Bob Carroll Jr.
Bob Carroll Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Bob Carroll Jr. in 1966 | |
| Born | Robert Gordon Carroll August 12, 1918 |
| Died | January 27, 2007 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | St. Petersburg College |
| Occupation | Television writer |
| Years active | 1940–2005 |
| Spouse | 2 (divorced) |
| Children | Christina Carroll |
Robert Gordon Carroll Jr. (August 12, 1918[1] – January 27, 2007) was an American television writer notable for his creative role in the series I Love Lucy, the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, and collaborator Jess Oppenheimer.
Biography
Early life and career
Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania,[1] Carroll's family moved to Florida when he was three years old. His father made a living buying and selling real estate in the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The family also moved to California for a time in conjunction with Carroll Sr.'s work, but eventually settled back in St. Petersburg, Florida.
He attended St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College), where he studied French. He became a writer by happenstance. In 1940, he broke his hip in an accident. While he was recovering from his injury, he heard about a script writing contest being sponsored by local radio station WSUN. With plenty of time on his hands, the 21-year-old decided to try writing a radio script, which ended up winning the station's $10 prize.[2]
Hollywood years
Concerned that he might never work, due to his injury, Carroll felt very fortunate when his brother-in-law helped him get a job as the front desk clerk for CBS Radio in
There Carroll was teamed with fellow staffer Madelyn Pugh. The two created a partnership that lasted more than 50 years, and together wrote approximately 400 television episodes and 500 radio episodes. Though they briefly dated, they married other people.[1]
While writing for Steve Allen's early local radio program on CBS Radio station KNX in Los Angeles the duo became interested in writing for Lucille Ball's new radio series My Favorite Husband. In an effort to seize that opportunity, they paid Allen to write his own show one week so that they could focus their energies on creating a script submission for My Favorite Husband. Successful, the pair wrote for Ball's popular program for its 2½-year duration.[3]
Carroll and Pugh helped develop and create a
Later career
The duo's non-Lucy credits include work on the television series
In a 2005 interview with the
He co-authored Madelyn Pugh Davis' memoir, Laughing with Lucy, released September 2005.
Carroll died in Los Angeles after a brief illness. Divorced twice, he was survived by a daughter, Christina Carroll, of Los Angeles.[1]
Bibliography
- Pugh Davis, Madelyn; Bob Carroll Jr. (1 September 2005). Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America's Leading Lady of Comedy. Emmis Book. ISBN 1-57860-247-5.
Awards
- Golden Globe for Alice
- Writers' Guild of America Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Achievement (1992)
- Distinguished Alumni Award, St. Petersburg College (2005)
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Fox, Margalit (February 3, 2007). "Bob Carroll Jr., 88, a Writer of the Zany 'I Love Lucy', Dies". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c Samuels, Adrienne (May 6, 2005). "We all love Lucy, but what about Bob?". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ Profile of Carroll and Pugh LucyLibrary Archived October 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "'I Love Lucy' Awards & Nominations". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
References
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
