THE PINKO REDHEAD

In 1953, Lucille Ball's career was skyrocketing. The I Love Lucy TV show featuring her and her husband, Desi Arnaz, was an unqualified hit. On January 19 of that year, she gave birth to her first son, and on that same night CBS ran an episode showing her character also giving birth (well, actually, it revealed her going into the hospital with a large abdomen and ending up with a baby--in 1953, TV did not display the actual birthing process). This was such an newsworthy event that it eclipsed coverage of Eisenhower's inauguration, and the episode retained for five years the record of having the most viewers for a single show.

During the summer, she and her hubbie made the movie The Long, Long, Trailer which achieved great commercial success (and rightfully so, even though my wife doesn't like it for some inexplicable reason).

Then, on September 6, 1953, newspaper and radio gossip columnist Walter Winchell dropped a bombshell. He announced that Lucy was a Commie, as evidenced by the fact that she registered as such in the 1936 election. This revelation occurred during the height of McCarthyism, and the American public breathlessly waited for CBS to give her the axe.

There are some sacred cows that not even the House Un-American Activities Committee dare assault. Lucy calmly explained in a press interview that she declared herself a Communist only to please her grandfather and that she never believed in the Marxist doctrine. Her husband proclaimed that the only thing red about Lucy was her hair, and not even that was real. All was forgiven as a result, and Lucy escaped the trashing of her career that was the fate of many other leftists (either actual or perceived) in the entertainment industry.

And Walter Winchell? What sort of retribution fell on him for hurling dirt at America's most beloved comedienne? Well, after a sagging career, he did achieve renewed fame as the narrator of the extremely popular TV series The Untouchables from its inception in 1959 to its last show in 1963. The Untouchables was the product of Desilu Studios, which was owned and managed by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.