Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Lucille and her New Family

I have mixed feelings about Gary. On one hand, it must be very tough being married to Lucille especially when he knew that Lucille had always loved Desi and he was irreplaceable. The world disliked him because he was a replacement. In America's mind, Desi and Lucy were meant to be together. Moreover, their children have emphasized so much that Gary was a wonderful man and he had helped maintain family harmony. On the other hand, I've read many comments from Lucy's relatives and closest friends. They all said two things, that firstly, Gary had separated Lucy from her relatives and friends and became very lonely at old age. Secondly, Gary had offered Lucille very terrible business advice, and the postulation was that Gary wanted to make more profits. With such extreme viewpoints, I really don't know what to think of. I just hope that Lucille was happy being married to Gary.

I Love Lucy: Lucy's Schedule

Many segments of I Love Lucy were actually taken from Desi and Lucille's real life encounters.

In real life, Desi was the dictator and Lucille simply deferred to him.You can see how he directs her when they guest star.

When Lucille got mad, it was another thing though. Once Lucille was so mad after a night's quarrel with Desi, she woke up very early in the morning, got a hammer and went to their brand new Buick and smashed all the windows!

They both were very temperamental, volatile and stubborn.

I Love Lucy: The Tour

Only Lucy can do this and get millions of laughter.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I Love Lucy: LA at Last

This episode is one of my favorites! I had to re-watch it 5 times before I stopped giggling like mad!
William Holden was Desi Arnaz's and Lucille Ball's good friend. Their friendship went a long way back, when Lucille was just a starlet. When no one believed in Desi and Lucille's marriage, William Holden did encourage them. So, Bill Holden was always one of the regular invitees to Desi and Lucille's fun parties back at Chatsworth on their Desilu ranch.

Lucille respected Bill a lot. They remained great friends the rest of their lives. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

I Love Lucy: The Moustache

Both Ricky and Desi loved the feminine Lucy. Ha ha!

I Love Lucy- Universal

I Love Lucy transcends all races, all cultures and all traditions. It brings people of different backgrounds together. A bond is created when we laugh together at the same things.

I Love Lucy is so magical and often underrated these days because youngsters get turned off by black and white. I was one of them too, but now, I'm totally sold on the Golden Age of Hollywood. The media contents are all top notch. The world should watch less of violence and distasteful sex, and watch more innocent comedy.
I made a new friend who shares the same passion for Lucy from Instagram. I'm really amazed at how Lucy can bring people from all over the world together, even after being dead for so many years. Do follow my new friend @ilovelucy1911 on Instagram!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Desi and Lucy during World War II

Wars really affect people.
Desi was so affected by war and by people who mocked him for being Mr Ball and Hollywood's picture boy.

"He's now blaming even me for the war," Lucille once said to her cousin Cleo.

She still loved him, but it was when Lucy filed for divorce. She chose California because it would take 1 year before the divorce was final and she hoped there would be chance for reconciliation.

Who knew Desi worked his way back so fast that it took only a few minutes? As soon as Lucille finished testifying in court, she rushed back into Desi's arms, thus voiding the divorce.

I Love Lucy: LA at Last

One of my favorite episodes!
William Holden was so charming!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

I Love Lucy: Lucy's Schedule

I wonder what "that" is...
Does anyone feel that I Love Lucy had a lot of sexual innuendos? They were rather bold, considering it was filmed in those days! Most amazingly, they could maintain the cleanliness and high quality!

Nothing will ever beat I Love Lucy.
 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

I Love Lucy: Lucy Does a TV Commercial

Look at the way Lucy was looking at her husband. It's like a private moment.

I Love Lucy: The Marriage License

This episode was inspired by Desi and Lucille!

Just like in real life, Ricky and Lucy Ricardo had to have two weddings!
In real life, Desi and Lucy had eloped in 1940 to Connecticut. They exchanged their marriage vows at Byrum Beagle River Club. It was the most romantic moment and both of them were terrified and excited.

10 years later, they renewed their vows in a catholic church.

Friday, August 17, 2012

I Love Lucy: Breaking the Lease

In this episode, you see a rare moment where both Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball laughing at Vivian Vance's and William Frawley's get ups.
They commented on how they almost ruined the scene after the filming. Desi couldn't control himself and Lucille had to bite the inside of the cheeks. The cast of I Love Lucy had always tried to spring surprises to keep reactions real. It was the first time Desi and Lucy saw Bill and Viv in these costumes!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Desi and Lucy's Love

Desi Arnaz was very supportive of Lucille Ball's career. He maintained Desilu Productions Inc. not only because it was his baby, it would also allow Lucy to shine as the brightest star.
One of the genius writers, Madelyn Pugh Davis said that Desi knew who the star was. He never once complained about his role as Ricky Ricardo, neither did he asked for more screen time.

Desi was a great man.

Lucy Does a TV Commercial

Here's the famous Vitameatavegamin episode, one of my all-time favorites!
You'll never have an inkling of how darn nervous Lucille Ball was. No cue cards, nothing! She memorized and improvised!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Desi, Lucille and their Calf

A friend gave us 2 calves. One died, the other was very sick, and Lucy and I stayed up all night long with her. She had a high fever and we held her, wrapped up in blankets, and gave her the stuff the vet told us to give her. Finally, she got over the illness and lived. We both felt good and proud of our triumph to have this beautiful little white-and-black calf we called The Duchess of Devonshire live through the efforts of our nursing. Eventually, she got to be 2200 pounds. She fell in love with me and would come to our bedroom window in the middle of the night and moo, moo, moo. Lucy would wake up and say, "there's your goddamn girlfriend trying to get into the bedroom. You better go do something before she comes right through the window." 

- Desi Arnaz, A Book (Lucille Ball told a story that coincided with this in Love, Lucy)


Friday, August 10, 2012

Not Photogenic, Lucille Ball?

Lucille did not consider herself a beauty queen but the summer following her sophomore year she entered the Miss Celoron bathing beauty contest. Lucille considered her to skinny for her height of five feet seven and weighing less than a hundred pounds. As a candidate she had to have her picture taken to be put in the newspaper, her mother DeDe sent her to the best photographer in town. T. Henry Black was quoted saying, Its very difficult to get a satisfactory picture of Miss Ball because the lady is just not photogenic!

T. Henry Black obviously didn't know what the heck he was talking about!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sexy Vivian Vance

Vivian Vance often mentioned that she didn't like being typecast into Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy. In her Broadway musicals prior to I Love Lucy days, Viv had always played "the other women" roles. She was the glamorous, sexy, beautiful and seductive other woman, and playing Ethel Mertz forever "ruined her career", as she had mentioned in Dean Martin Roast Lucy. In this video, you catch a glimpse of how the other side of Ethel Mertz really is.

The biggest blessing for making I Love Lucy was to meet Lucille Ball. Not only had they become sisters, Lucy also taught Viv to be stronger emotionally. Lucy played a role in encouraging Viv to file for divorce from her abusive husband, Philip Ober. Of course, Viv went on to marry a writer and lived happily after.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I Love Lucy:Lucy is Enceinte

I love every single bit of this episode, and my all-time favorite scene was when Lucy Ricardo broke the news to Ricky Ricardo in his Tropicana Nightclub.

When Desi Arnaz got emotional, messed up the lyrics for Rockabye baby and started crying, and when Lucille Ball started crying too, I cried too. After waiting for 10 years, they finally got what they wanted: two beautiful children and the opportunity to star in a show.

We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me is the sweetest song, ever.


Monday, August 6, 2012

Lucille Ball 101st Birthday

Lucille Ball is extremely underrated. Sure, some people know that she's the queen of comedy, but most of us have overlooked her dramatic acting skills. Before taking up the role of Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy, Miss Ball was typecast into many roles in dramatic movies, glamor movies, musical comedies, film noirs and so on, and she was perfect in all of them! No one, and I mean no one had and can never have the caliber of talent as this lady. Moreover, her beauty was often overlooked because she indulged in slapstick and physical comedy. Has anyone ever noticed how desirable she still looked with a pie in her face, when she was stuffing chocolates, or when she was drenched? And her lipstick never smudged once!

I'll always regard her as my role model. Her beauty and her talent are just the tip of the iceberg. Character-wise, she was optimistic and determined, diligent and down-to-earth, childlike and sentimental, and humble and shy. Most importantly, she had a phenomenal capacity to love both human beings and animals. 
 
Happy 101st birthday to the first pregnant lady on television, first noted chairperson of a major film productions studio, America's favorite redhead, Miss Lucille Ball! You'll always be loved!

HAPPY 101ST BIRTHDAY, LUCY!


Whenever they were in the Bay Area, she (Lucy) and Harriet, who was not only her maid but her gin rummy partner and confidante, visited Harriet’s best friend, Dot. Knowing Lucille loved barbecue, Dot bought ribs, and they all sat in the kitchen eating them. “I kept staring at this beautiful lady eating messy ribs,” said Dot’s daughter, Barbara, who was ten at the time. “Lucille loved children and she always treated me like a princess. She had her dressmaker make me pinafores and she sent socks to match. My mother was afraid I would be spoiled rotten, and I was. Lucille made people feel important in her company, because if she liked you, she loved you.” 
The little girl delighted in seeing how silly Lucille and her aunt Harriet behaved together. “They tried on hats with feathers and veils and pranced around like college kids.” Harriet and Dot reminisced about being dancers together, and Lucille chimed in with tales of her Goldwyn Girl days. “The three of them would have a couple of drinks, then push the furniture back and form a chorus line, laughing and giggling and dancing,” Barbara recalled.

Happy 101st Birthday, Lucille Ball!

Enjoy the collage I made.

It's Lucy Picture Spamming Day! Happiest birthday to you, Lucy! You'll always be loved!

“The sun never sets on Lucille Ball. All over this worried world tonight, nations of untold millions are watching reruns they also watched the first time around. Joy requires no translation. God wanted the world to laugh, and He invented you. Many are called, but you were chosen. All of the funny hats, the baggy pants, the moustaches and the wigs, and the pratfalls and the blacked-out-teeth – they didn’t fool us one minute. We saw through all the disguises, and what we found inside was more than we deserve”

Lucille Ball's Profile

Here's a profile of Lucy, hope you'll enjoy it! Happy 101st Birthday, Miss Ball!


Profile: 
Name: Lucille Désirée Ball Morton
Date of Birth: 6 August 1911
Date of Death: 26 April 1989
Place Interred: Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California, then Lake View Cemetery at 907 Lake View Avenue, Jamestown, New York
Words inscribed on grave: "You've come home"
Sex: Female
Height: 170cm (~5.58 feet)
Weight: 55kg (~120 pounds)
Eye color: Baby blue
Hair color(s): Originally mousy brown, then blond, then strawberry blond, then flaming red, then apricot red
Hometown: Celeron, Jamestown, New York, United States of America
Occupations: Model, Actress, Comedienne, Vice President then President of Desilu Productions, Director, film executive producer
Parents: Henry Durrell Ball, Desirée Eveline Hunt Ball
Sibling: Frederick Henry Ball (younger brother)
Spouses: Desi Arnaz (1940 - 1960), Gary Morton (1961 - death)
Children: Lucie Désirée Arnaz, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV
Favorite female movie stars: Carole Lombard, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Liza Minnelli, Shirley MacLaine
Favorite male movie stars: Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, William Holden, Gary Cooper
Favorite movies: Cabaret, My Fair Lady, A Star is Born
Favorite singers: Dean Martin, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland
Favorite entertainers: Bob Hope, Maurice Chevalier, Tommy Tune
Favorite flowers: Red and white carnations, liliac, yellow roses, gladiolas
Favorite colors: Mauve, aquamarine, purple, chocolate brown
Favorite foods: tapioca pudding, Jell-O, peanut butter sandwich, franks and beans, grilled cheese sandwich, Waldorf salad, chicken chop suey, raspberries
Favorite "I Love Lucy" episodes: Queen of the Gypsies (all-time favorite), The Chocolate Factory, Lucy does a TV Commercial, Grape Stomping scene, Lucy meets William Holden, Lucy Gives Birth scene
You'll always be remembered dearly!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Instagram Pictures: Desi and Lucy

These two pictures have been posted on my Instagram account, @WeLoveLucilleBall. Follow this account for daily updates of Lucy's pictures and fun facts!

Here are Desi and Lucy at the chapel where they remarried.
Desi and Lucy had been married for 10 years, but they remained childless. "We have tried all ways humanly possible but we remain childless," Desi lamented. "Lucy had been checked and there's nothing wrong with her. I thought it was my fault, but there's nothing wrong with me too." Desi's mother, Dolores, was a devout catholic and was convinced that the couple remained childless because having eloped some 10 years ago, God had not sanctioned the marriage. Dolores wanted them to remarry in a church and with God's blessings, Lucy would definitely be pregnant. Desi loved the idea. He wanted to convince Lucy that he was totally in love with her, and with his knees bent, he proposed romantically to Lucy. Overwhelmed with emotions, Lucy agreed immediately.

He loved Lucy.
HAPPY 101st BIRTHDAY, MISS LUCILLE BALL!

Happy 101st Birthday, Miss Lucille Ball!

6 AUGUST 2012

It's 12am Singapore time, and I'll like to wish my idol, my companion, my loveliest woman a happy birthday!
Today marks the 101st year since a great woman was brought into this world. I remember vividly how I've written a post on her death anniversary, which seems like yesterday. In just a blink of an eye, 26 April jumped to 6 August, indicating that Lucy's physical traces are further and further away from us.

However, this also means that my affair with her has grown! In fact, our first anniversary will be arriving mid August- that's when my American Pluralism instructor introduced me to this wonderful comedian and actress.

Lucille's comedic talent, determination and optimism have been instrumental in helping me cope with my life. In all honesty, my life is tumultuous and full of myriads of moments where I inevitably face terrible misfortunes. Sometimes, I cave into periods of self-pitying, but since Miss Lucille Ball became my role model, I find these moments becoming fleeting and brief. Before and after a battle, I would habitually watch an episode of I Love Lucy, or if time allows, I would watch an old black and white movie of hers. Miraculously, I would find my mood improving tenfold!

Just like how Lucy looked up to Carole Lombard as her inspiration, I do look up to Lucy whenever I face problems. Even dead for 23 years, Lucy never failed to help me sharpen my perspectives- on love, on life, on anything under the sun. I plan to be visiting her grave in Jamestown, New York, with my best friend and closest friends in 2014, and I wish with all my heart that this dream will come true.

Lucy was a complicated person when alive. I can really relate to her in this way because people around me call me Miss Complicated. Most of the time, I think and do things where outsiders would not understand, nor do they care to, and only those loved ones who are really emotionally synchronized with me will really know the real me, stripped of all facades and layers. I hate to have to explain myself to others, because I will feel awfully exposed, vulnerable and weak. Nonetheless, I have a tendency to read people because I know how horrible it is not to be read, or to be misread.

I find it therapeutic whenever I read Lucy. I can safely say that I'm one of the top 10 people in the world outside her family who knows Lucy well. It is a pleasure to answer readers' and followers' questions like "was Lucy rude towards air stewardesses?" and "I heard Lucy was a bitch to work with, is that true?" and "did Lucy get over her divorce?" and "why did Lucy feel an estrangement towards her children?" and so on. Miss Ball had been misunderstood by people who have been fed by gossips. Additionally, the strong and mighty Lucy never put the misconceptions to sleep while alive. Having done an extensive amount of research, I take it upon myself to set the record straight.

If only I was this obsessed with my studies, I would have been Albert Einstein's apprentice. Ha!

I love you, Lucy!
Happy 101st birthday, and I sincerely hope that just like how Ricky and Lucy Ricardo would end a story happily, Desi Arnaz and you are holding hands in heaven and smiling down at me.

Desi and Lucy: Color Picture

I got a request not to have this particular picture watermarked, so here goes:

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Lucille Ball Interview, 1974

Mame and about herself.

Lucille Ball in Color!

Here's a treat for ardent Lucille Ball fans, Lucy in color!
I was asked by one beloved Instagram follower on what I am going to do on Lucille's birthday, 6th August. It's an interesting question, and I guess I'll just be spamming pictures of her on Instagram and this blog for followers' and readers' pleasure. Maybe I'll re-watch all her old movies and reread her old books again! I can't be watching I Love Lucy because I'm already doing it almost daily!

What about you?

Technicolor Tessie

Lucille Ball was nicknamed Technicolor Tessie because of her flamboyant coloring: fair skin, bright red hair and baby blue eyes.

She was just so breathtakingly beautiful.

Friday, August 3, 2012

I Love Lucy: Screen Capture

Sorry I haven't be posting pictures or facts here for around 2 weeks. I promise I'll update more often! So, here goes...