"Fuck you, Lucille Ball!"

[MonkeyFunk]

said by Joan Blondell after appearing on Lucy's show and Lucy pantomimed flushing a toilet after the act.

It stunned the live audience.

Danny Kaye, after receiving notes from Lucy on how to be better at comedy said "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Yeah, I just finished reading my Lucille Ball biography. She was certainly a fascinating woman. She tried to give notes to Red Skelton, too.

Kaye and Skelton eventually made up with her. Joan Blondell never did.

Joan Crawford even admitted she was nowhere near the bitch Lucille Ball was.

And yet, she's a very likeable character. Incredibly talented, but insecure. Driven, strong, unbelievably successful, but could cry at the drop of a hat.

It's called "Ball of Fire".

[NightWatcher]

1. I never liked Lucy

[MonkeyFunk]

8. That's just wrong

I was born in '61.

I was often sick as a child, and the best days of my life were watching I Love Lucy reruns on CBS during the days I was home.

Reading this biography taught me a lot about how important Lucy and Desi were.

They invented the modern sitcom. They invented the rerun. They invented syndication. They created The Untouchables, and Mission Impossible, and Star Trek.

It really was a fascinating story.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

17. I thought that Gene Rodenberry created Star Trek

and they produced it

[MonkeyFunk]

21. Lucy was advised

that the costs for Star Trek were way too high to produce. She overruled all her executives.

Without Lucy, there would be no Star Trek.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

25. Yet another reason to love her

Besides the most obvious - how hot she was

[MonkeyFunk]

27. She was indeed beautiful

is that the early flick she did with Henry Fonda?

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Iris]

37. yeah! Nobody better be messin' with Lucy!

She's an icon.

[MnFats]

48. they did not Invent anything.

They took the honeymooners and gave the lead man a Cuban accident, then took it upon themselves to make crude racist jokes.
ok, that's a little harsh.

but 'the dick van dyck show' set the standard for themodern sitcom if you ask me...

[MonkeyFunk]

59. You're just very misinformed.

[Oeditpus Rex]

63. They must've done it damned fast

"The Honeymooners" made its debut as a sketch on "Cavalcade of Stars" on Oct. 5, 1951. The first "I Love Lucy" episode was aired 10 days later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeymooners#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Lucy

The only thing in "Lucy" that could be construed as "crude racist jokes" were jokes about Ricky's accent, many of which Desi Arnaz made himself.

[MonkeyFunk]

67. They also learned very quickly

that nobody but Lucy could make fun of Desi's accent.

If Fred or Ethel did it, it was perceived as mean. Only Lucy could mock him.

[Oeditpus Rex]

82. You're right

Arnaz pointed that out in "A Book," but I'd forgotten it.

[MonkeyFunk]

83. I have to get Desi's book

I haven't read that one.

He was working on the sequel "Another Book" when he got sick and died.

[joeybee12]

133. You're right...and a lot of I Love Lucy came from her radio

show...My Favorite Husband, which premiered five years (at least, I think) prior. No stealing here.

[libnnc]

66. Desilu Productions was at the forefront of television technology

back then.

I Love Lucy was the first television show to use more than one camera...among other innovations in TV production.

[MonkeyFunk]

68. Yep

it was the first 3-camera show. And the first to be shot on film (which allowed repeats and syndication).

Karl Freund, the cinematographer, was a genius.

[libnnc]

71. Weren't they also the first to play around with early video?

I may be mixing that up with the film reference.

[MonkeyFunk]

72. Nope

You're right. The show was the first one to be filmed. All other shows at the time used kinescopes (a tape of the video monitor).

CBS never imagined that the audience might want to see a TV show a second time, so when Desi got them to agree to filming the show (because they didn't want to move to NY where the big audience was), Desi retained the rights to the films.

Thus was born the rerun.

[Oeditpus Rex]

90. Well.. sort of

It was the first show done on film with three cameras (they sometimes used four) and then synchronized in editing, thanks to a jerry-rigged invention Desilu dubbed "the three-headed monster." It was a Movieola editor adapted to hold and view three reels at the same time so the film editor (whom I believe was Danny Cahn) could instantly select the best shot and cut to it.

[MonkeyFunk]

94. Yes

but Freund developed a way to film with three cameras - a long, medium and close-up shot - and designed the lighting that made such a thing possible.

But we don't disagree - the whole thing was Desi's idea and he was a genius.

[Oeditpus Rex]

98. No, we don't

I'm just really anal about details. :crazy:

Did you ever read about the little problems they had to overcome to do the show "that way"? There was all kinds of runaround from the zoning department (the RKO sound stage they leased was across the street from a residential area), the fire department (they had to cut a new door of a certain size to the street), etc. etc. etc. Then, about an hour before filming was to start on the first episode, up came a health inspector and told Desi, "You can't do this show in front of an audience." Seems they didn't have a women's bathroom within a prescribed distance of the bleachers. But Lucy came to the rescue, offering the bathroom in her dressing room.

[MonkeyFunk]

102. Yes

that was all covered in this book.

It was fascinating to me.

[datasuspect]

76. desi arnaz and laszlo panaflex were drinking buddies

[IntravenousDemilo]

96. I Love Lucy debuted four years before The Honeymooners, at least according to imdb.com. n/m

[MonkeyFunk]

110. Fats...

it's hard to find somebody who loves Jackie Gleason more than I do, but how do you answer the response to your post?

Gleason and Ball were contemporaries, doing very different shows. Can you come back and defend your claim that Lucy stole from Gleason?

[MnFats]

117. No, of course not. I was being snotty throughout. Sorry.

See, around the Fats extended family, Lucille is a Goddess.

You want to take care of Christmas? Lucy T-shirts all around, or, and this was the find of the century, the Lucy board game. Better yet, the trivia game.you'll be a hero.
if you're like me you start out with a mild dislike and it is compounded.


I apologize for being snotty.

[MonkeyFunk]

118. no offense taken

Were you related to Fats? He's another pioneer-hero of mine.

[MnFats]

124. i don't think so.

i keep telling myself i'm not all that fat...just liked the sound of it...no, really.

[BuddhaGirl]

129. I was born in '62

and grew up watching I Love Lucy reruns as well. I loved her and thought the shows were hilarious!

I met her in 1968, when I was six. She and Gary Morton were shopping at Bullock' Wilshire - a beautiful department store on Wilshire Blvd, which is no longer there - and she was so sweet to me! Being six, I thought she was still married to Desi. I told her, "I think your husband is sooo funny!" - Gary Morton was off to the side, laughing. They of course, knew what I meant. Two weeks later I received a beautiful autographed photo of her. :-)

I want to read that biography!!

[MonkeyFunk]

132. oh, what a great story!

I wrote her a letter once when I was young, but didn't get a response.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. I thought Lucy was overrated.

I thought Desi was the real comedic talent behind the original show, to be honest.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. Desi was indeed underrated

but I honestly think it's hard to overrate Lucy.

She really was a comedic genius. But the odd part is, she wasn't really funny. Everything she ever did on TV was scripted and rehearsed to death. She knew how to work hard at putting a scene together, and she had the instincts to know what would work, but it was all the result of hard labor. She wasn't funny "off the cuff".

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. That's my point.

Lucy was funny because of the writers and directors. If she were a comic genius I think she'd have been funny off the cuff.

[MonkeyFunk]

12. I have to disagree

I know people in comedy, and they all say the same thing: ALL successful comics are doing a well-rehearsed script.

Even Robin Williams isn't improvising. His stream-of-conciousness is well-planned and well-rehearsed.

Yes, being able to toss out just the right improv line at just the right moment is cool, but evidently very rare.

Lucy's stuff was well-scripted, yes. But SHE was instrumental in putting it all together - knowing the gags, the timing, etc.

Comedy isn't natural. It's crafted.

[sundog]

34. good performers aren't required to be off the cuff

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

35. I'm not really talking about improv.

Or even stand up at all. But knowing what is and isn't funny and why.

[MonkeyFunk]

38. And everybody who ever knew her or worked with her

admitted that Lucy knew what was or wasn't funny and why.

She was in the Nielsen top 20 for 22 years, much of it in the #1 slot. I doubt anybody will ever match that record.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. He was the creative and business talent

Lucy's strengths were her incredible timing, her ability for physical comedy (including, and especially, facial expressions) and her willingness to do almost anything for a laugh.

But without Desi Arnaz, "I Love Lucy" would never have gotten off the ground.

[MonkeyFunk]

15. Agreed

Desi was a genius. He had an unmatched ability to cast actors in the right roles, and had an innate business sense, despite never studying it.

But Lucy's talents are undeniable. You're right to point out that she'd do anything for a laugh - she was the female Milton Berle of her time, while still remaining an elegant, beautiful lady. Berle cheapened himself with his humor. Lucy only enhanced herself.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Elegant, yeah

:rofl:

[MonkeyFunk]

29. yes she was elegant

and she was willing to compromise that for comedy.




You're not seriously contending that her appearance in a comedy sketch means she wasn't a beauty?

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. Dude, it was a joke

One meant to illustrate her aforementioned willingness to do anything for a laugh.

[MonkeyFunk]

40. I gotcha

no worries.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Audio_Al]

65. why would that get deleted?

Al

[Oeditpus Rex]

91. DU frowns on nipplage (n.t)

[jeff30997]

95. Yeah, because of Janet Jackson...

Nipplophobia is everywhere.:)

BTW is this a real pic or photoshopped ?

[Oeditpus Rex]

100. Dunno

If it's 'shopped, it's a very good job.

[MonkeyFunk]

104. it's not shopped

that's Lucy. The picture is in the book.

[Oeditpus Rex]

106. Woohoo!

Hawt book.

It sure isn't in "Loving Lucy." :(

What's the caption say about the photo?

[MonkeyFunk]

107. yadda yadda...

she was young, she was a model. Yadda

[Oeditpus Rex]

109. And a damned poor one, at that

Sitting at breakfast counters, waiting for a "two-donut man."

The money she got for that shoot probably held her for a couple of weeks.

Besides, it's a beautiful photo. Nothing "dirty" about it.

[MonkeyFunk]

113. I agree

it's a beautiful pic.

I've seen beaver shots of Katherine Hepburn, too.

They were both beautiful, and their beauty should've been preserved on film.

[Oeditpus Rex]

115. Thank dog it was

[ronnykmarshall]

43. Even Lucy would agree.

She always thought Desi never got the attention he deserved.

[soleft]

3. When you think about it, Lucy was a bit sociopathetic

[MonkeyFunk]

5. How so?

I'd love to discuss it - the biography was fascinating to me.

[soleft]

127. She didn't really care about the feelings of others

She was always focused on what she wanted regardless of how it affect Ricky, the Mertz's, even Little Ricky sometimes.

[ThomCat]

6. For some reason, even as a kid, I rarely ever found her funny.

:shrug:

I guess I'm unusual in not liking her style of comedy.

[NC_Nurse]

10. Same here.

She always acted like an idiot. I found her "dumb blonde" character really tired.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. Lucy was never a dumb blonde

maybe a ditzy redhead.

[NC_Nurse]

16. Exactly.

That's what makes it so irritating. She acted like an ass, but she was very intelligent.
Bullshit sexist humor, IMO.

[MonkeyFunk]

18. I think it's unfair to judge it by today's standards

We can judge the character: she was smart, scheming, and often successful. We can judge the woman behind the character and there's no question that she was a real leader. She was the first woman to run a studio on her own. (Mary Pickford, 40 years earlier, shared the responsibility).

Yes, she made her humor in the context of a patriarchal culture - but did she endorse it or subvert it?

Similarly, Audrey Meadows in "The Honeymooners" was the "winner" in most of her confrontations with her husband.

I could argue that such depictions were instrumental in changing public conciousness about women.

[NC_Nurse]

24. Perhaps. But it turned me off even though I was just a kid.

[MonkeyFunk]

30. well it turned me on

as a little gay boy. To see a woman be that funny, that beautiful, that talented.... MMPH!

[Yavin4]

11. A photo of Joan Blondell

God, I love old cheesecake shots.

[MonkeyFunk]

14. Heheh...

thank you.

I love the old stars. I was fortunate enough to grow up in the 60s in NY, where a number of the over-the-air stations showed old movies, and I was hooked from an early age.

I idolized the Marx Bros., Mae West, even the Bowery Boys.

I was just a sucker for an old comedy, and still am.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

19. She looks like Mel from Flight of the Conchords

[Beausoir]

131. LOL! Yes she does.

[MichiganVote]

20. I loved her in the candy line skit.

[MonkeyFunk]

23. That's an incredible piece of comedy

the woman who she worked with was a real candy-maker, that Desi found. She had no sense of humor. She just did her candy gig.

When the actual filming came and she was supposed to smack Lucy with the chocolate, she did. She did it hard. Lucy was stunned by how hard she'd been hit, but kept the scene going. When it was over, Lucy said "wow! you really hit me!"

The woman replied "Isn't that what you told me to do?" She was hardcore.

Here's the scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCaWBdUrcJ0

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Amanda Milligan

Worked at See's Candies in LA.

[Tikki]

22. Not a fan.....

Kinda forced to watch sometimes as a kid.....never watched again as an adult.

Her humor was like a THUD.

Tikki

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

33. Not in my opinion

she cracked me up

[MonkeyFunk]

36. You should give it another shot

but then, if you didn't like the Marx Bros., Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and the like, you might not like Lucy.

But the, that means you're humorless.

[redqueen]

39. Loved the show as a kid...

and now as an adult, my respect for her has only grown.

She and Desi were quite a talented Duo.

[MonkeyFunk]

41. The most enlightening part of this biography

was to learn how important Desi was, and how the two of them really pioneered television as we know it today.

They were both geniuses.

[redqueen]

42. I don't know where I read or saw it...

but it's not news to me. :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

45. You should read Desi's autobiography

If you haven't already.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

49. Nice new avatar!

:thumbsup:

[redqueen]

51. Thank you!

I'm gettin myself all worked up for our match against Man U next weekend. :D

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

52. Oh man

I can't wait for that one. The Gunners better win!

[redqueen]

53. Scholes is out injured!

:bounce:

I hear he's like their Fabregas... I hope so! I hope their midfield falls apart so that Teves and Rooney won't be so... so like they are... so fuckin great. Bleah.

Also hope Van Persie's back in shape and ready to attack by then. :D

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

55. Scholes wishes he was as good as Fabregas

Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand - he's insanely good. Man U's defense is on a roll lately. This promises to be a very good game. The only game that would be more exciting for me would be Arsenal vs Barcelona (my 2nd love). Have you seen a Barça game? They have some crazy young kids like Lionel Messi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfF63HksSnE

[redqueen]

128. Yes, I've seen one Barça match...

Messi is phenomenal. Such a joy to watch. :)

Between him, Eto'o, Henry, and Ronaldinho... they've got to be the most talented footie club in the world right now.

[terrya]

46. I loved "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show"

I'm sort of surprised that she didn't have as successful career in movies...she did some films in the 40's and 50's. But not as quite as many in the 60's and 70's...the only one I distinctly remember from that period was "Mame" (and, to be brutally honest, the less said about that one, the better)

But she was a comedic genius...one can see that just with that brilliant bit she did with Harpo Marx on "I Love Lucy". Sheer genius.

[Oeditpus Rex]

47. She had quite a successful film career

Just not in big films. She was the "queen" of RKO's 'B' pictures in the late '30s and '40s and appeared in 81 films before "I Love Lucy," but she gave up filmdom for television to save her marriage — doing the show in Hollywood would keep her and Desi in the same place. Prior to that, she was always in Hollywood or on promotional tours while he was touring with his band.

[MonkeyFunk]

60. This biography talks about "Mame"

Desi counseled her against doing it, and he was right... it was a horrible flop.

Her biggest movie ever was "Yours, Mine & Ours" with Henry Fonda.

[Oeditpus Rex]

93. I liked the first one she and Desi did together

"Forever Darling," not so much.

[Va Lefty]

50. This thread is just wrong on so many levels

[BuelahWitch]

54. There was alot of physical comedy on her shows

Does the book mention if that was her or a double? If it was her...she was well into middle age at the time. I'm almost 45 and wouldn't be caught dead doing the stuff Lucy was doing at 50+. No way you can do that kind of stuff without over rehearsing it, especially at her age...

[Oeditpus Rex]

58. The only times Lucy used a stunt double

were in the "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour." One was when they were in Las Vegas and she was shown, from the rear, jumping onto the back of a mule. She was also doubled in bits of the bullfight scene in "Lucy Goes to Mexico," and I think in the skiing scenes when they went to Sun Valley.

[MonkeyFunk]

61. She never used a stunt double

all her shtick was her own.

OK... I just read the post above this. Maybe she used a double in the Lucy-Desi comedy hour once. But her physical comedy was all hers.

[Fenris]

56. I have no idea why, but as a kid I thought this scene was the funniest thing ever.

[The Straight Story]

57. I think she is the only star I cried over when she died

Friends and myself all thought she reminded us of my mom (mom was pretty zany).

[MonkeyFunk]

62. Her and Groucho...

I cried over.

[XemaSab]

64. I was reading about Lucy yesterday...

It was suprising to me to learn that Lucy was 40, Desi was 35, Vivian was 41, and Fred was 63 at the time of the first season.

[MonkeyFunk]

70. Yeah...

Lucy was in her 40s when she began "I Love Lucy" and when she had her children.

Both Desi and Gary Morton were 6 years younger than her.

[Canuckistanian]

69. I used to LOVE Lucille Ball. Then I turned four.

I had moved on.

[bridgit]

73. pft, that's common piker knowledge, Ball required BY CONTRACT...

that Vivian Vance remain 10lbs heavier than she was at any one time, poor Vivian for having to deal with such a shrew :(

[MonkeyFunk]

74. That's not true

[bridgit]

75. go for it...

[MonkeyFunk]

77. go for what?

I've read the biography of Ball, and I've previously read a biography of Vance. Both say that rumor is untrue.

[bridgit]

78. well, then i guess you are the *ultimate* authority...

after a thread filled with spurious Hollywood back lot/smack talk :eyes: ask Lilly Tomlin, Lucille Ball is a comic genius

[MonkeyFunk]

79. All you have to do

is find me a credible source for your claim.

I've told you that I've read two credible sources saying the claim is untrue.

Give yourself the ultimate satisfaction and prove me wrong.

[bridgit]

80. Lucille Ball is a comic genius prove *that* wrong...

I don't give a shit about your aspersions or the books you say you read, that proof is in that pudding pudding, that Ball was a strong willed woman is not a fault for which she needs to account for posthumously; but for Lucy, Ricki would have been playing bongos in the Fidel Castro All Star Limbo Band & Orchestra :eyes:

[MonkeyFunk]

81. Thank you

for demonstrating that you can't prove the urban legend you presented as the truth.

[bridgit]

84. it must be a slow night in low-brow america & you are welcome to it...

[MonkeyFunk]

85. low-brow America?

What do you mean?

You repeated a common myth, and I told you it was wrong.

A normal person would say "oh! I didn't know that! Thanks for the information."

Instead, you insulted me for telling you the truth. What kind of fucked-up is that?

I'm now low-brow for knowing the truth? You're "high-brow" for believing an urban legend? How odd.

[bridgit]

87. Yes dear, but you have no information of any worth to me...

Sorry, but I've worked in Hollywood; and have heard more round certain water coolers than you may ever yet hear, or for that matter read about in passing, though who can truly say for sure either way, yes? Such that where it is such that 'some' i.e. you, may opine to others somewhat stridently, as is the case here, that they are to kowtow before their/your splendid repose and dummy up!! :eyes: You may find it ultimately utilitarian to include yourself within such a gaggle in said wait...just a thought

edited for the: 'find', cause some folks would never have understood

[MonkeyFunk]

88. But I'm saying it's not my opinion

it's the conclusion of two biographers who have spent years studying the situation.

Your watercooler conversation, dear, is the very definition of gossip.

It should be easy for you to find an actual contract with such a stipulation. Of course it's not easy since it doesn't exist.

Why not just accept the fact that you believed some wrong gossip? Why attack me for telling you the truth?

[bridgit]

92. "two biographers", please convey to the world that you understand without reservation...

that Hitler had "biographers" (of which i prefer Toland btw), as does bush, Cheney, U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Gandhi, and likely bin Laden before too long if not already, sheesh dude...even Doris Kearns Goodwin was spanked for loose connections as were others, that "biographers" write biographies don't make it: Iron Clad So per se

Ask: The Black Dahlia

[MonkeyFunk]

97. Show me the contract

show me anybody who signed such a contract that stipulates your claim as fact.

You can't.

Just save yourself a lot of embarrassment and back down now. You're wrong. You're very wrong. Why make a big display of how wrong you are?

[Oeditpus Rex]

99. The 'contract' was meant as a joke

Vivian Vance's own biographers wrote that it was presented to her by Lucy at a party in an attempt to make light of swirling rumors.

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/vance.asp

(One thing I hate about Snopes: You can't copy and paste text from it.) x(

[bridgit]

103. thank you...

[bridgit]

101. There is no more shame to my game than there is to yours, but for the fact...

that *you* are robbing a grave, I therefore repeat: go for it! I find it an apt subject at Halloween :scared:

[MonkeyFunk]

105. Are you serious?

I'm robbing a grave for discussing a dead celebrity?!?!

That's a really disturbed view of things.

[bridgit]

108. Do you want to """Fuck you, Lucille Ball!"" or not?

They are *your* words Mr. OP; I find your entire approach pernicious at the very best.

[MonkeyFunk]

111. It's a quote

explained in the OP.

Now back to the topic of this subthread - can you provide any evidence of your alleged contract, or will you just buck up and admit you're wrong?

[bridgit]

112. Do you want me to bend over, daddy?

Daddy? Are people like you ever really happy?

[MonkeyFunk]

114. No,

you can stand upright and just admit you were wrong.

But it seems very difficult for you to do.

[bridgit]

116. You're OP is filled with the flat-footed: Skelton, Kaye, Blondell...come on, you buck up me bucko...

You tell everyone if if you think you know; what properties are you able to recall in which Kaye was even suited other than Christian Anderson, Court Jester, and maybe some little bit here & there. There may well have been a time when Danny needed a bit of advise. Skelton? A wonderful American Treasure remembered for...for...for what? Are you even able to recall? Let's see you tout some film history. Blondell...a fine woman but no comic.

And this I just love: Joan Crawford thinks Lucille Ball is a bigger bitch than she is = no, no....wait for it, I can't take it!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That alone is mother fucking precious high praise indeed from a chick that used to whip her adopted daughter with a fucking coat hanger no my strange friend...

YOU go back in and re-post this ill shaped, piece of shit OP of yours while YOU admit that you got nothing, nothing at all upon which to stand but for the aspersions of others which you are prepared lap up like a poodle from a saucer on the floor

:spray:

[MonkeyFunk]

119. smilies don't make a good argument

do you have any evidence that Vance had a contract requiring her to be fatter than Ball?

Why are you embarrassing yourself this way? Just admit you fell for a rumor and be done with it. I'll never mention it again.

on edit: That post was among the most insane things I've ever seen on DU. Do you need to talk to someone?

[MonkeyFunk]

125. ok, you can't admit you were wrong

well I'm here to tell you: you were wrong. There's no shame in that. I'm wrong at least twice a day. It's no big deal.

[MonkeyFunk]

120. Seriously? You can't bring yourself to say the words

"I was wrong"?


How sad.

[MonkeyFunk]

121. "common piker knowledge"

that's the problem with common pikers - they tend to believe untrue stuff.

[Malikshah]

86. I read this one-- quite fascinating-- especially the details of her long and

tumultuous marriage with Desi

Really quite tragic.

[MonkeyFunk]

89. Yes, that was very sad

but she always loved him... and he, her.

They just weren't good as a married couple.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

122. "Joan Crawford even admitted she was nowhere near the bitch Lucille Ball was"

...that's extreme.

I'm looking forward to a rumored tell-all book on Frank "Sam Drucker" Cady (Hooterville General Store owner in Beverly Hillbillies / Green Acres), "Paper or Plastic: My Journey Through Hell."

Word on the street is that he was a bigger bitch than Lucille Ball and Joan Crawford combined.



:evilgrin:

[MonkeyFunk]

123. hehe..that's almost funny

[FunkyLeprechaun]

126. Oh I loved that book!

It's still in the US (I'm gradually bringing stuff here to the UK). Now that I think of it, I don't have many Lucy things here, while my room in the US is chock-a-block Lucy memoralbia.

I'll have to find a way to bring my I Love Lucy autographs to the UK (they are verified as real... and I did double check, knowing that Vance and Frawley hated to sign).

I did the Vitametavegamin skit in my HS Drama class. Good days! :-)

Regarding a discussion above, I knew that Vance had to wear frumpy clothes as Ethel. When you go into the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour shows, Vance wears MUCH nicer clothes.

[enigmatic]

130. Desi's "A Book" is great, too

I haven't read that in years but as others have said, he truly was an underrated part of Desilu and show itself. He really was a pioneer.