Comedivas, you probably don’t know who Madelyn Pugh Davis is, which is a travesty to Comediva-kind. It’s okay, don’t start beating yourself about the head in shame just yet, I didn’t know who she was either.
Until she died.
Photo Source: Los Angeles Times
Thankfully for Madelyn, and for all of us, before she passed away on April 20, 2011, she was a paragon of Comedivaness and a role model for creative women everywhere for 90 years. Not only did she trail blaze for female writers and comediennes, she created one of the most iconic female characters of all time.
Madelyn Pugh Davis was one half of the writing team that created I Love Lucy.
Ever wonder who dreamed up the candy conveyor belt of doom? The grape stomping? Or, a personal favorite, Vitameatavegamin? That would be Madelyn and her writing partner, Bob Carroll.
Madelyn, the intrepid “girl writer” of the pair (aka, the resident comediva) often took on the task of testing out stunts before Lucille Ball tried them.
In an interview with her alma mater’s alumni magazine, she said, “The worst one was trying out a unicycle. I ran into a wall and hit my head. We decided it was too dangerous for Lucy.”
Note to self: Avoid unicycles. And walls.
Apparently, Madelyn and her cohort, Carroll, came up with some of their gags by going through the phonebook, looking for new ideas. That’s how they came up with the famous candy-making episode. You taking notes, comedivas? There’s nothing like a tip from a master. Next time you’re missing the next gag, check out the phonebook. Sure, you might have to go to the public library to find one, but they do still make those. I swear.
In 2006, the Paley Center for Media gave Madelyn a big shout out, honoring that she “not only made her mark as a writer, but also opened the door for other women to follow in her footsteps,” according to Madelyn’s New York Times obituary. “During the formative years of television, when few women were working behind the screen, Madelyn Pugh Davis wrote one of the most popular shows of all time,” the Paley Center pointed out when they gave her the award.
Madelyn was described by Lucie Arnaz, Ball’s daughter with Desi Arnaz, in an L.A. Times story by Dennis McClellan as “a class act … a very private person, very soft-spoken, genteel, feminine — all those lovely words you associate with great ladies,” who was still chock-full of zany, comic goodness that made her television show so legendary. Basically, Madelyn was just the kind of person we should all aspire to be when we grow up.
Madelyn credited some of her success with the fact that she started writing during World War II, when men were in short supply and women were moving into traditionally male-dominated fields to pick up the slack.
But Madelyn didn’t let the lack of competition make her lazy. She started her career as a radio staff writer for NBC and CBS. At CBS, she met her writing partner of more than fifty years, Bob Carroll, Jr. They wrote 400 odd television programs together and nearly 500 radio shows over the course of their careers.
And some of those many episodes of hilarity turned Lucille Ball into an icon.
“None of us knew we were creating a classic that would endure, a show that people would love so much they memorize episodes and shout dialogue at you,” said Madelyn. “At that time, we just wanted to work.”
That, comedivas, is the lesson we learn from Madelyn Pugh Davis. Be in it for the work. You can’t ever tell what the work is going to turn out to be.
How wonderful to learn about amazing comedivas throughout history! May she rest in peace. Brilliant.
This woman is such an inspiration! Not only because, as you say, she was a strong female writer when there were so few women allowed behind the scenes–but also for writing with such a strong comedic female character as the center of the show when there were so few up on the screen.