Lucille Ball: It's Been 17 Years Without Her

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:24pm

Today, April 26th, 2006, is the 17th anniversary of the passing of Lucille Ball, who is possibly the greatest actress to ever live, in my eyes.

As a child, my parents would sit me in front of the TV and play me tapes of all the great classic shows: Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie...all of which I loved, but one show stuck out...I Love Lucy. I remember catching my first glimpse of Lucy on TV and I was immediately smitten. Her comic brilliance, her warm heart, and her beautiful face completely captured me and I was hooked. Today, I have probably seen every episode of "I Love Lucy" at least nine or ten times. It remains my favorite television show of all time.

"For more than thirty years, Lucille Ball was one of the most recognized and loved entertainers in the world. Known to all simply as Lucy, she portrayed a scatterbrained housewife with the ability to turn simple chores into unparalleled fiascoes. Clumsy and unsophisticated at nearly everything she tried (and she tried nearly everything), the television Lucy won the hearts of average Americans across all social and cultural lines with her wacky schemes. Ironically, it was Ball's wide range of experience and talents that made her such a success in this role.

Dropping out of high school at the age of fifteen, Ball moved to New York to study acting and found her first stage work as a chorus girl in 1927. She had her first break as a poster-girl for Chesterfield cigarettes and soon found herself in tinsel town as one of twelve slave-girls in the Eddie Cantor film, ROMAN SCANDALS (1933). By the mid-1930s, if you went to the movies (and in the 1930s everyone went to the movies) you would be certain to see Lucille Ball. Sometimes a nurse or a dancer, sometimes a flower clerk or a college girl, but always there. By the end of the decade she had been in forty-three films and was known as "Queen of the B Movies."

After two successful years of her well-recieved radio situation comedy,"My Favorite Husband," Ball moved her act to the new medium of television, bringing along her husband, the Cuban band leader Desi Arnaz, as a co-star. Together they created the most popular television show of the 1950s. I LOVE LUCY was the perfect home for Ball - a place where she could return to the physical comedy she was master of, while working alongside the man she loved. This love, of the work and the people, came through and created a unique, more personable kind of star, one unknown before television. For many Americans, tuning in every week was a way of seeing what an old friend was up to. Each new show looked at a different aspect of everyday life, finding humor in our dreams and frustrations. Ball had found the key to television-- she had made a character Americans could not live without.

More than her seventy plus films, her hundreds of television appearances, her work running a studio which brought us such major television series as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and STAR TREK, Ball's true legacy can be found in her understanding of the possibilities of television before it understood itself. She saw that it could have the excitement of vaudeville, the wonder of the movies, and come directly to people's homes with the intimacy of the radio. Since the premiere of I LOVE LUCY in 1951, Lucille Ball's oh-so-human character has graced the small screen, and it is a testament to her visionary talent that it is hard to imagine television without her." - PBS, American Masters

Ball also appeared on Broadway, along with Valerie Harper, in the short-lived musical "Wildcat" with music by Cy Coleman and Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.

Lucy will always live in my heart as my idol and inspiration. She is the woman who inspired me to go into acting. I stand as living proof that she continues to affect and inspire people long after her show was brought off the air. I can't imagine where I'd be had my parents not exposed me to the classic tv shows as a child. While most children grew up on cartoons, I grew up on VITAMEATAVEGAMIN and the Chocolate Factory bit. She has brought so much joy to my life and it is a shame she's no longer here to share her genius with us. Lucille Ball will go down in history as being a true legend. Her ability to reach across time and continue to touch the hearts of so many people is a testament to her greatness.

We love you Lucy, and we miss you. May you continue to rest in peace. RIP, Lucille Ball, August 6th, 1911 - April 26th, 1989.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:35pm

I agree with nearly every television sitcom actor who has ever been interviewed on the subject:

Lucy Ball is the best there ever was.

Updated On: 4/26/06 at 12:35 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:36pm

You got that right.

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:48pm

Thanks for posting this. No one ever has or ever will be comparable in my eyes. I never tire of watching the DVDs of "I Love Lucy."

[stanton]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:54pm

I cringe when I see Debra Messing on Will and Grace she is doing Lucy but to me its a poor copy

[kec]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:01pm

"Lucy Ball is the best there ever was. "

Without a doubt...

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:44pm

As a writer I marvel at her innate ability to just be funny. I read a review by Brantley of Wicked in which he compared Chenowith to Cameron Diaz. It was about her (Diaz) being so "funny" or having comic timing... fact is neither are capable of coming close to what Lucy did. Diaz is not a comedian she is an actress that can read lines funny. Chenowith can sing...amazing well.

I also have to give props to second banana Ethel,, Vivian Vance was/is so amazing on those shows it is one of my great pleasures to watch those.

[Isabella2]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 2:54pm

damn straight! we still love you lucy!

edit:
That's funny i thought she died waaaay before i was born. Anyway i got assigned to do a women's history month poster about her today. Weird!
Updated On: 4/26/06 at 02:54 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 3:05pm

Spread the Lucy love, people!

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 3:28pm

We love you Lucille Ball! We will never EVER forget you and I will always be personally grateful for your gift to the world.

I Love Lucy Theme Song:

I Love Lucy and she loves me,
We're as happy as two can be,
sometimes we quarrel but then again
How we love making up again.

Lucy kisses like no one can,
She's my missus and I'm her man;
And life is heaven you see
Cause I Love Lucy
Yes I Love Lucy
and Lucy loves me.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 4:16pm

I love that song.

Updated On: 4/26/06 at 04:16 PM

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 4:27pm

me too! I teared up while I was writing the lyrics out. Its just perfect for her and she embodies everything in that song.

Agian, we miss and love you LUCY!!!

PS. For all Lucy fans, I would highly higly recommened the 50th Anniversery Special hosted by Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucy Arnaz. Its a wonderful way to celebrate Lucy's talent.

I also have a question for Lucy fans. What is your favorite Lcuy moment?
Mine would have to be the ballet scene in teh ballet studio when she tries to dance. The insructor is saying "About ABOUT ABOUT". It makes me laugh out loud so hard!!

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 4:33pm

I used to work with a girl who was originally from Puerto Rico. She had only heard of I Love Lucy, but she'd never seen one episode. I had one of those "Best Of" collections and I suggested we watch a few. She agreed, but she was reluctant and not very enthusiastic. The first episode I showed her was Vitavitavegimen, and I swear to you, that girl was ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING. I have NEVER seen anybody laugh that helplessly and that long over anything. So much did she love Lucy, in fact, that she made me replay that episode three more times. Lucy was a very rare treasure, and she will be forever missed.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 5:05pm

My favorite moment is when she is pregnant and ready to go to the hospital. Ricky, Fred & Ethel carefully plan what each will do. But when the time comes, it gets all messed up.

I think this is one of the funniest moments ever on television. It is capped off by Ricky throwing the phone into the suitcase and tripping and falling when the cord reaches its limit.

I Love Lucy was funny stuff. How the writers thought up all those antics, I'll never know.

[Hogarth]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:22pm

Amen to MORE Lucy.

We'd better get away with it, or Ricky and Fred'll be planting their footprints someplace and it won't be Graumann's Chinese!

Updated On: 4/26/06 at 06:22 PM

[Holly Therese]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:29pm

Lucy! I remember being in elementary school and waiting for I Love Lucy to come on Nick at Nite (which now sucks.)I think by the age of ten I had every episode on tape. I think its time to upgrade to the DVDs

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:38pm

With exception to "Roseanne", I HATE where Nick at Nite has gone. "Fresh Prince"???? You've got to be kidding me. It's kind of sad when even I can remember watching episodes of a show when they first aired...and now it's on Nick at Nite.

Bring back "I Love Lucy," "Bewitched, "All in the Family," "Dick van Dyke," and "Mary Tyler Moore."

[Katt]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:39pm

It makes me sad that Nick at Nite doesn't play the good shows anymore. It used to play The Munsters, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show...now it plays Full House and Roseanne and the classics have been shoved over to a 3:00 in the morning time slot on TV Land.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:41pm

"It makes me sad that Nick at Nite doesn't play the good shows anymore."

In an effort to make more money, they moved the classics over to TVLand. TVLand rotates all the classics. Currently they have Andy Griffith, Sanford & Son, Good Times, Little House, etc. Plus, every so often they have a 48 hour marathon where they show all the shows in a series.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:46pm

TV Land is always a gamble, though. You never know what's going to be on when you switch to it. With Nick at Nite you had some idea of what shows you'd find.

And, can someone tell me why I always have to wait until New Years Day to see the Honeymooners on the WB marathon. Do they have exclusive rights or something?

[Katt]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:47pm

I know they are on TVLand...but some of the shows are so rarely on now. Happy Days has the 3:00 in the morning timeslot on that channel. I guess it just makes me sad, because growing up, I watched Nickelodeon all the time, and the quality of shows on that channel have deteriorated so much over the years.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 6:58pm

Anywho...back to Lucy. :)

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 7:05pm

Ahhhhhhhhhh......

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 7:07pm

One comment I would just like to make is that she really could do anything. Even in her early movie days, people couldn't understand that she could really dance, really act and make 'em laugh like no one else. I will be watching the 50th Anniversary special tonight and no doubt bawling uncontrollably.

[Hogarth]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 7:27pm

I'm your Auntie Mame!!