Madelyn Pugh

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Madelyn Pugh
Bel Air, California
, U.S.
Occupation(s)Television producer and writer
Years active1951–2009
Spouses
(m. 1955; div. 1960)
Richard Davis
(m. 1964; died 2009)
Children1 (with Martin)

Madelyn Pugh (March 15, 1921 – April 20, 2011), sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin,[1] was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the I Love Lucy television series.

Early life and education

Pugh was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to I. Watt Pugh, a bank treasurer,[2] and Louise Huff.[3] She had two older sisters, Audrey and Rosalind.[2]

During her senior year at Shortridge High School, she was co-editor of the high school newspaper, along with her classmate Kurt Vonnegut.[4] She graduated in 1938, two years before Vonnegut.[5][4]

In 1942, she graduated from Indiana University's School of Journalism.[citation needed]

Career

Pugh became interested in writing while serving as Friday editor of the Shortridge High School daily newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana with classmate Kurt Vonnegut.[4] At Shortridge she also served as vice president of her senior class. Her first professional writing job was writing short radio spots for WIRE, an Indianapolis radio station.

When her family moved to California, she got work as a radio writer, first for NBC and then CBS, where she met Bob Carroll. Pugh credits some of her breakthrough as "the girl writer" to the war effort, which limited the pool of qualified male writers; she was frequently the only female writer on staff.[citation needed]

Early in her career, as a staff writer for CBS Radio in Hollywood, Pugh forged a partnership with Bob Carroll Jr. which lasted more than 50 years. Together they wrote some 400 television programs and roughly 500 radio shows. While the team was writing for The Steve Allen Show, they became interested in writing for Lucille Ball's new radio show, My Favorite Husband. They paid Allen to write his own show one week so they could focus on creating a script submission for My Favorite Husband. Under the supervision of head writer Jess Oppenheimer, the pair wrote Ball's radio program for its 2½ years.[6]

Pugh and Carroll helped create a

Emmy Awards for their work on the series.[7]

Pugh and Carroll are credited with helping create the 'Lucy' character, which Ball played in one form or another for over 40 years. The pair also wrote episodes for

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) and Ball's final series, Life with Lucy (1986).[citation needed
]

The pair's other writing credits include work on the television series

In September 2005, Madelyn Pugh Davis, who lived in California, released her memoirs, titled Laughing with Lucy, written with Bob Carroll Jr.

Personal life and death

Pugh was married twice, first to TV producer Quinn Martin on December 24, 1955, in Los Angeles, until their 1960 divorce. They had a son, Michael Quinn Martin. She later married Dr. Richard Merrill Davis in 1964, and they remained married until his death in 2009.[8][9]

Cover of Laughing with Lucy

Pugh Davis died on April 20, 2011, aged 90, in Bel Air, California, and her ashes were in a place of honor on display in the Chapel columbarium, at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Works and publications

  • Davis, Madelyn Pugh; Carroll, Jr., Bob (2005). Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America's Leading Lady of Comedy. Cincinnati, OH: Emmis Books. .

Portrayal in popular media

Pugh was played by Alia Shawkat (younger) and Linda Lavin (older) in Being the Ricardos, a 2021 film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.

Awards

Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll Jr.

  • 1955, Emmy nomination for comedy writing, I Love Lucy
  • 1970, Emmy nomination for "Lucy Meets the Burtons" episode, Here's Lucy
  • 1979, Golden Globe as Producers for Alice
  • 1990, Television Academy Hall of Fame award, I Love Lucy
  • 1992, Writers' Guild of America Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Achievement
  • 1999, "Loving Lucy" award, Lucy Convention
  • 2001, UCLA Lifetime Achievement award

Madelyn Pugh Davis

References

  1. ^ a b "Madelyn Pugh". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  2. ^ a b 1930 United States Federal Census
  3. ^ Indiana, Birth Certificates, 1907-1940
  4. ^ a b c PBS (13 April 2007). "NOW – A Tribute To Kurt Vonnegut – PBS". Archived from the original on 2009-09-26. Retrieved 8 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Shortridge Annual 1938 "Madelyn Laverne Pugh" (Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, Indiana)". Ancestry.com. Generations Network. 1938. p. 142. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Bob and Madelyn profiles". Archived from the original on October 25, 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2006.
  7. ^ "Madelyn Davis - Awards - IMDb". Poll.imdb.com. 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  8. ^ California, Marriage Index, 1949-1959
  9. ^ Dennis Hevesi, "Madelyn Pugh Davis, Writer for ‘I Love Lucy’, Dies at 90", The New York Times, April 21, 2011.
  10. ^ "WIF awardees". Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2013.

External links