We're going to head back to What's My Line? today, where the Mystery Guest is Lucille Ball. What makes this segment particularly entertaining is the bizarre and funny of answering. I would also be remiss if I didn't note my short bio posted off to the right, and the first sentence of the second paragraph. (In fact, I'll have to check, but it might be contractually obligated.) It reads, "Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting." That was when I was at UCLA grad school, for a screenwriting contest that her family sponsored in her name at the school. She was no longer around at the time, so we didn't get to meet, but the first year it was presented by her daughter Lucy Arnaz. (A fellow-classmate in my dorm is still annoyed that I didn't tell her about the award in advance -- the school informed me so that I'd be sure to show up -- so she could go and applaud. I just felt awkward about telling anyone I'd gotten the award before I actually got it. Still, I suppose it would have been nice to have someone clapping and meaning it. Almost the entire audience were theater majors, all going wild when one of their own got a theater award. The light, perfunctory, smattering of claps for "Who is this screenwriting guy??" was actually pretty funny, even at the time as I walked down aisle.) And the second year, after it became clear to me that UCLA wasn't going to be doing anything to promote the winners, I contacted her still-existing production company and got a meeting with Gary Morton, who had been Lucille Ball's husband. Nothing came of that either. But hey, I still have the memory of the smattering of applause. Which is a long way around to bring us back to Lucille Ball herself, and this video from What's My Line? video. Which we can share as a memory, as well...
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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