keeps Liz there so that she’ll have to breathe. When she does – the dress rips!
Mr. Atterbury and George announce that if she’d been successful, they’d have bought them new Easter outfits. They must diet down to size twelve or no deal. They will go down to Miller’s Department Store and put aside outfits in size twelve. The boys will go along to make sure that the outfits truly are size twelve.
IRIS: “And first thing tomorrow we start eating water cress sandwiches!”
In “Off to Florida” (ILL S6;E6), Lucy and Ethel are forced to eat water cress sandwiches prepared by their eccentric driver, rather than stop the car for a hot meal. They call it ‘buttered grass’.
End of Part One
The announcer does a commercial for Jell-O, providing a recipe for chocolate pudding pie.
ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again, we find them with the Atterbury’s in Miller’s Department Store.”
Mr. Atterbury wants to go through the lingerie department, and is ogling them models – until Iris points out that they are mannequins. A sales girl (Shirley Mitchell) approaches them. When Liz and Iris ask for size twelves, she is in disbelief and the boys laugh out loud. Liz explains that they will diet down to fit them and the sales girl shows them the dresses.
While the girls go to write up the sale, the boys check out the prices – $135 and $150! To assure they don’t have to pay the hefty price tag, they substitute size tens for the dresses the girls have selected.
A week later, Mr. Atterbury and George are commiserating about the diet food their wives have been feeding them.
MR. ATTERBURY: “Three times last night, I stood up and my pants stayed down.”
Liz serves dinner. A stalk of celery each! Iris has lost fourteen pounds and Liz has lost twelve.
LIZ: “Well, dinner’s over. Let’s do the dish.”
When the girls are in the kitchen, Mr. Atterbury fears they will lose the bet and tells George they need to return to Miller’s and swap the size tens for size eights!
At lunch the next day, Liz and Iris confesses they haven’t really lost any weight at all. Liz says that she isn’t worried. She called Miller’s and told the sales girl to swap the size twelves for size fourteens! They then order double chocolate sundaes to celebrate!
At Miller’s, Mr. Morgan, the manager (Frank Nelson), advises sales girl Miss Evans that there’s been an outbreak of shoplifting in the dress and suit department. He tells her that the culprits hide the merchandise under their own dresses and walk out that way. Miss Evans goes to lunch and Mr. Morgan watches her department.
When Liz and Iris think Mr. Morgan isn’t looking they grab two size fourteen suits and go to the dressing room to try them on – but they are skin tight. They realize they are more of a sixteen. As they come out of the dressing room, they spot George and Mr. Atterbury, so they dart into the dressing room to hide. They decide to put their dresses on over the suits so the boys won’t know what they’ve been up to.
Mr. Morgan is suddenly there to accuse them of shoplifting. The girls whisper to the boys that the do indeed have the new suits under their dresses. When faced with a choice of calling off the deal in exchange for the boys clearing their names, Liz has a different idea. She tells Mr. Morgan that George and Mr. Atterbury, are not their husbands, but their crime bosses: ‘Fagin’ Atterbury and ‘Blackie’ Cooper, criminal masterminds! Iris plays along.
The name ‘Fagin’ was borrowed from the Charles Dickens’ 1838 novel Oliver Twist.
In the preface to the novel, he is described as a “receiver of stolen goods”. He is the leader of a group of child pickpockets and prostitutes. Alec Guinness portrayed Fagin in David Lean’s 1948 film adaptation of Oliver Twist, The release of the film in the USA was delayed for three years on charges of being anti-Semitic. It was finally released in the United States in 1951.
The name ‘Blackie’ was borrowed from Boston Blackie, a jewel thief and safecracker in stories by Jack Boyle but who became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television. Actor Chester Morris was the best-known Blackie, playing the character in 14 films (1941–49), and in a radio series (1944-50) starring Richard Kollmar. In September 1951, the character made his television debut played by Kent Taylor. In many markets, the syndicated show ran on the same night as “I Love Lucy.”
IRIS: “Remember that cute little baby kangaroo you picked up at the zoo?”
LIZ: “Yeah, his mother never felt a thing.”
IRIS: “Then we moved on to bigger and bigger things.”
LIZ: “The next three months were misery. Trying to hide out with a hot merry-go-round on our hands.”Liz whispers to George and Mr. Atterbury that she will drop the gag if they get two new Easter outfits each. The boys give up.
LIZ: “Happy Easter, Iris!”
End of Episode
The announcer does a commercial for Jell-O puddings and pie fillings. He reminds listeners to watch for Lucille Ball in The Fuller Brush Girl.
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HOLD THAT GIRL!
March 24, 1934
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Directed by Hamilton MacFadden
- Written by Dudley Nichols and Lamar Trotti
- Produced by Fox Film Corporation
Synopsis ~ "That girl" is newspaper sob-sister Toni Bellamy (Claire Trevor), whose nose for news gets her into one jam after another, especially when she poses as an exotic dancer to get the goods on a gangster. Most people are fed up with Toni’s intrusiveness, except for Irish detective Barney Sullivan (James Dunn), who’s secretly in love with the girl. Accordingly, it is Barney who comes to the rescue when Toni’s journalistic enthusiasm ends up getting her kidnapped.
PRINCIPAL CAST
James Dunn (Barney Sullivan) won an Oscar in 1946 for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Claire Trevor (Toni Bellamy) won an Oscar in 1949 for Key Largo. She was also nominated in 1938 and 1955. This is her only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Alan Edwards (Tom Mallory) makes his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Gertrude Michael (Dorothy Lamont) appeared with Lucille Ball in Murder at the Vanities, released two months after this film.
John Davidson (Ackroyd) makes his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Robert McWade (McCloy) also appeared with Lucille Ball in Bunker Bean (1936).
Effie Ellsler (Grandmother) also appeared with Lucille Ball in The Whole Town’s Talking (1935).
Jay Ward (Warren) makes his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
UNCREDITED CAST
Lucille Ball (Girl) makes her seventh film appearance since coming to Hollywood in 1933. She does not play the “Girl” of the title! Although the above photo is not from Hold That Girl!, it is dated 1934, when Lucille Ball was 23 years old – and a blonde!
‘HOLD THAT’ TRIVIA
The film was also known as Every Girl for Herself and Woman and the Law.
The film’s highlight is Toni’s courtroom fan dance, performed at the demand of Barney to teach her a lesson.
Critical reception of the film was divided.
Two years later, screen writer Dudley Nichols won an Oscar for The Informer. He refused to accept his award because of the antagonism between several industry guilds and the academy over union matters. This marked the first time an Academy Award had been declined. Ten years later, the film’s other screen writer, Lamar Trotti, also won an Oscar, for the film Wilson.
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PHIL OBER
March 23, 1902
Philip Nott Ober was raised in White Plains, New York. After attending a preparatory school and Princeton University, he worked in advertising before moving into acting. He made his debut on stage, playing Tom Faulkner in Technique in 1931. He appeared in Lawrence Riley’s Broadway show Personal Appearance (1934) opposite Gladys George.
Ober’s film debut came in Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934), a B-movie about voodoo. His first studio feature was 1950′s The Secret Fury, also starring Vivian Vance, one of only two films she did before “I Love Lucy.” Vance and Ober had married in 1941.
Not coincidentally, his first television show was the fifth episode of his wife’s new show, “I Love Lucy”.
“The Quiz Show” (ILL S1;E5) was filmed on October 5, 1951, and first aired on November 12, 1951. Ober played a man posing as a long-lost husband of Lucy’s, but he was really an actor sent by Freddy Fillmore’s radio show. Ironically, although Vivian’s real-life husband, Phil Ober, appears in this episode, her on-screen husband, Fred Mertz, does not!
He later played the role of Dore Schary in “Don Juan is Shelved” (ILL S4;E22) filmed on February 10, 1955, and first aired on March 21, 1955. This time he was a last-minute replacement when the real Dore Schary backed out just before filming. Some sources say Schary (inset photo) did not want to make enemies in Hollywood, as many feared television was taking away audiences in large numbers. Schary said that Ober would do a better job playing him than he could himself.
Although Schary playing himself would have added an interesting dimension to the episode, the switch works because few people actually knew what Schary really looked like. This is reinforced when Bobby the Bellboy says he’s never even seen Dore Schary!
In 1959, Ober appeared on an episode of “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” titled “Martin’s Folly” starring Tony Randall and Carl Reiner. The show was introduced by Desi Arnaz.
In 1959, Vivian Vance divorced Phil Ober. Reportedly, Ober physically abused Vance. When she came to the set with a black eye one day, Lucy told Vivian that if she wouldn’t divorce Ober, she would!
Shortly afterwards, Ober turned up in a small role in The Facts of Life, playing Doc Mason.
In December 1961, he did an episode of Desilu’s “The Real McCoys” titled “The Rich Boy.”
He also did characters on “The Danny Thomas Show” (1956 & 1963) and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1966), shows filmed at Desilu Studios, but not produced by Desilu.
His final screen appearances was the 1968 feature film Assignment To Kill. After that, Ober left show business to become a diplomat. In 1982, while working at the US consulate in Mexico City, he died of a heart attack after complications from lung cancer, at age 80.
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PAULA WINSLOWE
March 23, 1910
Paula Winslowe was born
Winifred Margaret Reyleche in Grafton, North Dakota. She was sometimes billed as Paula Winslow.
On radio, she played Peg Riley on “The Life of Riley” from 1944 to 1951. On television, the role was played by Rosemary DeCamp (1948), and then Marjorie Reynolds (1953).
Her first experience in Hollywood was voicing Bambi’s Mother and the Pheasant in Disney’s Bambi.
Winslowe played the role of Mrs. Martha Conklin in “Our Miss Brooks,” starring Eve Arden, on both radio and television. Martha was the wife of the character played by Gale Gordon. From 1952 to 1955, she did nine TV episodes as the character. In 30 episodes over the same time period, the role was also played by Gordon’s real-life wife, Virginia Gordon. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios.
On “I Love Lucy” she was one of the many passengers on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14).
That same year she did an episode of Desilu’s “December Bride” titled “Matt’s Movie Career”.
From 1959 to 1962, she did three episodes of Desilu’s “The Real McCoys” all as different characters.
From 1953 to 1965, Winslow appeared in sixteen episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett” as various characters.
She was later seen in an episode of “The Lucy Show” titled “Lucy Plays Florence Nightingale” (TLS S2;E14) on January 6, 1964.
She played Mrs. Edwards, a patient that is mistaken for Lucy in an elaborate hospital-wide chase sequence.
Her final screen role was a September 1966 episodes of NBC’s “Run For Your Life.”
She was married to John Elliott Sutherland and William Nettles Goodwin. She had four children. Winslowe died on March 7, 1996 in Los Angeles at age 85.
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JOAN CRAWFORD
March 23, 1908
Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas. She made her film debut in 1923 with a short film called The Casting Couch. A controversial and provocative film of a sexual nature, MGM bought the rights to this film in 1935 (to protect their star) and the only existing copy was destroyed.
At Warner Brothers, Mildred Pierce (1945) gave her an opportunity to show her range as an actress, and her performance garnered Crawford her first, and only, Oscar for Best Actress. She earned two additional Oscar nominations; in 1947 for Possessed; and in 1952 for Sudden Fear. In 1962, she and Bette Davis co-starred in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Their longstanding rivalry may have helped fuel their phenomenally well-received performances.
Although Joan Crawford never appeared on “I Love Lucy,” her name was dropped in two episodes:
- On Lucy and Ethel’s bus tour of the Hollywood homes in “The Tour” (ILL S4;E30, above)
- and in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre when “Lucy Visits Grauman’s” (ILL S5;E1)
In “No More Double Dates” (TLS S1;E21) during the first season of “The Lucy Show,” Viv wants to see What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962), but Lucy thinks it will be too scary.
On a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter is having a garage sale and models a fur-lined jacket she says was worn by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. Her son Craig says that judging by the shoulder pads she could have worn it in The Spirit of Notre Dame, a 1931 football-themed movie NOT featuring Crawford.
On February 26, 1968, the two Lucilles finally worked together in “Lucy and the Lost Star” (TLS S6;E22), an episode originally written for Gloria Swanson. Considering Swanson’s performance in Sunset Boulevard (1950), the title of the episode was fitting, since Norman Desmond was truly a ‘lost star’.
Sources say that Lucille Ball was not happy during the making of this episode, as guest star Joan Crawford was often drunk during rehearsals and filming, which led to frequent arguments between the stars. Crawford was reportedly late for rehearsals and couldn’t remember her lines.
Joan feared that Lucy wanted her to replace her. Lucy had Joan continually repeat a dance number and then, in front of an audience, abruptly cut the number because of Crawford’s poor performance. Ironically, Joan Crawford first gained attention as a young dancer. Crawford was so upset that at one point, she wouldn’t leave her dressing room.
According to Ball’s friend Kaye Ballard, it was Vanda Barra, a featured actress frequently seen on “The Lucy Show,” who finally persuaded Crawford to continue with the show.
However, Crawford was letter-perfect the day of the show, which included dancing the Charleston, and received two standing ovations from the studio audience.
In March 1974, both Lucille Ball and Joan Crawford took part in the CBS Radio broadcast “The American Movie”.
Crawford made her final screen appearance in 1970. She died in 1977 at age 72. She had been married four times to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1929-33), Franchot Tone (1935-39), Phillip Terry (1942-46), and Alfred Steele (1955-59).
She had four children, including Christina, who wrote a tell-all 1978 biography and biopic titled Mommie Dearest (1982) where Faye Dunaway played Crawford as a competitive and abusive mother.
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