Lucille Kallen (May 28, 1922,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

– January 18, 1999,

Ardsley, New York Ardsley is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Greenburgh. The village's population was 4,452 at the 2010 census. The mayor of Ardsley is Nancy Kaboolian. The Ardsley post office serves the entire ...

) was an American writer, screenwriter, playwright, composer, and lyricist. She was best known for being the only woman in the most famous TV writers' room, the one that created

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

's ''

Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howar ...

'' from 1950 to 1954. She also worked extensively on Broadway, was a long-time writing partner of

Mel Tolkin Mel Tolkin ( Shmuel Tolchinsky; August 3, 1913 – November 26, 2007) was a television comedy writer best known as head writer of the live sketch comedy series ''Your Show of Shows'' (NBC, 1950–1954) during the Golden Age of Television. Ther ...

, and published six novels, including a series of mysteries featuring the character C.B. Greenfield. ''The Mystery Fancier'' discussed and reviewed her books, and one was quoted in ''English Historical Syntax and Morphology''. Sid Caesar's writer's room has been fictionally recreated many times.

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

, one of the writers, memorialized it in his play ''Laughter on the 23rd Floor''; it formed the centerpiece of the 1982 film ''

My Favorite Year ''My Favorite Year'' is a 1982 American comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo from a story written by Palumbo. The film tells the story of a young comedy write ...

'', and most famously, it was the office in which Rob Petrie worked in ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...

''. Kallen and

Selma Diamond Selma Diamond (August 5, 1920 – May 13, 1985) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actress, and radio and television writer, known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC televisio ...

, who were composited to make

Rose Marie Rose Marie (born Rose Marie Mazzetta; August 15, 1923 – December 28, 2017) was an American actress, singer, comedian, and vaudeville performer with a career ultimately spanning nine decades, which included film, radio, records, theater, night ...

's character, Sally, were the only women writers on Your Show of Shows and Caesar's follow-up show, '' Caesar's Hour''.

Bibliography

* ''Outside There, Somewhere!: A Novel'' (1964) later republished as ''Gentlemen Prefer Slaves'' (1973). * ''Introducing C.B. Greenfield'' (1981) * ''C.B. Greenfield: The Piano Bird'' (1984) * ''C.B. Greenfield: No Lady in the House'' (1984) * ''C.B. Greenfield: The Tanglewood Murder'' (1985) * ''C.B. Greenfield: A Little Madness'' (1986)

References

External links

Lucille Kallen papers, 1938-1999
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kallen, Lucille 1922 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women novelists American mystery novelists Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Writers from Los Angeles American women television writers Women mystery writers Novelists from California Screenwriters from California American women screenwriters American television writers 20th-century American screenwriters