Isabel Scott Rorick (1900–1967) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

writer known for her comedic book ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat'', which was one of the top ten best selling books in the United States in 1941. Rorick was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

in 1900. Her involvement in the local

Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

newsletter in the mid-1930s eventually led to her contributing fictional sketches to the national Junior League publication. Her stories about the married Cugat couple, a young bank executive and his wife, led to interest by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

, and ten sketches complete with illustrations were published in October 1940 as ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage''. It became one of the best selling books of 1941.Elgutter, Ruth (12 April 1941
How Isabel Scott Rorick Became An Accidental Author
''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

''(11 October 1940)
Books Published Today
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (listed as released on October 11, 1940)Sherman, Beatrice (27 October 1940)
Fiction in Lighter Vein
''

'' (book review) It was also made into a movie in 1942, '' Are Husbands Necessary?'' starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

and

Betty Field Betty Field (February 8, 1916 – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress. Early years Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch) Field. She began acting before she reached age 15, and went ...

as the Cugats.(17 October 1942)
Beaver Theatre (movie description)
''The Daily Times'' Rorick published a follow-up collection of Cugat stories, ''Outside Eden'', in November 1945.(19 November 1945)

''

'' In 1948, the radio show ''

My Favorite Husband ''My Favorite Husband'' was an American radio program and network television show. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, shaped into the famous sitcom ''I Love Lucy''. The series was based on the novels ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Recor ...

'' based on the Cugat stories debuted on CBS Radio.

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

and

Richard Denning Richard Denning (born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr.; March 27, 1914 – October 11, 1998) was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including ''Unknown Island'' (1948), ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' ( ...

played the Cugats, though their last name was soon changed to Cooper to avoid confusion with bandleader

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; ; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was an American musician and bandleader who was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. Originally from Girona, Spain, he spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba, before arriving i ...

. When CBS asked Ball to do a television version of the show, she insisted that her husband

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', in whi ...

play her husband on the show. Since Arnaz could not pull off the role of a midwestern banker, the show was reworked into what became ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

''. Rorick's husband, Ceilan H. Rorick, a banker in the Spitzer-Rorick Trust and Savings Bank of Toledo, died in June 1958.(24 June 1958)
C.H. Rorick Estate Worth $250,000, Willed To Widow
''

'' Rorick died in 1967.Historical Sketch – Isabel Scott Rorick, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat Typescripts
University of Toledo library, Retrieved July 11, 2012 They are buried in

Woodlawn Cemetery Woodlawn Cemetery is the name of several cemeteries, including: Canada * Woodlawn Cemetery (Saskatoon) * Woodlawn Cemetery (Nova Scotia) United States ''(by state then city or town)'' * Woodlawn Cemetery (Ocala, Florida), where Isaac Rice and fa ...

in Toledo. The couple had two children, Horton and Elizabeth (Mimi).Rainie, Dorothy (26 September 1957)
Intercepted Mail
''

References

External links

*
Finding Aid – Isabel Scott Rorick, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat Typescripts
University of Toledo library *
Mr. and Mrs. Cugat : the record of a happy marriage
' at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rorick, Isabel Scott 1900 births 1967 deaths American comedy writers American women short story writers Writers from Toledo, Ohio 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers