Bob Carroll, Jr.
| Bob Carroll Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Gordon Carroll August 12, 1918 McKeesport, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 2007 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | St. Petersburg College |
| Occupation | Television writer |
| Years active | 1940–2005 |
| Spouse(s) | 2 (divorced) |
| Children | Christina Carroll |
Bob Carroll Jr. (August 12, 1918 – January 27, 2007) was a television writer notable for his creative role in the series I Love Lucy, the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, and collaborator Jess Oppenheimer. Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf later joined the series' writing staff in the fifth season.
Born Robert Gordon Carroll in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, his family moved to Florida when he was three years old. His father made his living buying and selling real estate in Florida's 1920s land rush. The family also moved to California for a time in conjunction with Carroll Sr.'s work, but eventually settled back in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Bob Carroll Jr. attended St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College), where he studied French. He became a writer by happenstance. In 1940, he broke his hip in an accident. While he was recovering from his injury, he heard about a script writing contest being sponsored by local radio station WSUN. With plenty of time on his hands, the 21-year-old decided to try writing a radio script, which ended up winning the station's $10 prize.
Concerned that he might never work, due to his injury, Carroll felt very fortunate when his brother-in-law helped him get a job as the front desk clerk for CBS Radio in Hollywood, California. There, Carroll got a kick out of making celebrities sign in. He eventually worked his way up into the publicity department and moved from there to assignments as a junior and eventually senior writer.
There Carroll was teamed with fellow staffer Madelyn Pugh. The two created a partnership that lasted more than 50 years, and together wrote approximately 400 television episodes and 500 radio episodes. Though they briefly dated, they married other people.
While writing for Steve Allen's early local radio program on CBS Radio station KNX in Los Angeles the duo became interested in writing for Lucille Ball's new radio series My Favorite Husband. In an effort to seize that opportunity, they paid Allen to write his own show one week so that they could focus their energies on creating a script submission for My Favorite Husband. Successful, the pair wrote for Ball's popular program for its 2½-year duration.
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