名人轶事:Lucille Ball（在线收听）

VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program PEOPLE IN

AMERICA. Today, we tell about the much-loved performer Lucille Ball. Her

famous television series, “I Love Lucy,” was first broadcast in nineteen-

fifty-one.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The “I Love Lucy” show was a huge success. It was the most popular

television show of the Nineteen-fifties. The kind of television program Mizz

Ball helped develop is called a situation comedy. Some television experts

give her credit for inventing this kind of series. Today, some of the most

popular television programs in America are situation comedies.

VOICE TWO:

One reason for the great popularity of “I Love Lucy” may have been its

real-life connection with Mizz Ball’s family. On the show, she was Lucy, the

wife of Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban musician. Ricky was played by band leader Desi

Arnaz, who was Lucille Ball’s husband in real life. The show combined issues

common to the life of married people living in the city with musical

performances and comic theater.

Often, a show would include a part with Mister Arnaz acting seriously while

Mizz Ball added a funny element. In the following piece, Mister Arnaz tries

to sing normally and Mizz Ball adds the comedy:

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Also on the “I Love Lucy” show were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Mizz

Vance played Ethel Mertz and Mister Frawley played Ethel’s husband, Fred

Mertz. On the show, the Mertzes were friends of the Ricardos and owned the

building in which they all lived.

Fred Mertz loved baseball, which was America’s most popular sport at the

time. “I Love Lucy,” often showed Fred Mertz intensely watching baseball or

some other sport like boxing while Ethel added her own funny comments:

(COMMENTS)

VOICE TWO:

A well-known story about the “I Love Lucy Show” concerns the birth of the

Arnaz’s son, Desi Junior. Officials of the broadcasting company wondered

what to do when Mizz Ball became pregnant in nineteen-fifty-two. Mizz Ball

explains that her husband, Desi, came up with a solution:

(COMMENTS)

VOICE ONE:

Mizz Ball’s pregnancy was made part of the show. In fact, critics say the

show in which Lucy Ricardo tells Ricky that she is pregnant is one of the

best. In it, Lucy goes to the entertainment place where Ricky’s band is

playing to tell him that they are going to have a baby. Ricky suddenly

understands that he is going to be a father after Lucy secretly requests the

song, “We’re having a Baby:”

(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:

Mizz Ball gave birth to her second child on the same day that Lucy Ricardo

gave birth. In fact, Desi Junior’s birth date was planned to happen on the

same day as the broadcast.

The show in which Lucy gave birth was one of the most popular television

programs ever broadcast in America. (In fact, the story is that Desi Junior’

s birth replaced reports about Dwight Eisenhower’s first presidential

ceremony on the front pages of America’s newspapers.) OPT #p#副标题#e#
VOICE TWO:

The success of the “I Love Lucy” show did not come early in Lucille Ball’s

life, or easily. Instead, it was the result of years of hard work.

Mizz Ball was born near Jamestown, New York, in nineteen-eleven. She tried to

get into show business at an early age. Early on, she went to the same acting

school as the famous actress Bette Davis. However, she left when she was told

that she did not have enough acting ability.

In the early Nineteen-Thirties, she moved to Hollywood. She appeared in a

number of movies, but was not well known.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-forty, she met the leader of a musical group who had been born in

Cuba. His full name was Desiderio Alberto Arnaz de Acha the Third. They

worked together in a movie and married soon after they met. For the next ten

years, she appeared in movies and on radio. He travelled a lot with his band.

In Nineteen-Fifty, the broadcasting company, CBS, decided to make a

television program based on the radio show, “My Favorite Husband.” Lucille

Ball was the star of the radio show. She wanted Mister Arnaz to play the part

of her husband on the television show. CBS rejected the idea. But, she

refused to give up. She and Desi travelled around the country performing in a

show together to prove that they would do well on television. Their show was

a success. CBS offered them both jobs.

VOICE TWO:

Mizz Ball had another demand. She wanted her show to be a production of the

best quality. Early television pictures were not of good quality. Mizz Ball

wanted her program to be filmed, which would improve the picture, and then

broadcast later. Yet she wanted people to watch the program as it was being

filmed so the sound of their reactions could be captured.

Mizz Ball also wanted to film the shows in Hollywood. CBS did not want the

extra costs. So, Mizz Ball and Mister Arnaz agreed to work for less pay. In

exchange, CBS let them own the program. That agreement made them owners of

what would become one of the most successful programs on television.

VOICE ONE:

During the fifties, Mizz Ball won almost every honor there was for television

actors including several Emmy Awards. Yet, even the most popular performers

could not escape the political realities of the time. Conservative lawmakers

accused Lucille Ball of being a communist. The Federal Bureau of

Investigation kept a secret record of information about her, just as it did

about many Hollywood actors at that time.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Arnaz supervised their company, Desilu Productions. The company

produced sixteen different television programs and ran three production

centers, called studios.

In Nineteen-Sixty, Lucille Ball and Mister Arnaz legally ended their

marriage. Mister Arnaz sold his part of the company to his ex-wife. Mizz Ball

became the first woman to head a major production company. It was one of the

biggest in Hollywood.

Mizz Ball also was the star of several other shows of her own. “The Lucy

Show” was broadcast from nineteen-sixty-two to nineteen-sixty-eight. “Here

’s Lucy” followed until nineteen-seventy-four. Mizz Ball later sold her

production company to Paramount Studios.

VOICE ONE:

“I Love Lucy” showed Mizz Ball at her best. Mister Arnaz added something

that was unusual for American television at the time. Many of the songs on

the show were in Spanish. One song, “Babalu,” is popularly connected with

“I Love Lucy”. Its words are Spanish and its sound is Latin American. It is

this mixture along with the excellent performances that made the show

special:

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Mizz Ball died in nineteen-eighty-nine after a heart operation. Yet, she

still makes people laugh. Her programs are rebroadcast on television and

there are hundreds of Internet sites about her. After all these years,

everyone still loves Lucy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by Mario Ritter and produced by Caty

Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA

program on the Voice of America.
  原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/mrys/74248.html