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!
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