Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball was the most loved television comedienne of her time. She was an American icon and is considered the first lady of television. With her strong work ethic and her determination, Lucille not only changed the face of television, she also paved the way for a lot of other female actresses.
In 1940, Lucille Balled married her Cuban born husband Desi Arnaz. Together they developed the I Love Lucy show, which became one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.
Although Lucille and Desi were set on doing the program, they had to overcome a few obstacles first. For instance, a woman had never had the starring role in a television sitcom and the networks were not sure that Lucille could carry the show. The major obstacle, however, was her marriage to a Cuban. This would be the first time on a network television that a couple would be inter-racial. The networks were positive that no one would believe that Lucy was married to a foreigner. Lucille and Desi had to go on tour the summer before the show started to prove that the American public would receive them. Contrary to the networks belief, the public did accept them and the show began in 1951.
The I Love Lucy show also had a couple of other "firsts" in network programming. Lucy and Desi decided to film the series instead of doing it in front of a live audience.
Because each episode was on film, they could reshow any episode at any time. They basically invented the term "rerun". When the series ended, they sold the show to independent stations and made millions. This set the pattern for all of television.
Also, for the first time ever on small screen, the lead character became pregnant. This worried the network superiors a lot. They were again afraid of the reaction of the American public. They felt that people would not want to see a pregnant woman on television. After consulting with censors and several clergymen, the network decided to go ahead with the show. The only affect it had was to bring in an even larger audience. It was a national event, on January 19, 1953 when Lucy Ricardo gave birth to Little Ricky on television and Lucille Ball gave birth to her second son on the same night.
The success of the show was unparallel.
Ros married her first husband, Robert Ellis Siberstein, a union that produced two children, Tracee (from girlfriends) and Chudney Ellis. In 1972 Diana Ross made her first debut portraying the late jazz singer Billie holiday in “ lady sings the blues”. The film was successful, and Ross was received an Oscar nomination for her performance.
The early 1960s saw the expansion of television. The television had become a common household
Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California at 9:00 p.m - a time significant to her because it told her she would always have a bit of catching up to do if she wanted to be on time for dinner (Black 5). As the youngest child and only girl in her family of five, she was her mother’s pride and joy. She had two supportive parents, Gertrude and George, and two older brothers, Jack and George Junior. Gertrude Temple was a stay-at-home mom while George went to work as a bank teller, which played in Shirley’s favor when she needed someone to manage her money later in life (Blashfield 55). Gertrude Temple has been called the first stage mother (Blashfield 22) for good reason. Shirley Temple was acting before she could read, so her mother helped her memorize her lines. Temple’s mother served as her private costume designer, and never failed to make the young star’s performance her best yet, by encouraging her to “Sparkle, Shirley Sparkle!” (David 2).
In the early fifties, young people watched TV more hours than they went to school, a trend which has not changed greatly since that time. What was portrayed on television became accepted as normal. Shows like What's a My Line debut on CBS, Your Hit Parade premieres on NBC in 1950. In April of 1950 5,343,000 TV sets are in American Homes. In May of 1950, 103 TV Stations in 60 cities were operating. In September 7,535,000 TV sets in USA. In October there were 8,000,000 TV sets.
I love Lucy was a very popular sitcom in the 1950s. Through humor and plot it brings out more of positive aspects and less of negative aspects for the 1950's that Coontz described in `What we really missed about the 1950s.'
Although Eleanor Roosevelt served as first lady from 1932 to 1945, her influence lasted much longer than expected. Eleanor became her husband’s ears and eyes during her husband’s presidency and aided human rights during her entire life. She did what no other First Lady, or woman had dared to do before; she challenged society’s wrong doings. Many respected her; President Truman had called her “the First Lady of the World (Freedman, 168).” Eleanor Roosevelt was an amazing first lady who helped her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, run the country.
Bretz, Rudy , 1957 “Video Tape: A TV Revolution” The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television , Vol. 11, No. 4 pp. 399-415 Published by: University of California Press Article Stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/1210000
Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Mortenson. A devious soul but a pure heart, a black past, but a bright future; she became one of the most idolized figures in society. Norma was definitely not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and she never sugar coated her life to the media. She was straight forward which made her heavily known for her quotes such as “I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.” (Marilyn Monroe). This was the beginning to her life story as a hero. This may not seem inspiring or heroic to many by the lack of knowledge a person may have on Norma. In the depths of her quotes lay a deep, heartfelt life though. For this quote may seem sensational and comical to the ear, but Marilyn was transferred to many foster homes not really having a parent that would show her the way. What a good role model would do though, and what Norma courageously has shown society, is that when life knocks you down, get up and hit life back twice as hard. Norma Jeane Mortenson, married Jim Dougherty, and started working. Soon she created the character Marilyn Monroe, she dyed her hair blonde, wore short dresses, and she became the momentous and inspirational character that everyone saw through television, newspapers, and photos. She was one of the greatest actors, singers, and models of the nineteen forties and fifties. But like every hero they suffer and create their own demise. Jeane, Marilyn Monroe, is a shakespearean tragic hero, because like every hero she must fall.
Lucille Mulhall was born on October 21, 1885 in Oklahoma and died December 21, 1940 in Oklahoma when she got in a terrible vehicle accident. She is the first born child of Zach (1847-1931) and Mary Agnes Mulhall (1859-1931). Her sister’s name is Margaret Reed (1906-1925) and she was the last child born. She married her first husband in 1916 and his name was Martin Van Bergen. Lucille then divorced this man and married a man named Thomas Loyd Burnett (1871-1939). He was born in Denton County, Texas and died in Wichita County, Texas on December 26, 1938. Lucille Mulhall was a soft spoken and beautiful young lady. She was very feminine and had a very good education. When she was a teenager, she was known as one of the top cowboy performers in
At the age of nineteen she met and married Louis Jones. Together they had two children Gail and Teddy (who later died in 1970 from kidney failure). While trying to get used to raising a family and having a career, she received a call from an agent, who had seen her at the Cotton Club, about a part in a movie. Her controlling husband allowed her to be in “The Duke is Tops” and also the musical revue “Blackbirds of 1939."
Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television. Adding to the challenge of maintaining such a career was her position as an African-American facing discrimination personally and in her profession during a period of enormous social change in the U.S. Her first job in the 1930s was at the Cotton Club, where blacks could perform, but not be admitted as customers; by 1969, when she acted in the film Death of a Gunfighter, her character's marriage to a white man went unremarked in the script. Horne herself was a pivotal figure in the changing attitudes about race in the 20th century; her middle-class upbringing and musical training predisposed her to the popular music of her day, rather than the blues and jazz genres more commonly associated with African-Americans, and her photogenic looks were sufficiently close to Caucasian that frequently she was encouraged to try to "pass" for white, something she consistently refused to do. But her position in the middle of a social struggle enabled her to become a leader in that struggle, speaking out in favor of racial integration and raising money for civil rights causes. By the end of the century, she could look back at a life that was never short on conflict, but that could be seen ultimately as a triumph.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz performances have stood strong in the test of time. The classic Christmas episode (which is one half of the special) was filmed in 195 with a look at how the Ricardo’s celebrated the holiday season. It’s a timeless reflection that returns every year to television.
Without a doubt there is one major performer that certainly stands out within our pop culture world. The name of this very famous American icon is, Dolly Parton. Dolly has surpassed any rags to riches story that ever lived. She has touched the lives of so many individuals over many decades through her many talents. Dolly started her career at a very young age and continued fulfilling her life endeavors through country music, pop music, and even acting. This American icon didn’t stop with just her talents, she also gave back to our society through charity, fundraising, and establishing her own theme park. Dolly Parton was brought up in a very poor family, however through much dedication she became the famous icon everyone idolized today.
This video allowed for large themes of I Love Lucy, which was the top TV show on at the time, to be recognized, and it gave a view of television programs at the time.
Have u ever thought about African Americans invalid with television? If not in this report you will learn about how African Americans have influenced television. You will learn about television shows that have effected television and also just certain people that have effected television also. Commercial television was born in 1948 as each of the three major networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, began broadcasting. 1948 was also a great year in African American history with the desegregation of the United States armed forces to see Blacks in the American Military and an endorsement of civil rights in the presidential platform of the Democratic Party headed by President Harry S. Truman.