Lucy and her smoking habit...

[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.

[Mikado]

Yes, Lucy was a chronic chain smoker, as was Desi.....not surprising that they were sponsored by Philip Morris

[catlover79]

They were both heavy smokers - on TV, they inhaled and everything.

[*ClassicPinUp*]

Sad that they didn't know back then what exactly they were doing to themselves.. although since my generation is really bringing back the popularity of smoking I guess even now a days with all the information we have on smoking.. people don't realize or listen.

I often wonder how long Desi would have been around as well.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by AndAwayWeGo

Sad that they didn't know back then what exactly they were doing to themselves.. although since my generation is really bringing back the popularity of smoking I guess even now a days with all the information we have on smoking.. people don't realize or listen.

I often wonder how long Desi would have been around as well.

Funny thing is, there were doctors saying that smoking was dangerous as early as 100 years ago ( Although they mostly advised that it wasnt heatly for children ), on the other hand, you had people in the movies and cigarette advertising that made it seem both "glamourous", and "safe"......and that message seems to be the one that gets listened to, even today!

[comedyfreak]

Speaking of a raspy voice, anyone ever notice that during the first few episodes of the first season that Lucy's voice seemed very high pitched. Especially during the pilot and Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her.

[coffield3]

I think almost everyone in the 50s were heavy smokers, i think desi was a heavier smoker that lucy because when he plays ricky in i love lucy he lights up all the time!!

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

Speaking of a raspy voice, anyone ever notice that during the first few episodes of the first season that Lucy's voice seemed very high pitched. Especially during the pilot and Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her.

Yes I did notice that. That is when I also noticed the raspiness she had. I wonder if after she looked at those episodes, did she try and cut back on the smoking or if she just worked on her voice, because there is a difference in how she sounds in the early episodes as opposed to how she sounds in the later episodes.

[White Rabbit]

I have read on this board and elsewhere that Lucille was asked to speak in a higher-pitched voice than normal for the first season, since she was about 10 years older than the Lucy character. I think this was quite a strain on her voice, and that, instead of higher-pitched, it came out in a high rasp instead.

In the middle years, she used her own voice, now deeper-sounding due to the cigarettes.

In the later years, most notably the Connecticut epidodes, her voice is both considerably deeper AND raspy due to excessive smoking throughout the series run.

[Ireneparalegal]

If you hear her voice in the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and her voice in her own Lucy shows after that, it is very raspy. I couldn't help but notice that back then when watching the shows in the 70's.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

I have read on this board and elsewhere that Lucille was asked to speak in a higher-pitched voice than normal for the first season, since she was about 10 years older than the Lucy character. I think this was quite a strain on her voice, and that, instead of higher-pitched, it came out in a high rasp instead.

In the middle years, she used her own voice, now deeper-sounding due to the cigarettes.

In the later years, most notably the Connecticut epidodes, her voice is both considerably deeper AND raspy due to excessive smoking throughout the series run.

That makes a LOT of sense, especially the part where she was trying to sound younger, to match the character she played

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Mikado

That makes a LOT of sense, especially the part where she was trying to sound younger, to match the character she played

Or, maybe she was trying to sound "comedic" to match the zaniness of her character who would behave as a child at times, she would be spanked by Ricky, she would talk back to Ricky, she got in to predicaments that seemed juvenile. The sound of her voice, in my eyes, didn't matter, it was the whole persona she projected that made Lucy so damn funny and the rest of the cast.

As for the raspiness in her voice, I could hear it whether she was speaking in a high-pitched or low-pitched voice. It just happened.

[comedyfreak]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

If you hear her voice in the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and her voice in her own Lucy shows after that, it is very raspy. I couldn't help but notice that back then when watching the shows in the 70's.

Her voice really got worse by the time she did Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

Her voice really got worse by the time she did Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy.

Most definitely. Even hearing her on talk shows like Dick Cavett, it just seemed so "haggard". That is a terrible word to describe her voice, but it really is the only way for me to say it to get across how I felt it sounded.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

I have read on this board and elsewhere that Lucille was asked to speak in a higher-pitched voice than normal for the first season, since she was about 10 years older than the Lucy character. I think this was quite a strain on her voice, and that, instead of higher-pitched, it came out in a high rasp instead.

In the middle years, she used her own voice, now deeper-sounding due to the cigarettes.

In the later years, most notably the Connecticut epidodes, her voice is both considerably deeper AND raspy due to excessive smoking throughout the series run.

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.