[citation needed] Pugh became interested in writing while serving as Friday editor of the Shortridge High School daily newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana with classmate Kurt Vonnegut.

[citation needed] Early in her career, as a staff writer for CBS Radio in Hollywood, Pugh forged a partnership with Bob Carroll Jr. which lasted more than 50 years.

[6] Pugh and Carroll helped create a vaudeville act for Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, which became the basis for the pilot episode of I Love Lucy.

They created and wrote the Desi Arnaz Productions series The Mothers-in-Law (filmed at Desilu), which starred actresses Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden.

[8][9] Pugh Davis died on April 20, 2011, aged 90, in Bel Air, California, and her ashes were in a place of honor on display in the Chapel columbarium, at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Pugh was played by Alia Shawkat (younger) and Linda Lavin (older) in Being the Ricardos, a 2021 film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.