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When women invented television : the untold story of the female powerhouses who pioneered the way we watch today Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Historical Society of Pennsylvania - Closed Stacks PN 1992.55 .A2 A76 2021
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- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Armstrong, Jennifer Keishin, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Television and women--History.
- Women in television broadcasting--History.
- Women in television broadcasting--United States--Biography.
- Phillips, Irna, 1901-1973.
- Berg, Gertrude, 1899-1966.
- Scott, Hazel.
- White, Betty, 1922-2021.
- Physical Description:
- xviii, 333 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]
- Summary:
- When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets. Four women-- each an independent visionary-- saw an opportunity. Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show. Armstrong shows how their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture-- until the rise of the House Un-American Activities Committee. -- adapted from jacket
- Contents:
- Introduction: Bold claims
- Yoo-hoo, Gertrude Berg!
- Predicament, villainy, and female suffering
- Women's realm
- A holy terror
- One of us
- What are you going to do about your girl?
- Aren't you ashamed?
- A note of sadness
- Dramatic pause
- Black and white and red
- The scourge of 1955
- The world turns.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-322) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Forrest Performing Arts Complimentary Collection
- ISBN:
- 9780062973306
- 0062973304
- OCLC:
- 1241185819
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