Ziegfeld Follies, Lucille Ball

We tend to forget that Lucille Ball was first and foremost a model and a showgirl before she became an actress and a comedic actress.

She had the showgirl blood in her all her life. She had always wanted to return to the stage to perform. She always felt that people who appeared on screens weren't real actors; real actors would have experienced performing on stage.

In Ziegfeld Follies, you see perfect Lucy standing on a while horse, moving gracefully and whipping girls to tame them... and you get surprised! It's impossible to connect this Lucy with Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy!

She's amazing.

Lucille Ball and William Holden

You'll probably recognize the two subjects in the following picture...

Yes, they are Lucille Ball (duh!) and William Holden, the guest star who appeared on I Love Lucy's famous episode, LA At Last! Yes, he received a pie in his face and yes, he lighted Lucy's fake nose on fire!

Lucy and Bill went back a long way. They became great friends when they starred in the movie Miss Grant Takes Richmond.

They were laughing so naturally in this picture because for some reason, while doing an intimate kissing scene, they kept breaking into laughter again and again. Finally, they got comfortable enough. I supposed it was because they were good friends. Bill would confide in Lucy about relationship problems and Lucy would provide sound advice. They always teased each other and told each other funny stuff just to make each other lose the poker face.

I love Old Hollywood, where people were friendly and nice and simpler. Well, comparatively so anyway!

Lucille Ball Color

Lucille Ball was an extremely resilient and determined woman. She was forced to be an adult when she was young, and she had taken care of her whole family her entire life.

I guess it takes such personalities to offer such awesome advice for the rest of us:

"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to be discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore faith in yourself"
- Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball 1950s

Lucille Ball in an elegant Lucy Ricardo dress, 1950s.

Requested by some of my Instagram followers!

If you do have Instagram app, do follow me on @welovelucilleball!

Lucille Ball in Color

Oh gosh, she autographed this picture!

One night, Lucy came in wearing a low-cut dress, which sent Desi into a jealous panic when he noticed the way men were ogling her. When he bawled her out later for showing too much cleavage, she told him “Just because you own the tree doesn’t mean some other guy can’t enjoy looking at the apples”.

- Lucy & Desi: The Legendary Love Story of Television’s Most Famous Couple by Warren G. Harris

Sexy Lady

Sorry for not posting daily. In fact, I intentionally stopped blogging because I wanted the two entries of "Lucille Ball Topless" to gain maximum exposure. I don't want people to think that the topless woman featured on a certain magazine or a certain illegitimate biography is Lucille, because that certainly isn't her!

Anyway, I've gotten a few requests to post this particular picture of Lucille Ball on my blog, so here you go!

Here's a wonderful quote about Lucille Ball in one of my favorite movies, Du Barry was a Lady:

"To her red-headed and later bewigged beauty, Miss Ball adds vivaciousness and excellent comedy timing, proving once again that she is a musical-comedy star of the first magnitude."
- New York Herald-Tribune

I really love this quote because it seems like it was a dig to the movie studios, that the reviewers and audiences loved Lucille, and it was time for the big shots to start paying attention to the exceedingly talented and beautiful lady. Well, I guess that was a blessing in disguise, that Lucille hadn't enjoyed great success in the movies, because we have I Love Lucy today!

I Love Lucy: Fred and Ethel's Anniversary

I love the way Lucy Ricardo makes fun of Ricky Ricardo's accent!

This is one of the many scenes where I still laugh madly about, and I've watched each episode like... 30 times?

Lucille Ball Topless!

It's really amazing how I've just talked about an alleged picture featuring topless Lucille Ball a few days ago and now, there's another such picture of her from Globe Magazine, September, 2012.

 

However, I must really say that this "fan" of Lucille whose name is Wanda Gaither has done a good job by "finding" a topless picture of Lucille Ball. Or rather, she has found a picture of a lady who resembles Lucille A LOT. 

In the magazine, it is said that this picture was taken in the 1930s, in California, when Lucille first came to Hollywood. (I would like to thank a fellow Twitter user, who has kindly snapped a picture of the content for me).

Gaither claims that this picture was taken in the "Pike amusement area in Long Beach."

This lady sure as hell looks like Lucy... She looks like the 1950s Lucy Ricardo, that is.

Being an ardent fan of Lucille Ball, I'm here to try to convince you why the above picture is NOT Lucille Ball.

First of all, let's refer the topless lady as Nude Lady.

There are 6 features that gives us a privy as to why as much as nude lady resembles Miss Ball, she is not her.

Dear Miss Ball, I feel really awful having to mar such a beautiful picture of  you, but I'm doing it for a good cause. I hope you'll understand and may you rest in peace.


I've taken the liberty to highlight Nude Lady's features for a better comparison.

1. Forehead to nose
Lucille is known to have a high and beautiful nose, and the bone that connects her forehead, eyes and nose bridge together is a distinct triangle. It is obvious from the color picture above, and if you've watched I Love Lucy as many times as I have, you'll be familiar to this part of her face, because whenever she gives an adorable expression, this part will show up prominently. Nude Lady does not have this prominent feature at all. In fact, her eyebrow bone is curvy, instead of straight, giving a curvy "V" instead of a straight "V" look.

2. Nose Bridge
While Lucille has a high and flat nose bridge bone that makes me have to trace "l l", Nude Lady's nose bridge is simply high and sharp, resulting in a "l" trace. 

If you do not get what 1. and 2. mean, I've made a collage to illustrate what I mean. Nude Lady is the one on the top left hand corner. The rest of the pictures are legitimate pictures of the late Miss Ball, all revolving in the 1930s.
3. Nose size
Notice that Nude Lady's nose is so straight that its flair at the bottom is very slight. Lucille nose has a larger flair than Nude Lady's.

If you do a comparison between length of eyes and nose size, you'll notice that Nude Lady has longer eyes than nose, around the ratio of 1.2 to 1. Lucille's ratio of length of eyes to the length of the nostrils will be more proportionate, around 1 to 1. 

4. Boobs
Lucille's boobs were never really full prior to giving birth. She had been a tall, willowy and skinny model prior to going to Hollywood, and she remained that way. Even when she had forced herself to eat more since then, she had never been chesty.

Well, a picture speaks a thousand words. You can judge her boobs size from the pictures, all taken in the 1930s.

The Nude Lady obviously was very, very well-endowed. We women know this for a fact because when we lift our arms above like that, our boobs will shrink a little because the skin stretches and becomes more taut, thus holding the fats further inwards. She has done that, and she was still so full and chesty.

It's awkward to talk about this. Seriously.

5. Eye Bags
The last feature of Nude Lady which is the best tell tale sign to show us that she is NOT Lucy the presence of her eye bags!

Lucille never had meaty, fleshy, full eye bags. Even when she grinned like mad, the eye bags were never obviously (refer to the bottom left hand corner of the picture below for a better illustration). 

6. Hair
Back in the 1930s, Lucille's hair was blonde and straight- she wore it like Clara Bow. Even when she made it wavy, she never fashioned it into a bun. She was also seldom spotted with a fringe. The Lucy Ricardo style of tying up her hair and perming the fringe was only done in the mid 1940s, when she switched movie studios to MGM.

Nude Lady has that hair, which means that she is obviously NOT Lucy.

So there. There are billions and billions of people living on earth, and even back then, the population pool was large enough to have people who resembled one another. Furthermore, with the elimination of colors, mistakes like this become more natural; after all, we do not have eye colors, hair colors, skin colors etc. to give us better identification methods.

From the 6 points I've mentioned, I hope that you'll be as convinced as I am that Wanda Gaither and Globe Magazine have made a mistake. Tabloids simply like to sensationalize news and these people don't substantiate gossips with evidence.

Please let Lucille Ball rest in peace.

Lucille Ball Topless!

Wow! Wow?

If you're not my regular reader, but you've found this blog entry via Google or some other search engines, I suppose you are either a horny idiot just dying to look at how Lucille Ball would look like topless, or you're deeply envious of her beauty and are curious to see more of her, or you've heard/read some rumors about her posing nude when she was a struggling model.

Yes, Lucille was an extremely sexy woman, even while performing her crazy antics, she was still as desirable as hell. Yes, Lucille had been very poor when she was young, so poor that she would often go for days without food.

However, I do not believe that the woman in this picture is Lucille Ball. No sane person would ever identify this unclothed lady as Miss Ball! She doesn't even look like her.

If you're still as obstinate as a mule, I've taken the time and effort to use legitimate pictures of Lucille to compare with this incriminating picture. A picture speaks a thousand words, and the evidence is clear thereafter.

First, let us examine the most examinable feature- the nose. Look at the nose of... let's call her naked lady. By taking the red line from the end of the forehead to the end of the nose as a reference point, naked lady's nose bone is curved, but Lucille's bone is so much straighter.

Second, using the same picture above, notice that the tip of the nose belonging to naked lady is fleshy, but Lucille doesn't have this small lump of meat that makes one's nose tip protrude out. Naked lady's nose flairs, but Lucille's doesn't.

By the way, Lucille was really blessed with a beautiful nose. Do I sound weird, saying that?

Third, another bone structure that is to be inspected is the chin. Naked lady's chin protrudes out, and naked lady has a cleft that apparently divides the mouth and the chin, but Lucille's chin doesn't protrude out, neither does she have a cleft.

Let us now survey the ears. Naked lady has a bony ear, but Lucille's ear is fleshier and her earlobe is so prominent.

Oh well, you may say that the prominent earlobe may be due to wearing heavy earrings for an extended amount of time. Point taken, but there is one last feature that does not change in terms of size or shape from the moment we are born to our death.

The eyes.

 Naked lady's eyes and Lucille's eyes are obviously different. Lucille has the shape of her eyes similar to a cat's. She is blessed with big, beautiful, oval shaped eyes. Even when she looks down, the bottom eyelid is still semi-oval. However, naked lady's bottom eyelids are straight. Refer to the red reference line if you still do not get what I mean.

Another feature of the eye we will now look into is upper eyelid. Lucille is blessed with what we call deep-set, sunken eyes. Her double eyelid line is so far away from the eyelashes. On the other hand, naked lady's double eyelid fold is much nearer to the eyelash. Her eyes are also less sunken as compared to Lucille's.

I hope that you've enjoyed my analysis and concur that the picture of the nude lady is NOT Lucille Ball. Lucille was very shy with her body and was shy to even wear bathing suits in front of strangers. She only wore it if work made it necessary for her to, or in front of her loved ones and people she trusted. This has been confirmed via several sources. If you've read her biography, she has emphasized this, too.

Lastly, and I know I am going to digress, but let us not judge the naked lady in the picture. There are a thousand possible reasons for posing nude, and each may be more unfathomable as the next. She may be lustful, or she may love art. She may want to earn more cash, she may be dying of hunger. Or she may be needing the money to cure her sick mother. We will never know, will we? After all, that picture originated from the 1920s, still a long way before the 21st century, where perceptions of sex and sexuality have changed so drastically.

Color Picture of Lucille Ball

I love her blue eyes. And she's so exquisite looking.

Dig That Hat

I been receiving requests to post up my Instagram (@welovelucilleball) photographs onto this blog. I'm really sorry for the delay of the older pictures. They're stored somewhere else and I need time to dig them out.

Here's a recent one, the one where young Lucille Ball is wearing a beautiful hair accessory (can we call this a hat?). She's so lovely.

(Alternatively, you can go to Twitter(@golucilleball) and save the pictures directly from there!)

Bathing Suit

"I was extremely shy about wearing bathing suits because I don't have a beautiful figure" - Lucille Ball

It's ironic how a clown can ever be so self conscious, and Lucy certainly was a fascinating woman. She never once believed that she was beautiful, neither did she have nice thoughts about her body. For someone this successful, she was much too humble.

I love Lucy!

Two Smart People (1946)

I desperately want to watch this movie! I wanted to purchase a DVD from Amazon but I realized that it's an Archive Collection, manufactured on demand, which means that I can't watch it from my PC. Sigh.

The Big Street (1942)

Have you all watched The Big Street (1942), starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda yet? If you have not done so, please find a way to get a hold of this movie!

Synopsis:
Lucille Ball plays Gloria, a materialistic and nasty nightclub singer who gets pushed down a flight of stairs by a rich man and becomes crippled and ill of health.Henry Fonda, or Pinks, is enamored of her. He takes her under his wing and takes great care of her after she becomes crippled.

Gloria is not only unappreciative, but she is mean to all of Pink's family and friends. In short, she is a bitch.

Of course, she turns over a new leaf towards the end of the movie, and dies soon. It's so tragic.

Comments:
It pains me to call Gloria/Lucille a bitch, but I'm actually complimenting her. Her role calls for her to be a bitch, and she was so reluctant to take up the role because she knew that audiences will typecast an actor according to the role in media. However, she gave her very best and she was fantastic in the movie.

Lucille's favorite movie that she was the proudest of is The Big Street!

Trivia: 
I've seen publicity pictures of Lucille in a beautiful gown, dancing gracefully and all, but this scene was nowhere to be found in the entire movie! I was befuddled and disappointed, because I very much wanted to see Lucille dance. She was so breathtaking and perfect when she danced with Van Johnson in I Love Lucy.

Well, anyway, here's what I discovered.

Choreographer Christopher Hales was engaged to create a dance for Lucille. Publicity shots of her rehearsing and performing her Rhumba solo were taken, but it did not make it into the final cut of the movie, except for the glimpse we see Gloria perform from waist up in the hospital bed when she discovered that she was paralyzed.

Says Hale, "Lucille is tall lithe and willowy, and has much talent as a dancer. She has a beautiful back, holds herself well, and is extremely graceful."

Now, Lucille wasn't very good in her singing when she grew older, especially after I Love Lucy ended. She had  injured her voice throat thanks to the ill advice of a vocal singer while doing the Broadway musical, Wildcat. If you had watched the movie Dance, Girl, Dance, you'll be amazed by her singing! It wasn't a perfect ten but it was better than average.

Now, though Lucille couldn't sing well, she certainly had a huge talent in dancing. Plus with all the nightclub dancing with her Rhumba teacher, Desi Arnaz, she became quite accomplished in her own right!

I Love Lucy: Lucy is Enceinte

I've been asked by people from Instagram, Twitter and blog about my favorite episode of I Love Lucy. It used to be Lucy Does a TV Commercial (the vitameatavegamin episode), but after having tears in my eyes for the umpteenth time whenever I watch Lucy is Enceinte, it finally dawned on me that this is my all-time favorite episode!

Everything's so... homey, like what a wife would usually do to break a wonderful news to a husband. In this episode, Lucille does it naturally with flair and humor, and Desi acts like a "stupid husband" so convincingly that he helps Lucille bring out the best of her comedic abilities.

I especially love the part in the nightclub, where Lucy Ricardo finally breaks the news to Ricky Ricardo in such a sweet and special way, a way more awesome than her original plan. Initially, when I first watched this episode, I didn't know what made me cry. After falling in love with this sitcom, I did more research and eventually realized that this part was completely ab-libbed! It was the best blooper ever! The ending wasn't supposed to be this way... not all sentimental and sweet and all. Ricky was supposed to scream with excitement and Lucy was supposed to do that right along with him!

However, Desi Arnaz started crying and screwing up the lyrics of Rockabye Baby. He had recalled his emotions when his wife was pregnant and when his daughter, Lucie Arnaz was born. Anyway, they continued filming because the emotions were charged and the crew, cast and audience could all feel it.

You can hear distinctively that Desi's orchestra member saved the film by saying "sing the baby song!"

Lucille saw how emotional Desi was and started crying too.

When the filming finally ceased, director William Asher wanted a retake, one that would stick with the original filming. Desi and Lucille agreed because they were extremely embarrassed for displaying so much emotion, what's more in front of the cameras. Everyone- the crew, cast, audience, men and women, Vivian Vance and even William Frawley- objected to it and eventually, the three were convinced that this version was better. And thankfully so, because I love this episode so much!

I've told this story a million times but I'm never get bored of doing it!

Best Foot Forward

I'm proud to be able to add Best Foot Forward (1943) to my list of Lucille Ball films I've watched!

Lucille Ball played herself, and the script was cleverly written to show her personality and her comedic talent! It was a refreshing movie that served as a parody.

Did she always appear in bathing suits? Because I don't remember ever seeing her in a bathing suit in any of her movies. In fact, Lucille was very shy about wearing bathing suits all her life! She wore them, but not often.

I'll post up more pictures and GIF files from this movie soon!

Lured: Watch the Entire Movie Here!

I found this on YouTube and would like to share this with all my readers. Fans of Lucille Ball will definitely enjoy this treasure.

WATCH THE ENTIRE MOVIE OF LURED BELOW!

Lucille Ball is so stunning right here! And this movie is the visual evidence that she is not only a phenomenally talented comedic actress, she is also a versatile and exceedingly fantastic dramatic actress. She plays so many different roles in this movie: a nightclub dancer, a detective's assistant, a maid, a classy lady going to the theater, a fiance... everything! Only Miss Ball can pull this off!

Amazingly, I cannot connect the Lucille Ball prior to I Love Lucy and the post I Love Lucy's Lucille Ball. They are just so different, and more importantly, equally fabulous! No actor has ever made me feel that!

Lucille Ball: The Rubber Face

Remember those I Love Lucy episodes where Lucy will shape her mouth into any fashion she wills it to?

Well, Miss Lucille Ball has a talent that even the most comedic actresses didn't have: she has an expressive face, she is being nicknamed as "rubber face"!

Original Star Trek

Hi guys, please go to Google and play with its Google Doodle that is featuring Star Trek! Today is the original Star Trek's debut anniversary!

Why in the world am I advocating this in Lucille Ball's blog? Simple! Lucille Ball was the money behind this cult television series. She was the instrumental in getting Star Trek off the ground, literally. When other television studio companies thought lowly of the concept of Star Trek, Lucille used her personal profits to finance the pilot. Eventually, Desilu Studios finally secured a collaboration!

Read more from here!

Lucille Ball, Desilu and Star Trek In 1950 Lucille Ball, along with her husband Desi Arnaz, created Desilu Productions. The company grew with the huge success of their sitcom I Love Lucy and after the their divorce in 1960 Ball bought out Arnaz’s interest in the company. Fast-forward to 1964 and Desilu hired Herb Solow to foster new projects and one of the first new shows was Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek. After making two pilots for Star Trek, Solow had got finally got a commitment from NBC in 1965, but there was a snag. At the time networks began to change the way they paid for TV shows, now only covering 80% of costs and leaving the rest to the studios. In addition Star Trek was working out to be an expensive show to make, budgeted at $200,000 per episode as opposed to an average of $160,000. This meant that Desilu would have to cover $40,000 (around $275,000 today) for each episode, and more if they went over budget. So their only hope to make a profit would be via foreign sales or syndication–a risky proposition at the time. Inside Desilu there was considerable debate as to whether or not to take that risk on Star Trek (and Mission: Impossible, another expensive show which Solow had sold to CBS).

In his book "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story" (written with Star Trek producer Bob Justman) Solow describes a fateful meeting with Ball:

I had the series order from NBC. I had a die-hard group of professionals to make the series. I had a lot of sleepless nights. Now all I needed was the financial support of the studio elders, the very conservative Desilu loyalists. This would all start, and end, with America’s favorite redhead, Lucille Ball herself.
….
Before the board meeting I’d laid it out to the owner of Desilu: "You’ll always have a show, Lucy, with the same actors, the same staff, the same people to write and direct. Everyone will be happy. The studio will keep renting space to other shows. So fame isn’t a problem and money isn’t a problem. But wouldn’t you like to rebuild Desilu’s prestige, importance, and value as a major player? Wouldn’t it be great to have two exciting and successful Desilu television shows on the air?"
So it was up to the third Lucy. Forget about Lucy Ricardo’s "Vita-meeta-veg-emins" and those chocolates coming down the conveyor belt and Lucy crushing grapes with her feet. Forget Ricky Ricardo and his "Ba-ba-loo" band. Don’t even think about Fred and Ethel Mertz. Forget about all the fluff about President Lucy, the brilliant executive, the Hollywood Mogul. On this day, she could be the real Lucy, the one who represented talent, hated confrontation, and held the future of a lot of people in her grasp. "Say ‘yes,’ Lucy and we’ll all go to work."
Lucy nodded. And we all went to work. The inmates had the key to the asylum.

In 1967, while Star Trek was still in production and still losing money, Ball sold Desilu to Gulf+Western, the the parent company of Paramount Pictures. With the Paramount lot being right next door to Desilu they just knocked down the wall and merged the studios. In the end, Lucy’s gamble paid off for Paramount as they eventually began to reap big rewards off Star Trek in syndication. And the rest, as they say, is history.
So today we at TrekMovie remember Lucille Ball for having faith in Star Trek along with Gene Roddenberry, Herb Solow, Robert Justman, and the rest of the "inmates." Without Lucy, we may have never been taken to the final frontier.

I LOVE LUCY!

Vivian Vance and Philip Ober

Well! Some of you may be wondering how Vivian Vance's ex-husband (the one who physically abused her) looks like.

Here's a trivia for you: do you know that Desi and Lucille have actually invited him to play small parts in I Love Lucy? I guess that this was probably done so to appease him because he was very jealous that Vivian Vance became a household name but his career had all but come to a standstill.

In season 4, Don Juan is Shelved, Phil Ober played MGM's Dore Schary. It was rumored that Schary was ill and could not guest star the episode, or that he was very camera shy, or he had doubts about the consequences on appearing on television (back then, television and movies were still waging war!). 

  
If you find Phil Ober's face familiar,you're on the right track! Phil Ober has also appeared in season 1 of I Love Lucy, The Quiz Show!

Life Magazine, 6 April 1953, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Children

For those of you who do not own this Life magazine edition:

I totally understand how it feels when we are not privy to the interview inside a magazine. Sure, we have so many scanned copies of the front covers that features Lucy, but what about the write ups?

Fret not, I've scanned the insides of the write up about the Arnaz family for you guys!

I really apologize for the watermark. I feel bad about it and the pictures look marred but I'm still fuming over the previous incident. From now onwards, I'll just watermark the photos that I a) scan and b) edit heavily. Rest assured that previous pictures, those funny I Love Lucy screenshot collages as well as pictures that are found all over the internet will not be watermarked, feel free to grab them at your pleasure.

Here goes:

Desi always enjoyed taking pictures of Lucille and their children, Lucie and Desi Jr.. How I wish more private pictures of them could be released, but then again, it wouldn't be nice to request so, isn't it? I'm sure Lucie and Desi Jr. have been dealing with the fact that they are the legendary couple's children since they were born and they don't need to be bothered. Sigh!

That's all.

Have a great day ahead!

I Love Lucy: Ricky Sells the Car

I really enjoyed the scene where Lucy wants to take back the train tickets she has given Fred and Ethel Mertz earlier on. Her hand gets stuck, and Ethel walks in and does a double take, and asks,"what are you doing?" 

Vivian Vance is a really great actress! She has Lucy's flair of being able to conjure certain expressions that are so funny!

In Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts where Lucille Ball was the guest celebrity, Gale Gordon said this right into her face, "Lucy, Vivian Vance is a greater actress than you are!" Lucy simply laughed because she knew what he was talking about.

Lucy and her Double

Lucille Ball had a rule: she never used any doubles to do her dangerous stunt. Over the course of her career, she had injured herself countless of times. Of course, being busy with rehearsing and filming I Love Lucy, Lucille had no time to go for shootings outside Desilu Studios.

Going on location was impossible because of the need to produce one Lucy episode a week. A double was engaged when Desilu crew needed footage of Lucy Ricardo taking the train, riding a boat or boarding a helicopter.

In this picture, you can see sweet Lucille dolling her double up by painting her nails. Isn't Lucy wonderful?

She's wonderful to people who give their best in all performances and are humble.

Young Lucille Ball in her 1930s

Here's a rare color picture of young and beautiful Lucy in her early 20s, years before meeting the love of her life.Her hair was still blond/brunette and she was still finding that Lucille Ball style.

It took MGM's best hairdressers to help Lucille find the style that she would stick to for the next 20 years or so- flaming auburn hair, all swept up, with a curled fringe. After being so surprised and grateful for being filmed so beautifully in her first MGM's musical comedy, Du Barry was a Lady, the hairstyle became her signature!

Irrelevant: Facts of Lucy, Are they True?

I'm going to talk about something kinda irrelevant to the purpose of this blog. If you are here purely just to enjoy information and pictures related to Miss Ball and nothing else, skip reading this, because I don't want to unload my problems on you unfairly. Trust me.

I stumbled upon a social media page where someone has criticized my Instagram account, saying that certain information that were quoted by Lucy and Desi interviews have not been heard of, and therefore some of the facts are inaccurate.

(Sometimes, someone on Instagram will simply comment some dull-witted comment like "This is not true," instead of a polite and respectful one like "hey, where did you get this information from?" and I will reply "go to my blog, on the right hand panel, there is a list of the books and videos I've examined." I appreciate politeness and respect from people, especially when I'm providing them a source of entertainment- it's only fair, isn't it?)

I find that I need to address this unmerited criticism formally. I'm not targeting this at anyone, and am merely opening a platform to discuss this issue. I'm pretty sure many people want to hear about this also. Let me explain my point of view to you in a logical manner:

First of all, I have never once stated that those write-ups are hardcore facts that every reader should abide by. They are simply information. We all need to form our own opinions from the information presented to us and not treat the information as the Holy Grail.

Second of all, I have never once cooked up any thing on my own when I include those "facts". I take the information from books that I've read, or Internet websites I've come across. Some information are even obtained from YouTube. The owners of all other fan pages do the same, I assure you. Additionally, there are many Desi and Lucy fans who have been sincere enough to type out those magazine interviews so that the world would have a soft copy. Consequently, the onus is on these... shall I say, "critics" to search for them before jumping into conclusion. Just because they haven't heard of certain things before does not mean they are untrue.

If we dwell into logic, there is a fallacy known as the "argumentum ad ignorantiam" or arguing from ignorance. It is a fallacy that occurs when someone argues that because we don't know something is true, it must be false, or vice versa.

Thusly, we should not simply discount information simply because they have been unheard of, but should remain humble and keep an open mind.

Let us go further by examining the nature of online and offline literature. Are they ever 100% accurate? Writers basically obtain content to write about celebrities from celebrities' inner and outer social groups. In the case of Lucille, writers have spoken to her childhood friends; people who have known her from Jamestown; her Hollywood colleagues and friends; her Broadway coworkers; her neighbors; her coworkers, her children; her students, her friends, and people who have simply talked to Lucy before. Some of the information aren't even cited. Even online write-ups or interviews that have been manually typed to make a soft copy cannot be 100% accurate.

Why?

Authors, writers and fans of Lucille or any other celebrities are human beings, aren't they? (I hope they are.) Since they are all human beings, they are biased! Let's face the fact: human beings are biased and will forever be. Though we try to be neutral at times, we still aren't unbiased. Even opinions based on neutrality are biased, because it's simply our own opinion that our opinions are neutral.

People who were around a celebrity or have talked to him or her before may have first or second hand experience, but when they relate the story or opinion, it'll be drenched with partiality. Maybe because they wanted Desi and Lucille's life after divorce to be more romantic. Maybe because they felt that Gary was a better husband. Maybe because they bore a grudge from Lucille's treatment to them. Maybe because they were simply nasty and had ulterior motives.

So pray tell me, what information is completely accurate?

Let me share a quote to you. All Media Communication majors have definitely heard of this:
"The media doesn't tell us what to think, but what to think about."

The onus is on you to believe if the "facts" given by these people are true or not.

Thirdly, I would like to point out that there are lots of popular quotes and stories online about celebrities. These quotes and anecdotes can go viral with the help of microblogging sites as well as social media websites. However, just because these information are well exposed to people doesn't mean that they are true. They simply are very appealing and readers consume and popularize them.

There is a logical fallacy called "argumentum ad populum" or the appeal to belief/people/majority. It means that a proposition is claimed to be true or good solely because many people believe it to be so.

Let me throw an example to you. It is commonly believed that in her contract, Vivian Vance was forced to gain a certain amount of weight in order to look less appealing that Miss Ball. People believe this because this rumor has taken root and has manifested over the number of years. Since everyone believes so, it is taken to be true. Few of us have bothered to review old magazine and television interviews, neither have we checked out insiders' takes on this (refer to THIS PAGE for answers). However, a popular belief does not entail accuracy and soundness.

Fourthly, even the celebrities' own biographies cannot be 100% accurate. I hate to point this out, but even Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball have talked about the same things with different information substantiated. If you have read both their biographies, you would know what I mean. If you don't, let me point how to the night before they eloped as an instance. I shall not go further into details, but take their books and read this part side by side for your own.

As readers, we can only respect the celebrities' decision to present certain information in a certain way to us because they have their reasons for doing so. We should not act like aggressive sharks, maliciously pursuing accuracy and complete truth. We are not the paparazzi. This is essential especially when we consider ourselves as fans of the celebrities. I think that as a fan, one shouldn't endeavor to expose their half-truths or lies or omissions of truth, but we should endeavor to understand why the celebrities has done so. No one is an angel, neither is one a complete devil. Everyone has done something shameful or wrong. There is no point harping on the negative and neglecting the positive, even though sadly again, it's just human nature to perform the opposite.

After all, we should provide the unconditional adoration and accept who the celebrity is and what he or she has done, since we have chosen to form a good opinion of him or her?

Lastly, and this is based on my hurt feelings and not logic, I am feeling very hurt by this particular person who has criticized me unfairly on a social media webpage, because on one hand, he or she is criticizing my "facts" as being untrue, and on the other, he or she is using my "facts" to be presented as her own on her own pages. To top it all, he or she uses my pictures. This is grossly unfair and unethical!

I know that he or she has taken the pictures from me because I was the one who have colorized and/or edited them. I even have the soft copy of the picture files in my computer. Some of the pictures have been purchased by me. I have taken the liberty to scan the pictures or books (not infringing copyright, of course) to share with people. As I have mentioned long ago in one of my blog entries, I really don't mind people taking my pictures and information. If I feel that a picture has been edited by me and I deserve the credit, I'll watermark it. It's the internet, for heaven's sake, nothing belongs to us once we've posted it. I love it when people remember, appreciate and love the late Miss Ball, and when they grab my pictures, it also means that they find my artwork pleasing to their eyes.

So why the hell do I even bring up this point?

I'm doing so because this joker took my 'facts", presented as his or her own after saying that my "facts" aren't true, and to top it all, took my pictures, removed the watermark, and presented as his or her own after that hurtful criticism. There is just some ethical rule bring broken within this framework. I mean, there are nicer ways to find out where I get the information before the public ngeative judgment. He or she can contact me in one way or another, through Instagram, Blogger, or emailing, but no.

There are lots of blogs dedicated to the late Miss Ball, but none of them has focused on providing information that I'm sure thousands of befuddled and bemused fans need. I'm merely trying to correct some unfair misconceptions and judgment of Miss Ball and Mr Arnaz, and am providing some form of an answer as to why Miss Ball acted the way she did, why Mr and Mrs Arnaz couldn't stay together, and if they had found happiness elsewhere or were enamored with each other till they died. I'm sure we've all gone through this phase of confusion before, and I'm positive that we have all felt hurt and disillusioned that though Lucy and Ricky Ricardo had enjoyed a happy ending, Lucy and Desi Arnaz didn't. This is the purpose of my providing information other than just pictures, and my purpose is just the same as the authors of books and producers of documentaries.

I know, I know, I need to move on with my life because there are all sorts of people in the world. I'm being completely silly for being hurt by this and I should get a life. Give me some time, I'll be fine.

I Love Lucy: The Courtroom

Sometimes, wives are troublesome to have. Ha ha.

I Love Lucy: The Tour

In this episode, Desilu Productions made use of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's home in Beverly Hills as footage for Richard Widmark home.

1000 Roxbury Drive:

Later in life, Lucille said that she regretted doing so because many I Love Lucy fans would go Lucy's home to climb over the wall. When she asked them why in the world they were doing that, fans would explain that they were trying to recreate the I Love Lucy scene.

Twitter

I've been receiving quite a number of emails from some of my blog readers to create a Twitter account, and link and upload my Instagram pictures there because their cellphones do not allow them to have an Instagram account.

So here it is, follow my Twitter account at @golucilleball, and Instagram account at @welovelucilleball

Lucille Ball: Beautiful at Every Age

Lucille and Desi: Love is such a Painful Affair

I came across this letter that Lucille and her estate replied to a fan of Mr. and Mrs. Desi Arnaz on Desi's passing.

It must have broken Lucille's heart to have to deal with Desi's death and the work thereafter. In the eyes of the world, Lucille was still Desi's beloved wife. It was obvious to everyone that they never stopped loving each other.

In an interview on Desi's death, Lucille said that when he died, she lost the will to live too. She couldn't imagine life without Desi.

Frankly, neither can I. They belonged together, divorced or not.

Love is such a painful affair, don't you think so?

I Love Lucy: Nursery School

Love the way Lucy Ricardo always sticks out her tongue when Ricky isn't looking!

Vivian Vance's Friendship with Lucille

I thought I'd do up a post to explain more about Vivian and Lucille's friendship because I've been asked on this subject several times on Instagram (@welovelucilleball). Here goes...

Vivian Vance and Lucille Ball shared a special and complex friendship that could never be destroyed. When Vivian first went to Desilu studios to meet Lucille, she was so terrified because she was going to be playing second banana to the legendary movie star, Miss Ball. Of course, she wore formal clothes as she thought that Lucille would dress like that, and she wanted to give Lucille a good impression.

Everyone could remember their first meeting. There was sophisticated looking Viv, and there was Lucille, who dressed in her normal oversized blouse and black slacks. Lucille had worn a scarf that covered her red hair, and her face was bare. Basically, she looked like anything but a great movie star.

Lucille looked at Viv up and down and asked, "what part will you be trying out for?"
"For the landlady, honey," Desi said.
"She doesn't look like a landlady. She looks glamorous. Her hair's the same color as mine," Lucy stated.
"I can dye it. I don't care. It doesn't matter to me."
"I don't know. I want a dumpy, peroxide-blonde with curlers in her hair and a terry cloth robe and fuzzy slippers. That's what I want."
"You got her. I look just like that in the morning when I get out of bed."

Lucille laughed. Now if you can make Lucille laugh, you've worn her respect.

When rehearsals officially started, the two girls discovered that they had so much chemistry. That was the start of their enduring friendship. They enjoyed rehearsing so much that they they had a ball.

Lucille was tough on Viv. She would direct Viv and give her lots of instructions to follow while rehearsing. She knew that Viv needed someone to be strong and tough to straighten her out. Prior to being starred as Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy, Viv had suffered a psychological breakdown and was in recluse and her life was filled with episodes of visiting psychiatrists. Much of her mental anguish came from her then-husband, Philip Ober. He would beat her up and call her ugly names that made her feel small.

Eventually, Vivian learned from Lucille to be independent, strong and tough too. Viv knew that Lucille had struggled with her marriage for very long yet remained spirited and formidable, and Lucille always provided Viv advice on her own marriage. She eventually convinced Viv to muster enough courage to file for divorce from her abusive husband.

While most were intimidated by Lucille's bluntness, Viv would take no shit from her. She knew that beneath Lucille's tough exterior, she was a soft, kind and dependent lady who was extremely afraid of being hurt. She also knew that Lucille often tested people by provoking them to see if they would fight back. So, Viv always fought back when Lucille became too willful, and Lucille loved that. Additionally, while others couldn't get away with trying to direct Lucille or to offer suggestions or directions, Viv always did, and Lucille always listened to her. It was astounding how they two ladies always helped each other bring out the best of their characters in I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show.

If you're wondering why Vivian said "the greatest straight woman in show business" while thanking Lucille, here's why: Viv's husband felt threatened by their friendship. Knowing how conservative Viv was, he told her once that rumors have started in Hollywood, saying that Lucille and Vivian were so close that it seemed like they were lesbians, "a couple of cats in heat". Vivian was so affected that she drove 50 miles to her psychiatrist for a talk. Of course, his vindictive efforts didn't manage to break up their friendship.

Desi, Lucille and Viv remained close friends throughout their lives (William Frawley had spent his last years dealing with his health and finally passed away in 1966). After Desi and Lucille's divorce, Desi produced the first 6 episodes of The Lucy Show. On the first day of rehearsals, Desi sat at his chair, looked at Lucille rehearsing and promptly burst into tears. Viv went and hugged Desi, "it's never the same again, isn't it?"

Having gone through so much to produce the most phenomenal show on earth, I Love Lucy, it was impossible to just erase one another from their lives.

A famous quote from Vivian Vance that I'm sure fans have come across is "We fought like sisters and made up like sisters. We adored each other's company."