Lucille Ball

[radiojane]

She was often rude to her guest stars on the LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR, and pushed them around during rehearsals. I remember on all her shows after 'ILL' yelling her lines like there was no mic to pick up her voice. Weird.
Interesting that she felt she had to be so 'hard', but deep inside was compassionate. I just wish she would've 'relaxed' and enjoyed life more, instead of approaching it like a prizefight.

Ambition and the desperate longing to overcome bad circumstances can make a person terribly hard. And quite frankly, if you feel the need to hoard pencils all your life because you didn't have one in school as a child, you're going to have a little damage.

[VickiLester]

For what it's worth, in January 1977, I went to Honolulu while I was in college. Everyone was talking about Lucy staying at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. We went along Waikiki and hung out hoping to see her, of course we didn't. At least it helps pinpoint Lucy's whereabouts in 1977.

[radiojane]

I live for anecdotes like that. I totally would've hung around waiting for Lucy. I could give a flying fork about Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan or any of the new breed of hollywood idiots, but bring back the Lucys, the Dinos or the Judys and I'd be right there.

[crazedfemale]

My grandmother told me years ago about her attending a filming of I Love Lucy. She said Rosalind Russell was in the audience that night and at the end of the filming she was introduced and came down and took a bow. I asked her which episode it was and she told me but for the life of me I cannot remember!

[SomeChick]

[KELT]

Yeah, it's called LUNG DAMAGE ! ! !

[Zombiegirl]

I live for anecdotes like that. I totally would've hung around waiting for Lucy. I could give a flying fork about Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan or any of the new breed of hollywood idiots, but bring back the Lucys, the Dinos or the Judys and I'd be right there.

Well said radiojane!! I absolutely could not agree with you more on this. Hollywood Idiots, Indeed. WTF do they ever do that is of any value? Seems to me we have a whole passel of celebrity good-time girls and partiers with nothing more to offer, and what's worse is our children are looking up to them as role models! Acckkkk!
The whole lot of them make me wanna puke.

[SomeChick]

Yeah, it's called LUNG DAMAGE ! ! !

Can't disagree with you there, lol. Love those old ads though!

[Jack-O-Lantern]

I feel like Lucy is something apart of my earliest memories, and I was only born in 1982. I've been drawn to her my whole life and can watch the show whenever it's on. It's still pure genius and holds up by today's standards.

My friend and I constantly quote and/or act out moments that make us laugh the hardest. This includes her turn as the witch in little ricky's school play ("Aah!" "whatdoyouwant!?"), or as the horse in the play for the queen (that's just all her awesome dance moves), or even classics like "tastes just like candy.... HONEST!"

Love the show, love the comedy, it somehow represents a period of time in American culture, yet still has the ability to feel timeless.

This is so true. There will never be another show quite like "I Love Lucy"--including Ball's subsequent sitcoms which were just plain awful in comparison. I think it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime situations wherein the right performers (Ball, Arnaz, Vance, Frawley), the right writers, and the right mindset were all firing at exactly the same time. Perfection.

[Omerta]

Was just enjoying the archives and ran across a mention of Lucille Ball which lead to a little Googling when I ran across the following article......has anyone heard of a potential 'other child'?

I don't even know how to react...........never heard this before...

Using mtDNA to Suggest Kinship – A Case Example Involving Lucille Ball


Image via Wikipedia


There is an article in yesterday’s Greenwich Times entitled “Woman out to prove kinship to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz” about Cassandria Carlson, a woman from Schaumburg, Ill. who believes she is the granddaughter of Lucille Ball.
According to Carlson, her mother was born to Lucille Ball in 1947 and was then put up for adoption “because her very existence would have interfered with Ball’s career.” Among her evidence, Carlson cites a 1946 newspaper clipping which described Ball as pregnant as well as her mother Madeline Jane Dee’s memories of a red-headed woman named “Mrs. Morton” bringing her to the playground as a child (Ball’s second married was to a Gary Morton). Unfortunately, Ms. Dee died just a few years ago.

http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com...-lucille-ball/

[jaylene]

ummmm yeah ok and Elvis is alive and working at Burger King in Kalamazoo.

[Hagitha]

I know a lady that used to be an airline stewardess and served Lucille Ball on one of her flights. She told me she was not only rude to herself and other people around her but was actually just downright mean. Surprised me because she always seemed like such a happy go lucky person. Guess not or maybe she was just having a bad day.

[olddude521]

It just goes to show you, there is nothing funny about comedians.

[radiojane]

The "Mrs. Morton" thing kind of gives that other child thing away. Ball wasn't married to Morton until 61, which would have made the child 14, and I'm sure that unless she lived in a box, she'd have known who the hell Lucille Ball was.

[KELT]

1966


with radio husband RICHARD DENNING
1950


1963

[jaylene]

I loved Lucy and miss her.

[crazedfemale]

This woman who thinks she's Lucy and Desi's granddaughter presents herself as that. She showed up at the Lucy festival in Jamestown and was signing autographs. She has shown up at immigration reform rallies and on her twitter account said her grandfather helped Cuban exiles in the 1960's. She has no proof other than passed down stories. The only thing that would prove this would be a DNA test. I don't think Lucie or Desi will go for that. I think she wanted a family and latched to the Arnaz's based on misinformation.

[PiggyTx]

I know a lady that used to be an airline stewardess and served Lucille Ball on one of her flights. She told me she was not only rude to herself and other people around her but was actually just downright mean. Surprised me because she always seemed like such a happy go lucky person. Guess not or maybe she was just having a bad day.

+++++++++
Ya know, I totally can see her being like this. From things I've read and seen, this is no surprise.

[davidbrown]

I know a lady that used to be an airline stewardess and served Lucille Ball on one of her flights. She told me she was not only rude to herself and other people around her but was actually just downright mean. Surprised me because she always seemed like such a happy go lucky person. Guess not or maybe she was just having a bad day.

I don't care how funny or famous you are, you don't have to be mean and rude and a bitch like she was. I love her, don't get me wrong, but if she treated me like shit I would've thrown shit back at her.

I don't have this starry-eyed love for people who are famous and who are so awful to others. 99% of the movie stars are nice. It's the 1% who give everyone else a bad name.

[NineTails20]

I came across this quote from Lucy, and had to share it.

"I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.".


Makes sense to me......

[neilmpenny]

I came across this quote from Lucy, and had to share it.

"I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.".


Makes sense to me......

Words to live by.

[Flmlvr]

I know a lady that used to be an airline stewardess and served Lucille Ball on one of her flights. She told me she was not only rude to herself and other people around her but was actually just downright mean. Surprised me because she always seemed like such a happy go lucky person. Guess not or maybe she was just having a bad day.

You are not alone - a friend of mine met her THREE times. And according to my friend, she was a bitch all three times she met her. On the one hand, I don't excuse her behavior, on the other, I understand why she was defensive. What I DO know is that if you were a friend of her's, she was truly a great friend to have. Yep, she was one of those "Gee, once you get to know her......" types of people.........

[morticia53]

I know a lady that used to be an airline stewardess and served Lucille Ball on one of her flights. She told me she was not only rude to herself and other people around her but was actually just downright mean. Surprised me because she always seemed like such a happy go lucky person. Guess not or maybe she was just having a bad day.

I also knew a stewardess who was on more than one flight with Lucy. She told me Lucy wouldn't speak to anyone she considered 'below her status' like a stewardess. When asked if she wanted anything, Lucy would tell Gary, "tell the girl I want coffee, etc."

[Jack-O-Lantern]

I hate to hear stuff like this, though certainly it's not the first time I've heard/read these things about Ball. It just makes me think that, no matter how talented and funny she was on film, her sour personality and high-handed treatment of people overshadow all of that.

No wonder Desi strayed--who wants to be around someone with a personality like that for any period of time??? That egotistic, privileged thing is a HUGE turn-off. In interviews I remember seeing with her when I was young (Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, etc.), she always seemed unhappy, cynical and nasty. Never smiled, never laughed. Quite a conundrum, our Lucy.

[chrisdr]

I am more of a Desi than a Lucy fan but I do admire her talent all the same. What really gets me is that she desperately wanted kids but yet when she had them they were raised by either her Mother Dee-Dee or someone else? I know she liked to work but it seems why bother to have kids if you are not going to spend that quality time with them..No wonder they had issues..Any thoughts out there?

[Flmlvr]

I am more of a Desi than a Lucy fan but I do admire her talent all the same. What really gets me is that she desperately wanted kids but yet when she had them they were raised by either her Mother Dee-Dee or someone else? I know she liked to work but it seems why bother to have kids if you are not going to spend that quality time with them..No wonder they had issues..Any thoughts out there?

Keep in mind that Lucille wasn't raised in the most ideal circumstances either - because of her father's occupation, they had moved several times until he died of typhoid - and being she wasn't nurtured properly, therefore she just didn't know how to nurture. I'm sure she loved Desi Jr. and Luci, and she probably thought she was a good mother not realizing what she was doing (shesh, does that make sense?). No, she wasn't a mother-of-the-year, but she sure as heck wasn't either Joan Crawford or Margaret Sullivan either........

[Daphne]

Lucille Ball, from what I can tell from many many google searches and whatnot, was known as a bitch. However, she was a genious commedienne, with a hell of a back up cast, that still, to this day, what.. 50 years later? STILL make me laugh though I have seen every episode of ILL a thousand times. I honestly will say her cast, Ethel, Fred and Ricky (not so much Ricky) made this show just work. Fred, IMO, was one of the lead backups to her, he was SOO funny.

[knothere]

lucy was a model n race car driver n the first woman producer director in hollywood
and a ghost at her roxbury home

her balls had to be as big as they were to make new grounds bak in the days of a mans world

[Daphne]

gawd she was awesome then!

[Alanwench]

Just to pick fellow death hags' brains, is it the lack of proper nurturing that made Lucie Arnaz a bitch?

[Daphne]

um no, shes just a straight up bitch and lame lol

[Daphne]

IMO i should say

[Jack-O-Lantern]

Like mother, like daughter, I guess....

[KELT]

Just to pick fellow death hags' brains, is it the lack of proper nurturing that made Lucie Arnaz a bitch?

You forgot to use the word 'untalented'.

[Alanwench]

You forgot to use the word 'untalented'.

My apologies! After seeing the tribute show about Lucy and Desi, one would think that I would remember her horrid performance of "Patria" or whatever the hell that was about Cuba. She and Desi Jr. were achingly bad.

[Nicki]

This woman who thinks she's Lucy and Desi's granddaughter presents herself as that. She showed up at the Lucy festival in Jamestown and was signing autographs. She has shown up at immigration reform rallies and on her twitter account said her grandfather helped Cuban exiles in the 1960's. She has no proof other than passed down stories. The only thing that would prove this would be a DNA test. I don't think Lucie or Desi will go for that. I think she wanted a family and latched to the Arnaz's based on misinformation.

I think Desi Arnaz Jr finally did a DNA test and Desiree is his daughter. They seem to be close now. She is a very sweet girl. She goes by the name Julia Desiree Arnaz and is on Facebook.

[geekygirl]

I think I posted about this before, but my Grandma worked as a private nurse for Lucy (Lucille Ball, not Lucie her daughter) right after Desi Jr. was born. My Grandma thought she was a very nice and consderate person and didn't have a bad thing to say about her. But my Grandma was an absolutely wonderful and highly professional person, so perhaps Lucy had nothing to bitch about with my Grandma. Or my Grandma was so professional that she wouldn't ever say anything bad about her boss. We still have some small trinkets and cards that Lucy gave my Grandma as gifts.

My Grandma was on a Cedars of Lebanon Hospital registry for VIPs that needed nurses, and her clientelle included Mrs. Hertz (the wife of the owner of the Hertz Rental Car Company), Marion Davies, and many other stars she worked for under a confidentiality agreement that wouldn't let her even say who they were, much less what they were treated for.

She would come home from work every now and then and tell us that she treated a famous person with a squeeky clean image who had Syphillis, an infection from an illegal abortion, alcoholism or some other career-ending ailment if the press had found out about it. She wouldn't even tell US who she treated, unless those people didn't care who knew. Sadly, my Grandma passed away in 1971 and probably took a lot of great stories with her to the grave!

[Nicki]

I think I posted about this before, but my Grandma worked as a private nurse for Lucy (Lucille Ball, not Lucie her daughter) right after Desi Jr. was born. My Grandma thought she was a very nice and consderate person and didn't have a bad thing to say about her. But my Grandma was an absolutely wonderful and highly professional person, so perhaps Lucy had nothing to bitch about with my Grandma. Or my Grandma was so professional that she wouldn't ever say anything bad about her boss. We still have some small trinkets and cards that Lucy gave my Grandma as gifts.

My Grandma was on a Cedars of Lebanon Hospital registry for VIPs that needed nurses, and her clientelle included Mrs. Hertz (the wife of the owner of the Hertz Rental Car Company), Marion Davies, and many other stars she worked for under a confidentiality agreement that wouldn't let her even say who they were, much less what they were treated for.

She would come home from work every now and then and tell us that she treated a famous person with a squeeky clean image who had Syphillis, an infection from an illegal abortion, alcoholism or some other career-ending ailment if the press had found out about it. She wouldn't even tell US who she treated, unless those people didn't care who knew. Sadly, my Grandma passed away in 1971 and probably took a lot of great stories with her to the grave!

Your grandmother sounds like she was a fantastic lady. I for one would have loved to hear some of those stories.

[geekygirl]

Your grandmother sounds like she was a fantastic lady. I for one would have loved to hear some of those stories.

You and me both! Keep in mind, my Grandma worked in the 1940's through the mid 1960's, back in a time when your reputation was everything and word got around fast if you had a bad reputation.

[crazedfemale]

Nicki,

This is another person claiming to be the long lost granddaughter. Her name is Cassandria Carlson. Julia Arnaz is indeed the daughter of Desi Arnaz Jr. Cassandria Carlson is a fraud.

[Daisy'sMom]

My grandfather did some work for Lucy and always maintained she was a wonderful lady. He told us stories about her bringing him snacks and making sure he was alright.
If Lucy was rude, think about this. Being a woman and a studio boss was unheard of in those days. She probably had to prove herself over and over again. She must have put up with alot of crap and was known as a bitch. If she were a man, she would have been known as a tough but brilliant man.

[Nelliebean]

We seem to hear successful women described as "rude" or "bitchy" on a daily basis.

In men it's call being "assertive".

I know this isn't always the case but this is one double standard that needs to go away.

[KCBee]

We seem to hear successful women described as "rude" or "bitchy" on a daily basis.

In men it's call being "assertive".

I know this isn't always the case but this is one double standard that needs to go away.

I hear ya', but women can rise to power without being rude or bitchy. If anyone, man or woman, has to rely on being rude to rise through the ranks, they are leading by intimidation, not by respect. And generally, their reign won't last long. I say be fair and kind to everyone as you rise to the top because no matter who you are, there will be enough people below you wanting to pull you down.

[Nicki]

Nicki,

This is another person claiming to be the long lost granddaughter. Her name is Cassandria Carlson. Julia Arnaz is indeed the daughter of Desi Arnaz Jr. Cassandria Carlson is a fraud.

It would have been nice if Julia could have indeed met her grandparents. Just from the little contact I have had on facebook and here on this board she is a sweetheart and her daughter is a knockout...very pretty girl. Glad her father and her finally connected.
If you remember all those years ago when Patty Duke let the world wonder if her son Sean was really Desi Arnaz Jr's son....Lucille Ball was fit to be tied over that one. Sean even actually looked a bit like Desi. I don't think Desi was very old at that time....somewhere around 16 or 17 years old???? Later on It was confirmed that Sean was actually the son of John Astin.

[mxwe]

I know it has been asked before, but is the topless picture really her? Personally, I don't think it is. If it is Lucy, what was going on in her life at the time to make her think it was necessary to do?

[Rudy's Girl]

It would have been nice if Julia could have indeed met her grandparents. Just from the little contact I have had on facebook and here on this board she is a sweetheart and her daughter is a knockout...very pretty girl. Glad her father and her finally connected.
If you remember all those years ago when Patty Duke let the world wonder if her son Sean was really Desi Arnaz Jr's son....Lucille Ball was fit to be tied over that one. Sean even actually looked a bit like Desi. I don't think Desi was very old at that time....somewhere around 16 or 17 years old???? Later on It was confirmed that Sean was actually the son of John Astin.

All these years I too thought that John Astin was Sean's father, but through a DNA test, Sean confirmed his father was Michael Tell who was briefly married to to his mother Patty.

Here is some info from Wikipedia....

Astin was born Sean Patrick Duke in Santa Monica, California, the son of actress Patty Duke.[1] At the time, it was reported that Desi Arnaz, Jr. was his biological father; in 1994, he discovered that he was fathered by Michael Tell, a music promoter and writer who edits and publishes the Jewish newspaper The Las Vegas Israelite.[2][3][4] Tell's marriage to Patty Duke was annulled shortly before her marriage in 1972 to actor John Astin, who adopted Sean. Although Patty Duke and John Astin divorced in 1982, Sean Astin has written as an adult that he has always considered John his "real" father and continues to do so. In 1973, Duke gave birth to Astin's half-brother Mackenzie Astin, also an actor.

[coconn04]

This doesn't sound right to me. How could Gary Morton's widow feel she owns these things and has a right to auction them off.

The daughter of comedy queen LUCILLE BALL is going to war over her late mother's prized possessions.

Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, the daughter of Lucy and first hubby and TV costar Desi Arnaz, is going to ask a court to block the scheduled auction of her mother's prized heirlooms.

Ms. Luckinbill claims many of the items belong to her.

These items include love letters between Ball and her second husband, Gary Morton, photographs and her many lifetime achievement awards

Morton's widow, Susie, who married him after Lucy's death, has sued Luckinbill in return to get a judge's order to OK bidding on the auction by Heritage Auction Galleries.

Lucie's attorney Ronald Palmieri says a court hearing is scheduled for later today deciding whether the auction scheduled for tomorrow can be stopped.

[Sam]

Lucille Ball's letters, awards to be sold at auction

The daughter of legendary comedian Lucille Ball attempted to block the sale of some of her mother's love letters and awards.


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some of Lucille Ball's love letters and awards will be sold at auction after a judge ruled to block the sale but imposed a hurdle that the comedienne's daughter cannot overcome.
Although Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien agreed to block the sale Friday, he imposed a $250,000 bond that Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill would have to pay to get a restraining order issued. Her attorney, Ronald Palmieri, said the amount is too high and can't be met.
"We won on a legal basis, and the judge took it away from us on an economic basis," Palmieri said. "That is very sad."
Luckinbill is the daughter of Ball and first husband Desi Arnaz. She sought the return of some of the items after Susie Morton, the widow of Ball's second husband, Gary Morton, offered them for sale.
Ball and Gary Morton were married until the time of the actress' death in 1989. He later married Susie Morton. She consigned several items to Heritage Auction Galleries, including a Rolls-Royce, some of the couple's love letters, photos and Ball's personal items. The items are scheduled to go on sale Saturday at an auction being conducted online and in Beverly Hills, California.

Morton sued Luckinbill this week, seeking a judge's order allowing the sale to go forward. Luckinbill in turn sought the restraining order Friday.
Through Palmieri, she had sought the return of the love letters and Ball's lifetime achievement awards, which she said would be donated to a museum honoring her mother.
Heritage President Greg Rohan has said the auction house supported Susie Morton and had received documentation from her affirming her right to sell the items.
Susie Morton's lawsuit claimed that Luckinbill had forfeited her right to the items after her mother's estate was distributed.

[Sam]

'Little Lucy JR." can't afford $250,000.00?
My, My, what has she done with all her parent's millions?

[OCEANLIGHTS]

That's exactly was I was thinking when I read the article. She has the $$, just too tight and hateful to give it up.

'Little Lucy JR." can't afford $250,000.00?
My, My, what has she done with all her parent's millions?