I Have Always Wondered!

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Okay.. I guess some of the people here know some LUCY facts.. so I imagine this is the group to ask..

 

What the F happended to her voice?? Was is always low? Was it low because Kate Hepburn told her to Scream and lower it four tones?? Was it the Desi/Divorce/Dames?? Was it too much Scotch?? Was it from singing nightly in Wildcat and not using the diaphram correctly?? What the heck are polyups?? Why did she have surgery to remove polyups?? Was it the surgery?? Was it Phillip Morriss or Chesterfield Cigarettes?? I have always wondered!

[Lucy's Aussie Fan]

Lucy went through drastic voice changes, noticeably near the end of ILL/Start of TLS.

All humans develop voice changes that is normal, and due to Lucy being in the eye of the public all the the time we noticed straight away when her voice changed.

I believe one's voice changes due to stress, work habits and lifestyle choices (ie. Diet, fitness, smoking etc). Some are born with a high pitched voice and later develop a low/deep pitch. Lucy was forced to strain her voice, especially through the ILL years. Even through her singing you can tell she was straining herself. And sadly, during her last few years you could tell that her voice had suffered severely.

[mikidiki]

There are many ladies that have different voice changes in their lives. I don't think Lucy's was that bad - it's just age as simple as that. I mean, it's not like her voice deepened in her 30's or 40's. It's not like when you hear her speak you think "What the hell is wrong with her voice?"

 

"Throat polyps are fleshy growths that occur in the throat that are not cancerous. They usually form on the vocal cords and have several causes.

 

People who overuse their voice a lot – for example, sports teachers and coaches who shout a lot very regularly, singers or stage actors – can be prone to developing polyps in the throat.

 

People who smoke heavily can also develop throat polyps more frequently and medical conditions such as having an over active thyroid or digestive problems that cause acid from the stomach to reflux in to the oesophagus can also predispose to polyps.

 

Polyps on the vocal cords can also be called by technical names, polypoid degeneration"

[Taylor]

I never understood why they made such a big deal out of her low voice. Yes, it lowered a few octaves but she was never trained on how to project her lines properly either, without shouting so people 4 blocks away could hear you. And the smoking sure didn't help. But at least she didn't sound like Harvey Fierstein. lol

[C L A U D E]

Okay.. I guess some of the people here know some LUCY facts.. so I imagine this is the group to ask..

 

What the F happended to her voice?? Was is always low? Was it low because Kate Hepburn told her to Scream and lower it four tones?? Was it the Desi/Divorce/Dames?? Was it too much Scotch?? Was it from singing nightly in Wildcat and not using the diaphram correctly?? What the heck are polyups?? Why did she have surgery to remove polyups?? Was it the surgery?? Was it Phillip Morriss or Chesterfield Cigarettes?? I have always wondered!

Yes, her voice was too high and Hepburn suggested she lower it by screaming like a nut in open cars, which she did often, to Desi's consternation. Then of course she raisd it herself for her work on I Love Lucy to make it more childlike for the character. Then she aged, abandoned the HIGH voice and smoked like a chimney which lowered her voice to Bea Arthur territory. Three packs a day will do that to the vocal chords i guess.