hollywoodland
Lucille Ball: Gun Wounds, Refugees, and the Redhead Who Survived the Red Scare
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In this episode
Lucille Ball might have been a natural boundary-pusher, but America's top TV comedienne had some ‘splaining to do when a damning news broadcast unveiled her former ties to the Communist Party. The hysteria of the Red Scare threatened to bury this redhead at the bottom of the Hollywood blacklist overnight. Even when America put rampant McCarthyism to rest, the United States government kept watching Lucille Ball – and we’re not talking about I Love Lucy reruns.
Sources
Lucy and Desi (2022, dir. Amy Poehler)
Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball
Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton
Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comedic Art of Lucille Ball by Stefan Kanfer
Apparently, the FBI Did Not Love Lucy (Washington Post)
Alleged ‘Red’ Ties of TV’s Zany Redhead Detailed on Web Site (Buffalo News)
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Victoria Wasylak.
Copy edited by James Sullivan.
Scored and mixed by Sean Cahalin.
Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak