From the monthly archives:
Producer/Head Writer Jess Oppenheimer on the success of I Love Lucy:
“You took the greatest living comedienne and worked from there… For every word you write in this business, you figure you’re lucky to get back 70 – 80 percent from a performer. With Lucy, you get back 140 percent.”
On the set of I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball loved to have huge sit-down meals with the cast, crew, and even the family members of each. She often had special cake-cutting parties because she loved to commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, or just about any event she could think of.
I Love Lucy Head-writer/Producer Jess Oppenheimer on Dress Rehearsals:
“Everyone would stay for this, even the stage hands. They were wonderful sessions where we’d even get into the philosophy of the script. We’d have our share of arguments, too. Bill Frawley (Fred Mertz) would get his back up over the way he wanted to read a line or something. But they were very stimulating and fruitful. We really dug into the characters because we took these people very seriously and tried to make everything logical.”
The first “I Love Lucy” show was filmed on a Saturday evening, September 8, 1951. It was titled “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her,” and is considered by most to be one of the funniest from the whole shebang.
“I was scared to death when we did our first show. After all, I had done only two movies and wasn’t accustomed to working with one camera, much less with four of them. Lucy sensed that I was scared and went out of her way to set me at ease. She got me laughing so hard before my entrance that I didn’t have time to remember that I was so frightened.” – Vivian Vance
“All I remember about that night was trying to protect my stomach. Lucie had just been born by Caesarean section and I was wearing a huge bandage over my stomach. I was more concerned with that than anything else. When the laughs started coming, I was very relieved. I remember sayin, ‘Whew! It’s working.’” – Lucille Ball
After William Frawley was brought on board for Fred, the hunt for Ehtel heated up. They had their work cut out for them because the actress had to look like she could be married to William Frawley, but had to be young enough to get involved realistically in Lucy’s wild shenanigans.
The show’s director, Marc Daniels, suggested his friend Vivian Vance (39). He took Desi and I Love Lucy writer, Jess oppenheimer, to see her in a stage performance. Lucy had given birth to Lucie just 11 days before, so she couldn’t make the trip with them.
After the first act, Desi turned to his companions and said, “I think we found our Ethel.”
Vivian, of course, got the role, but it was a role that she didn’t exactly embrace. She would complain to anyone who listened how ridiculous that she should be playing William Frawley’s wife. Her feelings toward him were matched on his end and theirs was a fierce feud.
Vivian hated Ethel – her clothes, her appearance, her “man’s” voice….and so on. An overly understanding Lucy tried to appease her by coming up with more laughs for Ethel, and constructing whole scenes around her. Eventually, Vivian eased up and came to enjoy the amazing show that she was a part of.
However, her feud with Frawley was so bad that the director was forever having to break up their fights and TRY to bring about peace.
When Vivian was told of William Frawley’s death, she actually said, “Champagne for Everybody!”
Joi
Out of Bounds
“I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not.”
“My God, I’m outliving my henna.”
“What could I do? I couldn’t dance. I couldn’t sing. I could talk.”
“You spell Bob Hope C-L-A-S-S.”
“Use a make-up table with everything close at hand and don’t rush; otherwise you’ll look like a patchwork quilt.”
The changing of Desi’s character’s name wasn’t the only change that was made to the pilot. There was also the decision to add neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz. As a previous post stated, Lucy originally wanted Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet in the roles of Fred and Ethel, but they had prior commitments.
CBS and Desi and Lucy rounded up lists of potential actors and actresses and began sorting through them.
Bill Frawley (64), who had heard about the casting call, called Lucy personally and asked if there was possibly a role for him on her show. They barely even knew one another before the phone call, but it was the beginning of a close nine-year association.
She promised him that she’d discuss it with the others. Desi and Lucy were all for the idea, but the studio warned them about Frawley’s instability and insobriety.
Desi met with Bill and laid the rules out to him – the job was his but if he missed work for any reasons other than illness, he was off the show. Bill agreed and Fred Mertz was in place.
Joi
The pilot episode of “I Love Lucy” had Desi’s character named Larry Lopez. When everything fell into place for the series, however, the writers (as well as Desi, himself) decided the name needed to change. For one thing they thought Lucy and Larry Lopez sounded phony. They agreed that RickyRicardo had a much better ring to it.
Joi
You may not know the name, but I guarantee you know the face and have heard the voice MANY times!
As I said in the last post, Bea was Lucille Ball’s first choice for Ethel Mertz, but couldn’t get free to accept the role. She did appear on an episode of I Love Lucy, however, as shy Miss Lewis. At the time, Bea was nowhere near as old as the character Miss Lewis – (it was pretty obvious when you looked at her lovely face). The episode was titled “Lucy plays Cupid.”
She went on to play Pearl Bodine in “The Beverly Hillbillies”, as well as Kate Bradley on “Green Acres” and “Petticoat Junction.”
She also was the voice of Betty Rubble (and additional voices) on “The Flintstones”, and was Witch Hazel and Tweety Bird’s Granny until 1955! She apparently did most of the female voices on the early cartoons.
I had enjoyed this lady’s talent my whole life without ever knowing her real name. Now that I realize just how talented she was and how many different hats she actually wore, I’m even more of a fan!
When Bea died in 1968 of lung cancer, she was replaced on Petticoat Junction by former Lassie and Lost in Space co-star, June Lockhart.
Lucille’s first choice for neighbor Fred Mertz was Gale Gordon.
For the role of Ethel, her first choice was Bea Benaderet.
Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet (More about her in the next post!) were both 44 when “I Love Lucy” was being developed. They had worked with her on the radio show, “My Favorite Husband,” portraying married neighbors, Rudolph and Iris Atterbury.
Gale and Bea were both under contract with other studios, so they couldn’t take the roles of Fred and Ethel Mertz.
Each did appear on episodes of “I Love Lucy,” however. Gale played Ricky’s Tropicana boss, Alvin Littlefield on two episodes. Bea played a shy spinster, Miss Lewis, in a hilarious episode. Miss Lewis had the hots for someone, but was too shy (and frankly too old) to do anything about it. As much as I love, love, love Lucy – in that particular episode she had her scenes stollen right from under her heels by one Bea Benaderet!
