New Lucy Books

[rickylu]

Sorry, but Gary's one appearance on TLS is enough for me. She seemed to have much better on screen chemistry with Keith Andes as her boyfriend.

[Luvsbway]

Tell me about it. If you told an unknowing person they were married they would not believe you.

[HarryCarter]

I also don't think Gary is particularly good in Lucy Takes Up Golf, but I don't think he had any actual acting experience prior to this. All his previous work was stand up with the exception of a minor part in the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful. That episode is also the first they did after the Kennedy assassination, so Gary had a lot of factors working against him.

[desilufan2]

I saw Gary with Lucy in what I believe was a Bob Hope Special and yeah.... he still wasn't very good. Now granted he was barely in it and he played himself... and I still think he flopped

[C L A U D E]

I was only saying a boyfriend for her on the show would have provided a new authority figure and better plot lines.  But I guess it might have appeared a bit unseemly to have her with gary on the show once a week but I Love Lucy reruns playing everywhere with Desi all day and every day.  Love your Lucy avatar Rickylu.  As for you Shel, he was just her type, tall, handsome/ugly that she always liked and he did acquire that distinguished LOOK later on too.  As for you Neil, that was very funny, BUT, Montreal has a normal mayor, the crack smoking one who's always acting weird is mayor of Toronto. 

[Neil]

I also don't think Gary is particularly good in Lucy Takes Up Golf, but I don't think he had any actual acting experience prior to this. All his previous work was stand up with the exception of a minor part in the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful. That episode is also the first they did after the Kennedy assassination, so Gary had a lot of factors working against him.

I read somewhere it was filmed the very day Kennedy was killed (which was a Thursday) so it had no audience.  I thought Gary was fine, but also prefer Keith Andes.  Unless they were going to make "Gary Stewart" (a nod to Paula?) a semi-regular, his last line "Lucy, I LOVE YOU!"was a little premature because he immediately joined the ranks of one-date Carmichael's failed single-episode romances, all of which seem to be headed for a future.  At least Keith made 2 more appearances.  Not sure if is his California incarnation was the same character name, or his "Winter Sports" name, for that matter. 

 

Lucy makes driving a golf cart around in a circle and swinging at the ball look easy, but not having ever tried it, it doesn't seem like it would be.  But probably easy compared to doing the circle on that skateboard-like thing (in 4th season's "Department Store Jobs") where steering is done by leaning to the direction you want to go.  Then she had to straighten up to steer it off-stage.  I've never heard of that thing being an actual toy but it looked like fun!

[rickylu]

JFK was killed on a Friday; I think "Chris Goes Steady" was filmed the night before on the 21st. The next week was Thanksgiving anyway, so, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe "Golf" was filmed on Wednesday the 27th, without an audience. On a side note, I always thought it was a little strange that after Gary makes his first entrance, a good amount of time goes by before the "audience" breaks into spontaneous applause. Was this episode screened for audience reaction?

[Caewi]

I saw Gary with Lucy in what I believe was a Bob Hope Special and yeah.... he still wasn't very good. Now granted he was barely in it and he played himself... and I still think he flopped

 

Yep he was terrible in that Bob Hope special. Did you catch him laughing when he was supposed to hug her? Talk about believably for the audience. I don't recall his appearance on any of the other episodes. He and Lucy were already married weren't they when TLS started? Along with Desi warming up the audience? That must have terribly uncomfortable for everyone involved - especially for little Lucie in that guest appearance episode. That would have been very hard on her and on Lucy. Plus poor Desi must have felt awful when he saw Gary warming up the audience and acting next to Lucy. 

 

Still really hoping to clarify Desilufan2, do you know for sure that Paula's book isn't coming anymore? Or has it just taken so long that you're figuring it won't appear anymore? I still have high hopes for Frank's book as well. Does anyone know how that's coming? He joked on Stu's show that another famous person took 20 years so he still had time. He did seem quite committed to eventually writing the book though. 

[Luvsbway]

Yes they were married when TLS started. I'm pretty sure that when TLS started Gary got the warmup gig. He apparently wasn't on set as much as later years due to Lucy wanting to work him in gradually. The studio buyout happened mid first season so I don't think Desi was around during the soda jerk episode. According to Lucie her dad didn't come to the shows to often because he didn't want to pull focus. He knew people would watch him watching his family including Lucy.

 

Not to say that both husbands were never on set at the same because I heard it did happen and I also heard that Desi would pretty much just ignore Gary.

[C L A U D E]

Desi only produced the first, what?  Eight shows or so, so it was wise of Lucy to ease gary in as Desi was a pro and gary a novice, and he had to be showing up barry norton.

[C L A U D E]

FRANK SINATRA, AN AMERICAN LEGEND, BY NANCY SINATRA 1995.  The first thing I do when I get a new bio on anybody is check the index to see if Lucy is mentioned.  Pisses me off when Lauren Bacall gets one and no Lucy, or Tallulah Bankhead, but no Lucy.  This one, Lucy having been a fan and friend of Sinatra's, has S I X .  No pictures though, wonder if the estate charges too much for pics, Lauren Bacall had one.  Of course she had good reason to, as she was engaged to the man, then, she spoke to the press about marrying him and he called everything off, or am I confusing her with Juliet Prowse?  Anyhoo, it's just a great book, loads of pics, every piece of info you'd want is in here.  Special sections I loved, besides the Lucy mentions, were the kidnapping of Frank jr and the death of Frank's mom, Dolly.  In a plane crash on the way to one of his concerts.

[C L A U D E]

April 21st, 1947   Dad starred with Lucille Ball and Bob Hope in the Screen Guild Theater radio production of Too Many Husbands.

[C L A U D E]

August 15th, 1961   Park Lake enterprises, doing business as Cal-Neva Lodge was formed.  Dad liked Cal Neva as it was unpretentious yet glamorous, homey yet exciting.   He reveled in the fun of hotel, casino and stage ownership, throwing countless parties, even chartering planes to fly in friends such as Lucille Ball to share his enjoyment at ringside, and to bring top names to the Celebrity Room:  Dean, Eddie Fisher, Lena Horne, Vic Damone, Red Skelton, and Victor Borge were just a few of them. 

[C L A U D E]

Mid-summer 1973.  In Watergate testimony before Congress, former White House attorney John Dean alleged that Nixon attempted to obtain tax favors for a list of prominent friends in the entertainment industry:  Romald Reagan, Jerry Lewis, Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra, Lucillle Ball, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis jr.  Said attorney Mickey Rudin, who had clients like Frank and Lucy among many others, "There has never been a charge of tax evasion against your father.  There have been numerous investigations, each of which ended as just that, investigations.        I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE LUCY'S NAME HERE, KNOWING HOW SHE HATED NIXON, UNFORTUNATELY, SHE WAS FRIENDS WITH MANY IN THE REPUBLICAN CIRCLE, LIKE HOPE, SINATRA, REAGAN, AND SO MANY OTHERS.

[Brock]

Of course she had good reason to, as she was engaged to the man, then, she spoke to the press about marrying him and he called everything off, or am I confusing her with Juliet Prowse?

 

It was Bacall -- or thereafter referred to by Sinatra as "The Widow Bogart".

[C L A U D E]

December 12, 1979:  Dad celebrated 40 years in show business on his 64th birthday with a huge celebration at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.  The event was a sellout that drew some of his oldest and dearest friends.  It was taped for a two-hour TV Special on NBC.  Among the 1000 people in attendance were Cary Grant, LUCILLE BALL, Glen Ford, Orson Welles, Don Rickles, Milton Berle and Dean Martin among many others.

[C L A U D E]

November 18th, 1984.  Before the closing show at the Universal Amphitheater, FS taped Variety Club International's "All Star Party for Lucille Ball at NBC Studios.  WASN'T THIS A CBS SHOW, WHY WOULD IT BE TAPED AT NBC?  AND GARY SAID THEY WERE CELEBRATING THEIR ANNIVERSARY, WASN'T THAT THE NEXT DAY?  Did Ms Sinatra get both things wrong in the book?

[C L A U D E]

January 7th, 1989.  Frank, Lucille Ball and Jerry Weintraub chaired the JINSA/Roast/Tribute to Sonny Golden at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles.  I'LL BET THERE WERE LOADS OF OTHER THINGS LIKE THIS THAT WE NEVER KNEW LUCY ATTENDED, WE HAVE THIS IDEA THAT SHE WAS SITTING AT HOME TWIDDLING HER THUMBS BUT I HAVE A FEELING WE JUST NEVER HEARD OF MANY OF THESE THINGS.  And so close to her passing too.

[Brock]

WE HAVE THIS IDEA THAT SHE WAS SITTING AT HOME TWIDDLING HER THUMBS...

 

Not everybody has subscribed to that theory.

[C L A U D E]

No, I meant the way all the books skip over that period like she never did anything worth talking about.  Wish Wanda wrote that book, she'd probably have loads more to mention.

[FreddieMertz]

Mid-summer 1973. In Watergate testimony before Congress, former White House attorney John Dean alleged that Nixon attempted to obtain tax favors for a list of prominent friends in the entertainment industry: Romald Reagan, Jerry Lewis, Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra, Lucillle Ball, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis jr. Said attorney Mickey Rudin, who had clients like Frank and Lucy among many others, "There has never been a charge of tax evasion against your father. There have been numerous investigations, each of which ended as just that, investigations. I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE LUCY'S NAME HERE, KNOWING HOW SHE HATED NIXON, UNFORTUNATELY, SHE WAS FRIENDS WITH MANY IN THE REPUBLICAN CIRCLE, LIKE HOPE, SINATRA, REAGAN, AND SO MANY OTHERS.

I think Sinatra switched parties in the 70s. He was originally a democrat and a big kennedy supporter.

[C L A U D E]

Yes, he was a very big Kennedy supporter as he was a Democrat BUT, then, President Kennedy stayed at Bing Crosby's place instead of Frankie's and Frank had spent a fortune getting all the security things needed to host a President.  Kennedy did stay there early in his mandate, but then Robert Kennedy started investigating organized crime and they felt Frank could get them some unneeded bad publicity with his Mafia connections so they dropped him like a hot potato, then he did the same to them and became a supporter of Reagan later on even organizing his Inaugural the way he had the Kennedy one. 

[Neil]

I didn't know she hated Nixon.....but why not (and who didn't)? However bad Nixon was, he looks good when compared to Reagan or Bush 2, which isn't saying much.  Watergate was all about the hair-brained attempts at a cover-up, not the bungled deed.  Including his red-headed, light-headed secretary, who Lucy Carter-like "accidentally" erased a crucial 18 minutes of taped phone conversation.

 I think Lucille stayed pretty much apolitical after her HUAC encounter in 1953, although her show (latter Lucy Shows and HL: thanks to writers) had a decided right-wing bias in reaction to the growing anti-establishment, anti-Vietnam movement.

Mid-summer 1973.  In Watergate testimony before Congress, former White House attorney John Dean alleged that Nixon attempted to obtain tax favors for a list of prominent friends in the entertainment industry:  Romald Reagan, Jerry Lewis, Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra, Lucillle Ball, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis jr.  Said attorney Mickey Rudin, who had clients like Frank and Lucy among many others, "There has never been a charge of tax evasion against your father.  There have been numerous investigations, each of which ended as just that, investigations.        I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE LUCY'S NAME HERE, KNOWING HOW SHE HATED NIXON, UNFORTUNATELY, SHE WAS FRIENDS WITH MANY IN THE REPUBLICAN CIRCLE, LIKE HOPE, SINATRA, REAGAN, AND SO MANY OTHERS.

[tjw]

November 18th, 1984.  Before the closing show at the Universal Amphitheater, FS taped Variety Club International's "All Star Party for Lucille Ball at NBC Studios.  WASN'T THIS A CBS SHOW, WHY WOULD IT BE TAPED AT NBC?  AND GARY SAID THEY WERE CELEBRATING THEIR ANNIVERSARY, WASN'T THAT THE NEXT DAY?  Did Ms Sinatra get both things wrong in the book?

No, she is correct: It was a CBS show that taped at NBC. (The facilities were probably booked by the producers -- Paul Keyes Productions -- not the network.) Nowdays, many shows are produced in competitors' facilities -- whatever is appropriate and available when the talent is available!  The Mortons' 23rd anniversary was the next day, and they were celebrating that night with all their friends!

[C L A U D E]

Thank you for the clarifications.  Can you also confirm that the lady hated Nixon but was surrounded by her superstar Republican friends so she shut up about it, only thing I ever heard was her giving Sammy Davis hell for having been used by Nixon for that fake hug that time.