Lucy and her smoking habit...

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

It is true that she spoke on camera with a higher-pitched voice, trying to give Lucy Ricardo a girlish quality. Even in the middle years of the series, she was still doing this. She may not have been able to get her voice to reach as high as she did early on, but the voice you hear in the later seasons is still higher than her regular speaking voice at that time. This, I'm sure, was one of the factors that damaged her voice. She was not only speaking in this high voice, but having to project it to the studio audience. And probably did the same thing all week during rehearsals. That practice week after week, year after year, had to have taken a toll. Compound this with her smoking habit, and also her afternoon scotch. (No, contrary to what has been written in some places, she was not an alcoholic, but she did like to unwind with scotch.) A couple other benchmarks in the deepening of her voice occur at the time she did Wildcat, and then when she did Mame. If you listen to her in, say, The Facts of Life, which she did in 1960, and compare to the early episodes of The Lucy Show in 1962, there is a major difference in her voice. Of course, she was in Wildcat in between, in 1961. Keith Andes, who worked with her in Wildcat, said she was untrained in singing before an audience and did not know the proper techniques for projecting while singing, and thus caused great damage to her voice. I guess those around her were afraid to confront her and tell her what she was doing was wrong. And I suspect she used the same improper projection techniques for her singing again when she did Mame because there is a another notable drop in her voice between the 5th and 6th seasons of Here's Lucy, and of course she filmed Mame in between those seasons, in the spring/summer of 1973.

And not only was she causing damage when projecting her singing voice, but she did voice projection on her TV shows as well, trying to reach the back rows of her studio audience as actors do in plays. You might notice watching episodes of [IThe Lucy Show[/I] that her voice tends to get raspier towards the end of each season -- probably worn out from months of speaking this way -- then improves a little by the beginning of the following season. But still a toll was being taken all along. So all these things combined -- smoking, scotch, improper singing techniques, trying to perform with a high-pitched voice, practicing loud projection techniques with her speaking voice, and also having to yell all over the studio during The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy since she was running every aspect of her shows at that point and was in charge of everything -- was a toxic combination for the vocal chords.

Adding on to this comment, here's something else I had forgotten about. If you've seen any of Lucy's really early movies from the '30s, you will know she had a really high voice, higher even than her Lucy Ricardo voice. Apparently she didn't like having such a high voice and here, according to Desi from his autobiography, is how she dealt with it:

Lucy and I used to take my car, the Roadmaster that I had bought in Detroit, put the top down and drive to Palm Springs over the weekends. In those, days you could find some very nice and lonely roads which went on for miles that way. I was very proud of that Roadmaster, it drove beautifully, and I would go over one hundred miles an hour on the straightaway, which scared the hell out of Lucy. She thought I was nuts. When she got enough connfidence in my driving and knew that I wouldn't take stupid chances, she would relax and then start screaming at the top of her lungs, which in turn scared the hell out of me.

“What's wrong?" I'd shout over her screaming.
"Nothing, go ahead," she'd shout back, "Katharine Hepburn told me I should lower my voice."
"So?" I'd shout back.
"The best way to lower your voice is to scream at the top of your lungs when you are driving in an open car."
"Okay. You scream and I'll drive."
If a cop had seen us and heard us, he would have locked us up.


This should fall under the category of "Don't try this at home." Just thinking about this gives me a sore throat. So all those years before I Love Lucy, she was doing this particular exercise to lower her voice. Then on I Love Lucy she was speaking in that high pitch trying to raise her voice back again! (As they say, be careful what you ask for!) Both of these activities are very bad for the vocal chords and may have put her on a path to the further damage her voice endured in the years ahead.

Here's a link to an article that discusses ways the vocal chords can become damaged, leading to a deep and raspy voice. Interestingly, Lucy did pretty much everything listed here: smoking and drinking (which dries the vocal chords), screaming, speaking in a high pitch, singing with bad technique (Wildcat and Mame), speaking loudly (which she did on her shows), and speaking constantly (you can't star in, produce and direct a TV show, AND run a major studio without talking an awful lot): http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/vocalabuse.asp

[Ireneparalegal]

Thank you for providing us with those two posts filled with such information that can at last let me know why her voice was the way it was from ILL til her last days. I do know that her earlier works, prior to ever meeting Desi, she did in fact, have such a high-pitched speaking voice. It all makes sense now.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Thank you for providing us with those two posts filled with such information that can at last let me know why her voice was the way it was from ILL til her last days. I do know that her earlier works, prior to ever meeting Desi, she did in fact, have such a high-pitched speaking voice. It all makes sense now.

Would you agree she almost sounded like a young girl in those early movies? As deep as her voice was later on, I'm amazed at how high it was earlier. I can think of very few women with such a high voice as she had.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Would you agree she almost sounded like a young girl in those early movies? As deep as her voice was later on, I'm amazed at how high it was earlier. I can think of very few women with such a high voice as she had.

The first time I had seen one of her early works (movie) I was really amazed at how her voice sounded so different. Not so much in sound, but how high it was. She surely could have done voice-over work had she been born much later. She sounded like a very young girl. Which is why when I heard her voice in the early episodes of ILL, I could hear how different it was when you compare it to the later seasons of ILL and especially in Here's Lucy and any work after that.

Just listen to it in that "Tilly" episode when she has to pretend to be the voice of Tilly. I am sure that was so easy for her to do that since she already had a high-pitched tone when speaking.

[comedyfreak]

That is very informative, at least I know I wasn't imagining things. Those first few episodes of the first season of the show kinda hurt my ears it was hard to watch.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

That is very informative, at least I know I wasn't imagining things. Those first few episodes of the first season of the show kinda hurt my ears it was hard to watch.

I agree. You know when it is hard on my ears? Right after I watch the last episode (the statue dedication) and then the station airs the first episode right after that, you can really hear the difference. I realize too the film quality/sound quality must be different as well. Ever notice how the quality of the episodes, how they look from the first season to the second/third season is just a tad different?

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I agree. You know when it is hard on my ears? Right after I watch the last episode (the statue dedication) and then the station airs the first episode right after that, you can really hear the difference. I realize too the film quality/sound quality must be different as well. Ever notice how the quality of the episodes, how they look from the first season to the second/third season is just a tad different?

You know what's hard on my ears is Lucie Arnaz on Here's Lucy. I know she was probably only doing what her mother told her to do -- the voice projection thing I talked about above that helped wreck Lucy's voice -- but somehow Lucie's voice, maybe because it's not only loud, but higher, hurts my ears. I usually have to turn down the volume when I watch HL, but especially when Lucie's on.

[Mikado]

Theres another angle that hasnt been mentioned, older soundfilm ran at a slightly lower speed than modern film, and often films from the 30s and early 40s played on modern machines, speed up the soundtrack just enough to make the voices seem unaturally high. (Old "Newsreel" film is especially bad for this)

[Brieannas21]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I know in my heart that if Lucy hadn't smoked, she'd be with us a lot longer than she was.

How much of a smoker was she?

Anyone ever notice in certain scenes or episodes her voice is very raspy? In the episode where she is trying to help Miss Lewis get together with the grocer, Mr. Ritter, her voice is especially raspy throughout the episode. When she visits Miss Lewis in her apartment to tell her she can't help her give the letter to Mr. Ritter, listen to her voice and it is so clear how her voice differs here than say maybe in the later seasons. I don't know why, but she has more of a raspy voice in the early episodes than she does by the time the Ricardos switch to the bigger apartment.

In that one episode it sounds like she lost her voice or she was about to lose it. I don't think it had to do with her smoking at all. It prob came from rehearsing that one scene with Desi when he had her over his knee and she was doing all of that screaming.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Theres another angle that hasnt been mentioned, older soundfilm ran at a slightly lower speed than modern film, and often films from the 30s and early 40s played on modern machines, speed up the soundtrack just enough to make the voices seem unaturally high. (Old "Newsreel" film is especially bad for this)

That may be true, but still her voice was high enough for her to decide to do that screaming exercise in the car to lower it. And don't argue with Katharine Hepburn.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Brieannas21

In that one episode it sounds like she lost her voice or she was about to lose it. I don't think it had to do with her smoking at all. It prob came from rehearsing that one scene with Desi when he had her over his knee and she was doing all of that screaming.

Hey, could be. That is another angle I didn't think of. Her voice did sound like she was on the verge of laryngitis.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

That may be true, but still her voice was high enough for her to decide to do that screaming exercise in the car to lower it. And don't argue with Katharine Hepburn.

Wasnt arguing, just saying that may be one MORE reason her voice sounds so high in old films

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Wasnt arguing, just saying that may be one MORE reason her voice sounds so high in old films

I know, I was just teasing.

[SPLAIN]

I just loved that remark about Lucie's voice on Here's Lucy. That was the problem, they always screamed their lines, made it look so weird, i know it was great for the audience there but not so much for us viewers. I'll never forget when i listened to an old Lily Tomlin album where she paid tribute to Lucy and the gang and she even played part of an episode, at that point, i was not seeing I Love Lucy anywhere and the shows had yet to debut on home video so i actually did not recognize her voice, as it was so obviously different from what i was hearing on Here's Lucy every week. I think a good voice coach like she had during Wildcat would have helped her later on to save her voice and sound more normal. But those ciggies really screwed up her vocal chords.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by SPLAIN

I think a good voice coach like she had during Wildcat would have helped her later on to save her voice and sound more normal. But those ciggies really screwed up her vocal chords.

According to Keith Andes, Wildcat is part of what screwed up her voice. He said she was not performing her songs with the proper techniques that singers in that kind of venue are supposed to use to protect their voices. And there is a very noticeable difference in her voice before and after Wildcat.