I Love Lucy

Entertainment, History 6 Minutes

In honor of Lucille Ball’s birthday, I present an article containing fascinating facts about the lovely comedienne.

From the sheknows website, by author Allison Koerner October 14, 2017:

Ball was revolutionary in more ways than one, especially when it came to transforming the entertainment industry for women. As she once said, “I am not funny… What I am is brave.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

She showed that women can be funny. She showed that women can be the lead of their own show and their own lives. She showed that goofiness is attractive. She showed that one woman can do wonders for other women. Ball absolutely deserves all of the recognition.

Obviously, fans of the show know the Lucy Ricardo they’ve seen and continue to watch on the small screen, but do they know the real Lucille Ball? If not, it’s time to get to know her even better.

She was the first woman to run a major production company

According to the New York Daily News, after Ball and Desi Arnaz divorced in 1960, she bought out Arnaz’s shares of Desilu for $2.5 million, making her the first female CEO of a major production company. Per the outlet, she later sold her Desilu shares to Paramount Studios for $17 million. Then, in 1967, Ball founded Lucille Ball Productions, according to Turner Classic Movie network.

She didn’t win that many awards

Even though she scored 13 Emmy nominations between I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show, she only took home a total of four Emmys. As for the Golden Globes, she was nominated six times, but never for I Love Lucy. Rather, she was recognized for The Facts of Life, The Lucy Show, Yours, Mine and Ours, Here’s Lucy and Mame. In 1979, she was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

She did win this award

In 1977, with Nancy Malone, Eleanor Perry and Norma Zarky, Ball was one of the first recipients of the Women in Film Crystal Award. According to the official website, Women in Film is all about “promoting equal opportunities for women, encouraging creative projects by women, and expanding and enhancing portrayals of women in all forms of global media.”

Her father died from typhoid fever

According to an excerpt from Stefan Kanfer’s 2003 book titled Ball of Fire (via The New York Times), Ball’s father died from typhoid fever in 1915 at only 28 — and it rightfully stayed with her the rest of her life. “Lucille retained only fleeting memories of that day, all of them traumatic,” Kanfer writes. “A picture fell from the wall; a bird flew in the window and became trapped inside the house. From that time forward she suffered from a bird phobia. Even as an adult, she refused to stay in any hotel room that displayed framed pictures of birds or had wallpaper with an avian theme.”

Her life completely changed at 16

As revealed in her memoir, Love Lucy (via Huffington Post), in 1927, her grandfather bought her brother, Freddy, a gun for his birthday. While her grandfather was teaching Freddy and his “little girlfriend” Johanna how to use the gun, Ball said, it went off and hit their 8-year-old next door neighbor, Warner Erickson. The bullet severed his spinal cord. The Erickson family filed a lawsuit, and as Ball wrote, “They took our house, the furnishings that [Ball’s mother] DeDe had bought so laboriously on time, week after week, the insurance — everything. My grandfather never worked again. The heart went out of him. It ruined Celoron for us; it destroyed our life together there.”

She wasn’t always “Lucille Ball”

Remember how Lucy Ricardo sometimes went by Lucille McGillicuddy (her maiden name)? Well, Ball once used the name Diane Belmont, according to The Los Angeles Times. “I always loved the name Diane and I was driving past the Belmont race track, and the names seemed to fit together,” she said.

She’s connected to the Salem Witchcraft Trials

According to NPR, Ball was a descendant of those accused as witches during the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. “A lot of celebrated Americans, it has been determined, were descended from the accused witches, including Walt Disney, Clara Barton and Lucille Ball,” the outlet reports.

She defied ageism

When I Love Lucy first began in 1951, Ball was 40. As it unfortunately still is, that was a big deal back in the day, especially since it’s known that a woman over 40 in Hollywood has a harder time finding work compared to younger women and also men.

She fought for TV’s first interracial couple

Did you know that Ball and Arnaz made TV history as the first interracial couple? Ball also had to fight to keep Arnaz as her TV husband.

Kathleen Brady, author of Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball, told NPR in February 2014 that CBS didn’t want Arnaz, especially since the network was unsure about his accent and Cuban heritage. “CBS and its sponsor, Philip Morris cigarettes, were adamantly opposed to this,” Brady said. “They said that the American public would not accept Desi as the husband of a red-blooded American girl.” However, Ball defended Arnaz, and according to Brady, she told CBS that they’d have to either cast them both or neither of them.

She wasn’t a natural redhead

Believe it or not, but Ball wasn’t always a redhead. According to Good Housekeeping, her natural hair color was brown and she dyed her hair for her role in Du Barry Was a Lady.

As revealed by I Love Lucy‘s hairstylist, Irma Kusely, it wasn’t easy finding the right tint of red, either. “A lot of people think of it as red — it’s not red at all,” she said in an interview for EmmyTVLegends.org. “She met a very wealthy sheikh and he had heard about her problem [getting the right coloring]. He said he would send her a lifetime supply of henna, which he did! [We kept it] in my garage, locked away in a safe.”

She almost drowned stomping grapes

The I Love Lucy episode, titled “Lucy’s Italian Movie,” is one of the most popular and favorite episodes ever. Well, according to a 2004 letter to the editor at The New York Times, the grape-stomping scene didn’t go as planned. “That was a real-life Italian grape stomper who was Lucy’s vat partner and who almost drowned the real-life Lucille Ball by pushing her down into the grapes and grape juice and fighting with her during the filming of that episode,” reads the letter, signed by Dennis Sprick.

Her pregnancy made history

It’s known that I Love Lucy wasn’t allowed to use the word “pregnant” after both Ball and her character got pregnant. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, she also made headlines by becoming the first pregnant woman to play a pregnant woman on TV.

She’s basically responsible for Star Trek

It’s hard to imagine television without Star Trek, but that almost became a reality before Ball stepped in, according to Entertainment Weekly. “If it were not for Lucy, there would be no Star Trek today,” former studio executive Ed Holly told Desilu historian Coyne Steven Sanders (via EW).

CBS passed on Star Trek, but Ball apparently overruled the board of directors to make sure the pilot was produced, even after it was taken to NBC. The network ended up rejecting the first pilot. However, the Peacock network ordered a second pilot, with William Shatner as Captain Kirk, and this particular pilot was funded by Lucy, as she once again ignored her board. Star Trek ended up making the 1966 fall TV schedule.

She was registered with the Communist Party

As reported by The Los Angeles Times in 1953, Ball was once connected to the Communist Party. Apparently, it was a “short association” in 1936, but her family was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ball explained her connection by saying the only reason she registered as a Communist was to please her grandfather, Fred Hunt, a Socialist.

She never needed a TV husband

Starring in The Lucy Show made Ball one of the first women to play a woman without a husband. She could easily lead a show without any men by her side.

She lied about her age after marrying Desi

For those unaware, Ball was six years older than Arnaz, which was reportedly frowned upon back in the day. According to Us Weekly, they decided to handle the situation by lying about their ages. “When Desi Arnaz and Ball (who was almost six years his senior) tied the knot in 1940, it was socially unacceptable for an older woman to marry a younger man,” the outlet reported in August 2011. “To avoid controversy, they both listed 1914 as their birthdate.”

She wasn’t afraid to take risks

In a 1980 interview with People, Ball showed just how fearless she was when it came to her career. “I guess after about six months out here in the ’30s I realized there was a place for me,” she said of Hollywood. “Eddie Cantor and Sam Goldwyn found that a lot of the really beautiful girls didn’t want to do some of the things I did — put on mud packs and scream and run around and fall into pools. I said I’d love to do the scene with the crocodile. He didn’t have teeth, but he could sure gum you to death. I didn’t mind getting messed up. That’s how I got into physical comedy.”

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Published by pat frederick

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123 thoughts on “I Love Lucy”

  4. Feisty Hayseed
    Feisty Hayseed
    August 6, 2023 12:54 am

    Tucker Exposed It: 18 FBI and 20 DHS Agents – all at Jan 6 Fedsurrection – For sure.

    J6 was “crawling with feds.”

    You can see why Tucker was never allowed to show this on air. The Deep State that now calls the shots at Fox does not want the people to know they scammed the whole event in order to steal the election.

    https://daily.whatfinger.com/tucker-exposed-it-18-fbi-and-20-dhs-agents-all-at-jan-6-fedsurrection-for-sure/

    Liked by 1 person

  5. From a fmr Trump admin staffer:

    Over the last few weeks the Jack Smith investigation has been drastically widened.

    Now dragging in mid-level and junior campaign and White House staffers.

    Even thought the indictment has been handed down, some are being forced to testify in…

    — Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 6, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  6. 🔌Hunter tried to sell US energy assets to China
    🔌He even helped facilitate the sale of a cobalt mine to China

    What has Joe’s energy policy been? Solar panels & electric batteries–which benefits China.

    The American people are being set up while the Bidens get rich. pic.twitter.com/1H4blCYYXp

    — Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) August 5, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Pelosi played games with the Constitution, & conducted impeachments with no evidence/deliberation–That’s wrong.

    We’re doing this the right way.

    We respect the Constitution, conducted 7 mo of investigation with significant findings & I believe it leads us to impeachment inquiry. pic.twitter.com/ekturlsISk

    — Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) August 5, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Laura Loomer
    @LauraLoomer
    I hope everyone watches this video so they know who is working behind the scenes with election officials to use lawfare to keep Donald Trump off the ballot in 2024.

    As I’ve been exposing, CEIR, founded by David Becker, who is also the founder of ERIC, has an organization called the Election Official Legal Defense Network (EOLDN). EOLDN provides pro bono legal services for anti-Trump election officials in key states like Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, Nevada, and other states as well.

    Now ask yourself… why would supervisors of elections and secretaries of state who oversee our elections need pro bono legal services from an organization that was founded by the founder of ERIC, and is funded by George Soros and Mark Zuckerberg?

    We all know why. @TeamTrump
    @LaCivitaC
    @JasonMillerinDC
    @BorisEP
    @susie57
    @RogerJStoneJr
    @GenFlynn

    Liked by 1 person

  9. cfp has an article “Trump asks SCOTUS to intercede”…when you click ont he story it’s this “truth”…
    Avatar

    Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump

    CRAZY! My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate. Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts throughout the Country. I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!

    doesn’t he actually have to file something for SCOTUS to intercede??????

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Technically, he did “ask.” Just not officially…..yes, there is a long process that has to be followed first, except in HIGHLY exceptional situations. It is possible for SCOTUS to step in un-invited, so to speak, but I don’t personally know of any past occurrences.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. i didn’t know they could just step in…then what the hell are the waiting for?
        this seems sooo blatantly unconstitutional to me.
        someone mentioned in an article yesterday that each branch swears to fulfill and execute their oath of office–and NO OTHER branch can question that. for example–congress has IMMUNITY for what they say on the house and senate floors. the President should also have immunity for what he says in doing his official duty–and since President Trump was STILL president J6, he was doing what he thought necessary to fulfill his oath–and should thereby have immunity.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. It is completely unconstitutional – but it has been that way for many, many years and we didn’t KNOW it before now!!!! Oh, yeah, a lot of us knew the history but it took Trump to really rip the covers back and expose them all! Now we understand the width and the breadth of the corruption like never before! And look at the new SCOTUS members put there by the dems!!! SMDH

          Liked by 1 person

    2. And, if you recall, Trump has said things like that on TS or maybe as far back as Twitter before, pointing things out to SCOTUS and asking them to get involved. Nothing new, really – others have done it, too. No reason at all to write a story about it! Clickbait, IMO.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill.

    No limit.

    Please let us know.

    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hmmmm….and yet Elon is out there crying about how low they are on cash, how badly they need advertising, etc., etc., etc. Good luck getting thru the process to GET that $$$ help!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. students who didn’t have to make payments on their student debt took out car loans, or new credit cards, or home loans and NOW that they have to restart repaying their college loans are telling sob story after sob story. you believed your student debt would be canceled and instead of SAVING that money, you went out and went into MORE debt. a college degree does not equal increased intelligence.
    FTA
    Student loans: Angst for restarting

    The months ahead, though, look tougher for many borrowers as payments restart.

    A recent TransUnion study found that about half of borrowers will have to pay more than $200 a month when payments restart and about one in five will see payments of more than $500.

    “Research suggests those who benefited from loan forbearance increased their auto and credit card debt during this period…and many borrowers will now face increased consumer debt on top of their student loans,” Jim Mahaney, a certified financial planner at Mavericus Retirement, wrote in a blog post.

    In fact, more than half (53%) of borrowers got a new credit card, over a third (36%) took on an auto loan, and 15% now have a mortgage or personal loan, TransUnion found.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/student_loans_sob_stories_and_government_employees_still_working_from_home.html

    Like

    1. Actually, in more and more cases, a college degree equals decreased intelligence!!!! Certainly all common sense has flown the coop!!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Ugh…raccoons are the worst…well, ok, maybe the bears? Ball was a very, very smart lady! Watched her show often – I specifically remember the grape vat episode – also, remember The Dick Van Dyke Show? Same timeframe, same wonderful, side-slitting humor. Oooo….Archie Bunker! So many great shows then. But Ball and Van Dyke were 2 of the best, IMO!

    Woke up to light rain, nice and cool at 68, light gray skies. No sign of GT yet but I’ve never seen him out in the rain – pretty pansy ass for a yard cat! LOL

    The short storm last evening moved thru quickly and I was putting the feeders back up…btw, went out earlier this morning to re-fill the jelly and saw a female hummer buzzing around the honeysuckle (tons of blooms) and the feeder. Fewer and fewer Orioles – finches/sparrows better get it while they can ’cause once the Orioles leave = no more jelly! Anyway, I looked towards the east and saw how the lowering sun in the west was lighting up some of the clouds…well, I just had to run and grab my camera!!!





    Liked by 1 person

    1. as many times as the bear ventured onto the deck when we first moved here, they never crapped on it…lol
      the raccoons make it a habit!
      I loved the older shows too!!!
      those photos are GORGEOUS!
      you’re tough…”pansy ass yard cat”….ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. “Sunday Strip: Seizing the Means of Communication…In order to secure production.”
    ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS
    AUG 6, 2023




    Liked by 1 person

  16. from tcth

    In addition to all the Alphabet Plants and ANTIFA False-Flaggers, at one point, black government SUVs rolled up at the Capitol and disgorged rioters–Ukrainian NAZIS straight from the airport–the same goons used by the Soros/Obama Color Revolution-gangsters to overthrow Ukraine.

    They were invited by Pelosi to bust out windows at the Capitol because what’s a Reichstag Riot without real Kristallnacht NAZIS?

    Now you know why she turned down 10,000 Guardsmen.

    Why Were Ukrainian Nazis in the U.S. Capitol on January 6? | by Larry Johnson

    Rest in the Vine: Nancy’s Ukrainian NAZIS: “What I saw leading up to the US Capitol attack” by J. Michael Waller

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That guy, Chansley is out there – really woo-woo out there….I watched a few minutes of an interview with Alex Jones…while also being pretty knowledgeable so…he’s a real wild card, IMO.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. i read the article at rest in the vine–it’s an eyewitness acct from j6. makes the connection that piglosi wanted the ukrainian naziods there to sucker the MAGA crowd into taking action

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Oh, I have no doubt of that – I was talking about the chumminess of Chansley with the guy.

          Like

  26. hubby made excellent steaks on the grill! we usually split one…baked potatoes on the side with biscuits! YUM!!!!

    Like

  27. sync
    August 6, 2023 1:00 pm

    A $90,000 toy that will bankrupt a company.

    Ford 150 Lightning.

    Need to recharge for 30 minutes on a level 3 charger just to travel another 133 miles. That’s if you drive “conservatively” with no heavy load.

    Motor Trend is very kind to their advertisers.

    https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-platinum-range-max-charging-test-review/

    Ford losing $4.5b on electric vehicles pic.twitter.com/3YlG8Lw1ey

    — Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) August 6, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  30. that would be funny, but not happening

    Facts
    August 6, 2023 2:49 pm

    Biden is on video tape on several occasions bragging that he had the largest voter fraud organization ever assembled. Basically he is admitting he is committing a felony and telling us, just like Trump said, there is voter fraud going on.

    I would enter this in evidence in the DC trial of Trump. Perhaps Biden could be called as a witness to identify who was leading his voter fraud organization, its funding, and its employees. I suspect Biden would lie under oath.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. TheseTruths
      TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Online
      Wolf
      August 6, 2023 15:38

      Trump Attorney John Lauro: Mike Pence Will Be One of Our Best Witnesses at Trial – “I Read His Book Very Clearly” (VIDEO)

      John Lauro: Mike Pence will be one of our best witnesses at trial. I read his book very carefully, and if he testifies consistent with his book, then President Trump will be acquitted for these reasons. Number one: Mr. Pence recognizes that John Eastman, who was giving legal advice, was a renowned legal scholar. Number two: Vice President Pence recognised that there were discrepancies and fraud in connection with the election. He wanted it to be debated on Capitol Hill. Mr. Trump wanted it to be debated in the state legislatures. But make no mistake about it, based on what Vice President Pence will say, the government will never be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump had corrupt or criminal intent. And that’s what this case is about.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. We’ll see…we have Pence’s own words the day before acknowledging the validity of looking at the evidence and, if necessary, sending it back to the States.

        Liked by 1 person

  32. “Who is she? Where is she? I mean no media ever find her name and she was everywhere for one week… Plot twist: she’s the one that’s not real…”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i remember seeing her everywhere for a day or two…
      was she the one claiming someone was not real on a plane? i dunno

      Like


  33. “This is the Grotta Palazzese Restaurant In Italy. Nice place, very pretty and all, right over the ocean in a natural cave. Bring your wallet though, ’cause even if you dine alone, the lowest you’re getting out of there for is around $200 US. And that’s if you don’t drink anything at all, because even water costs $10. Their menu also states that you can order dishes à la carte. Average dinner check is $ 1,200.00. What part of ‘go fuck yourself’ do they not understand? Here’s their website:”
    https://www.grottapalazzese.it/en/restaurant/

    Liked by 1 person



  34. “This is what a really good friend will do for you…He’ll give you a tow to the bar…”

    “It ain’t whatyou see, it’s what you think you see. Looks are deceiving…”

    “That’s subtle…I like subtle…”

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Cover illustration for Moby Dick:

    “St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. St. Pancras is the Patron Saint of Teenagers: We have no reliable historical information about this martyr. Legend tells us he was born at the end of the third century and brought up by an uncle in Rome after the death of his parents. Both he and his uncle became Christians. Pancras was beheaded in 304 during Diocletian’s persecution. He was only 14 years old.”

    Liked by 1 person

      1. they’re con movies–pulling big cons on POS…LOL
        funny…and oh yeah…Brad Pitt’s in them too…but Clooney…oh man…he’s at his best looking

        Liked by 1 person

  39. i brought a story a little while ago about gays coming to a gas station where moose slimes are. one gay started dancing, the moose slimes said some things. one walked away and one gay followed after him. the moose slime killed him. he’s being charged with murder and adams made a big deal of having moose slimes there to assure nyc that there is no hate between the 2 groups.
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/muslim-teen-charged-with-murder-as-hate-crime-in-fatal-stabbing-of-black-gay-dancer-in-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-says-its-not-true-that-muslims-hate-lbgtq-community

    Liked by 1 person

              1. Problem was, you were the only other kid around for him to torture – my bro had both me and my sis, altho they both picked on me a lot. They were always trying to lose me or teasing me or setting me up, like the bull chasing me!

                Liked by 1 person

  42. Still no sign of GT but it’s been raining off-and-on all day – sometimes a steady light rain, blowing sideways, sometimes wind with no rain, sometimes a steady downpour. It has just now reached 71 and I had to put on long pants and a sweatshirt. Brrrr!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  45. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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