Before I Love Lucy
Prior to filming “I Love Lucy,” Lucille Ball was hailed as Queen of the B movies. Before venturing out into Hollywood, Ball was a fashion model in New York. It was her work as a model that brought her to star in 1933’s “Roman Scandals” as a Goldwyn girl. After many uncredited and small roles, until finally she began gaining roles in movies alongside big names such as Henry Fonda (1942’s “The Big Street”) and Gene Kelly (1943’s Du Barry Was a Lady”.) As for Ball’s husband Desi Arnaz, his career in Hollywood started off in Broadway. In 1939, Arnaz starred in the musical “Too Many Girls,” where the next year he would be asked to reprise his role as Manuelito Lynch. Ball and Arnaz had met before on Ball’s film “Dance, Girl, Dance” (1940) but it wasn’t until working together on this film that they fell in love-and married several months later. By the time World War II had begun, Arnaz found himself drafted. Two years later, upon being discharged from the army, Arnaz started up his own orchestra band.
Unlike Ball and Arnaz, Vivian Vance stuck mostly to theater. A co-founder of the Albuquerque Little Theatre, Vance had a passion for acting. She appeared in many plays before saving up enough money to leave for New York, where she was to study under Eva Le Gallienne. There, she starred in plays such as “Music in the Air” and “Anything Goes.” William Frawley, who had been in Hollywood for a long time, had done vaudeville, Broadway and motion pictures. He played in everything from musical comedies to tragic dramas in the theater and had even been in two silent films! Having starred in so many films, Frawley played in pretty much every genre-musicals, comedies, romance, dramas, and westerns. One of Frawley’s noteworthy performances was 1947’s “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Alibi Ike.”
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband was a radio show that ran from 1948 to 1951. The show starred Lucille Ball as Liz Cooper and Richard Denning as George Cooper. Supporting characters included Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet as Rudolph and Iris Atterbury.
Similar to “I Love Lucy,” the radio show “My Favorite Husband” revolved around the comical antics of the two spouses and company. The show was written by Bob Caroll Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and Jess Oppenheimer-the same writers that would later on write for “I Love Lucy.” In fact many of the radio show’s episodes were later refined and rewritten into “I Love Lucy” episodes! For example, in “My Favorite Husband,” George has become to object of affection for young Sally Hopkins. Liz tries to get Sally Hopkins a date to the school dance with Jimmy, the boy she likes, but of course things don’t go as planned. Sally ends up going to the dance with George in order to make Jimmy jealous. In “I Love Lucy,” young Peggy has a crush on Ricky. When Lucy tries to fix things by getting Arthur, Peggy’s other crush, to ask Peggy out, things also go awry. Arthur ends up falling for Lucy! Although the premises of both episodes are similar, “My Favorite Husband” was a hit. The radio show would be transitioned into a T.V. show.
Transition Into Television
My Favorite Husband’s transition into T.V. was at first going to star the show’s original actors – Lucille Ball and Richard Denning. Only there was one problem – Lucille Ball would only do the show if real-life husband Desi Arnaz played the husband. Having married Arnaz in 1940, their marriage had already begun to have problems. Arnaz, being a band leader in real life, was always away. Ball saw ‘I Love Lucy” as an opportunity for her husband to work right besides her. And so it was either Desi Arnaz or no show. And so CBS reluctantly agreed. The casting of Desi Arnaz resulted in a total rewrite for the character of banker George. Thus, the character Ricky Ricardo was created. Liz’s name was of course changed to Lucy Ricardo. The supporting characters Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet were to reprise their roles as the Atterburys, though both were unavailable by the time the show went into production.
The I Love Lucy Pilot
The show’s pilot introduced Ricky Ricardo as a Cuban bandleader and Lucy as his fame hungry — and accident prone– wife. The pilot showed Lucy trying to get into an act at Ricky’s club after Pepito the clown has an accident (This pilot was later rewritten as Lucy’s Showbiz Swan Song.) There was something missing in the pilot, however. Fred and Ethel Mertz. The two lovable neighbors were yet to be cast. The show’s writers were to begin looking for actors to play the older couple.
Casting the Mertzes
Lucille Ball, of course, was the natural choice to reprise the character of “Liz.” And with the insistence of Ball, Desi Arnaz would play the part of her husband. But how did Vivian Vance and William Frawley come to play the memorable Mertzes? The casting of Ethel Mertz can be credited to “I Love Lucy” director Marc Daniels. The two had previously worked together on a stage production, and so when an actress needed to be cast for the role of Ethel Mertz, Daniel promptly recommended Vance for the part. After watching Vance perform in a play, Desi Arnaz knew that he had found the one to play Ethel. As for the part of Fred Mertz, it was William Frawley himself who asked to play the role of Fred. Having heard that Gale Gordon was unavailable for the part, Frawley personally called Lucille Ball and asked her what his chances were. Frawley, having already done many films, was notorious for his drinking. But nonetheless, Frawley got the part. And not once did he show up to the set drunk.
The First Episode
On October 15, 1951 the very first I Love Lucy episode aired on CBS. The episode, “The Girls Want to Go to A Nightclub,” was an instant hit. Everyone loved Lucy. Needless to say, the rest is history.
References
The Internet Movie Database. Internet Movie Database Ltd. January 2012.
I Love Lucy: The Complete Series. Paramount, 2007. DVD.
Lucy Library. 1998-2003. Unforgettable Enterprises Inc. January 2012.
My Favorite Husband. CBS. CBS Radio, 23 Jul. 1948 to 31 Mar. 1951. Radio.