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Happy Birthday Ms Vance!


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Happy Birthday, and here's what y'all were doing on YOUR day:

 

July 26

 

John Bleifer, Lucille Ball early film-career co-star, The Bowery and Blood Money, 1933; guest cast member, (“I Love Lucy”) “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown”, 1956; as well as guest, Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Adventures of Jim Bowie “Natchez Trace”, 1956, is born this date in 1901.

 

Gracie Allen, George Burns' wife and co-star, (Burns and Allen); reportedly shares a JELL-O commercial with Lucille Ball, CBS' Radio, My Favorite Husband, “College Homecoming”, Episode #65, 12/2/49; appears Desilu Productions', Shower of Stars “Auto Show”, 1955; appears with Lucille, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley (Lucy's The Mertzes), Stars in the Eye, 1952; with Lucille, Legends of Comedy, both via archival footage, 1992; as well as with Lucille and Viv, via archival footages, 50 Years of Funny Females, 1995, is born this date in 1895.

 

Vivian Vance (Roberta Jones; took the name “Vance” from a dramatics teacher who had been supportive of her acting career) (Lucy’s Ethel Mertz), daughter of Robert and Mae Ragan Jones, came to NY, carving out a stage career, in the 1930s; understudy to Ethel Merman, her Broadway productions spanning 15 years; was a founding member of the Albuquerque Little Theater, later nicknamed The Vivian Vance Playhouse in her honor; starring in film: Take a Chance, 1933; The Great Ziegfeld, 1936; The Secret Fury, 1950, The Blue Veil, 1952; Stars in the Eye, 1952; becoming a ‘legend’ on (”I Love Lucy”); first woman to win an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress, 1954; appears with Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and William Frawley (Lucy's Fred Mertz) Toast of the Town, and The Buick-Berle Show, 1954; guest star, Desilu Productions', Shower of Stars, “High Pitch”, 1955; The Bob Hope Show, 2 appearances, 1956; appeared in TV: The Deputy, 1959, Guestward Ho! 1960; co-star, as Clara Appleby, The Red Skelton Show, 5 episodes, 1960-1964; CBS: The Stars' Address, 1963; 4 appearances, Password All-Stars, 1961-1965; co-starred with Lucille, (The Lucy Show), over nine years; appearing with Lucille in over 300 filmed TV episodes/specials together, making them one of the medium’s most-watched, and popular, comedy teams; member of the Neptune Society; guest, The Merv Griffin Show and The Match Game; and, in film, The Great Race, 1965; appearance in TV, Everybody's Talking; and five daily episodes, The Hollywood Squares, December 1967; The Joan Rivers Show, You're Putting Me On; and Love, American Style, 1969; The Mike Douglas Show, 3 appearances, The Kraft Music Hall, with Desi Arnaz, among others, and The Front Page, 1970; Getting Away From It All, 1972; appears in a Maxwell House Coffee advertisement, 1974; The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Lucille Ball; Dinah!, and Rhoda, 1975; The Great Houdini, 1976; Over Easy, Talk Show, 1977; Sam, 1978; with Lucille, each archivally, 50 Years of Funny Females, 1995; with Lucille, Desi, and Frawley, American Masters, 2000; I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special, 2001; The Desilu Story, 2003; with Lucille, TV's Greatest Sidekicks, 2004; appears on a 44-cent USPS commemorative postage stamp, “Early Television Memories” issue, in a scene from (”I Love Lucy”) “Job Switching”, 1952, issued in August 2009; appears, via archival footage, GAB Entertainment Working with Lucy: A Conversation With James Brodhead, 2010; as well as with Lucille, each archivally, as Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley, Britain TV, My Favourite Joke, 2011, is born in Cherryvale, KS, this date in 1909.

 

Buddy Clark, Vivian Vance (Lucy's Ethel Mertz) co-star, The Great Ziegfeld, 1936; as well as Lucille Ball co-star, Seven Days’ Leave, 1942, is born this date in 1911.

 

Fred S. Fox, screen writer, Desilu Productions', Angel “Angel's Temper”, 1960; Lucille Ball guest, The Lucy Show “Lucy and the Starmaker”, 1967, and Desi Arnaz Productions', The Mothers-In-Law, “How Do You Moonlight a Meatball?”, and “The Career Girls”, 1967, “Didn't You Use to Be Ozzie Snick?”, “Even Mothers-in-Law Have Mothers-in-Law”, “Love Thy Neighbor”, 1968; (“Here’s Lucy”), “A Date for Lucy”,“Lucy and the Generation Gap”, 1969, “Lucy and Harry’s Italian Bombshell”, 1971, and “Lucy and the Little Old Lady”, 1972, as well as “Lucy, The Sheriff”, 1974; is born this date in 1915.

Marjorie Lord, star, Desilu Studios'-filmed, Make Room for Daddy, 80 episodes, 1957-64; guest, Desilu Productions', Wire Service “Hideout”, 1956; Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse “Lucy Makes Room for Danny”, 1958; guest, Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Joey Bishop Show “This Is Your Life”, 1961, appears with Lucie Arnaz, CBS at 75, 2003; as well as guest, Lucy-Desi Days, Jamestown NY 2006; is born this date in 1918.

 

James Best, Dukes of Hazzard fame; Desilu Productions', “Women's Work”, 1956; Sheriff of Cochise “Lynching Party”, 1957, The Texan “Killer's Road”, 1960, Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Barbara Stanwyck Show “The Choice”, 1961, The Andy Griffith Show “The Guitar Player”, 1960 and “The Guitar Player Returns”, 1961, The Guns of Will Sonnett “Meeting at Devil's Fork”, 1967; as well as appearing with Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz IV, TV Road Trip, 2002, is born this date in 1926.

 

LA Evening Herald Express: Ad for Having Wonderful Time, with Lucille Ball in cast . . . ,” published this date in 1938.

 

Desi Arnaz and his La Conga Orchestra, after breaking Tommy Dorsey’s record in Milwaukee, tied with them in Omaha, star at the Copacabana, NY, as well as beginning to record their music for RCA Victor, Studio #2, NYC, NY, “Tia Juana”, this date in 1946.

 

Lucille Ball was often present in NYC, visiting Desi during her hiatus between pictures on the west coast, when he appeared at the Zanzibar, in 1947.

 

CBS’ The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour - 60 minutes – black & white – The thirteen hour-long specials that Lucille and Desi did for Ford and Westinghouse are re-run yet again as a summer replacement series, this date in 1965.

 

Confidential: “Gulf & Western Plans to Sell Part of Desilu,” published this date in 1967.

 

Lucille Ball, flanked by Charles G. Bluhdorn, Board Chairman, Gulf + Western - (new owners of Paramount Pictures since 10/66) and recently purchased Desilu, effectively displayed Corporate unity when they wield scissors at ribbon-cutting ceremony between Desilu-Gower and Paramount Pictures studio lots, a wall that had divided the two properties for forty-two years, on this date in 1967.

 

Desi Arnaz makes a guest appearance on The Hollywood Squares, Peter Marshall, hosting; co-starring Joseph Campanella, Susan Clark, Wally Cox, Eva Gabor, Paul Lynde, Kent McCord, Jan Murray, and Suzenne Pleshette, on this date in 1972.

 

Lucille Ball appears in TV Guide, in a pose by Richard Amsel, on this date in 1974.

 

Virginia Brissac, b. 6/11, co-star, William Frawley, 1939; 1947; as well as guest, (“I Love Lucy”), 1954, dies this date in 1979.

 

Juney Ellis, b. 1/23, co-star, Arnazes, The Long, Long Trailer, 1953; guest, Desilu Productions', Shower of Stars, 1954; supporting cast member (“I Love Lucy”), 1955; as well as guest, Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Betty Hutton Show, 1969, dies this date in 1997.

 

Jeane Wood, b. 11/22; guest, Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Red Skelton Hour, 1959; The Betty Hutton Show, 1960; as well as Desilu Productions', The Ann Sothern Show, 1961, dies this date in 1997.

 

During 2006 Lucy’s Birthday Celebration, GAB Entertainment hosted a video special event honoring character actor, Charles Lane, who appeared in several episodes of (“I Love Lucy”), including playing the expectant father in the waiting room in “Lucy Goes To The Hospital”; and was a first-season regular as Mr. Barnsdahl, on The Lucy Show. A limited number of event posters picturing Mr. Lane were autographed by Mr. Lane prior to the event, created for fundraising purposes for the Lucy-Desi Center. With the passing of Mr. Lane earlier this year at the age of 102, the few remaining posters are available to his fans, announced this date in 2007.

 

The Post Journal, Jamestown NY – 'Laughter On The Lake' Event Set for Thursday - “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center and Bemus Bay Pops have announced the second 'Laughter on the Lake' event to be held on the Floating Stage next to the Italian Fisherman in Bemus Point. This family-friendly event is scheduled for Thursday, 7/29, 7:30 p.m. Jan McInnis, 'The Work Lady', featured in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post for her clean comedic writing style, will be the Headliner for this event, Nick Siracuse, as emcee,” published this date in 2010.

 

Gregg Oppenheimer, son of Jess Oppenheimer, legendary creator of (“I Love Lucy”), announces that “on Saturday, August 6th (Lucille Ball's 100th birthday), I'll be in Jamestown, NY, directing two live radio shows at 3:30 p.m., on the stage of the 1,300-seat Reg Lenna Civic Center, for delayed broadcast that evening around 8 p.m. Eastern time on Sirius XM Satellite Radio (on the Radio Classics Channel - Channel 82, which is supposed to be devoting the entire broadcast day to our favorite redhead). One of the shows I'm directing will be a re-creation of an episode of Lucille and Richard Denning's radio sitcom, My Favorite Husband. The other will be the "world premiere" of my own new radio play, "I Love Lucy: The Untold Story"-- a humorous look behind the scenes at the many obstacles that had to be overcome in order to get ("I Love Lucy") on the air in 1951, based on my father's memoir, Laughs, Luck...and Lucy. (The play's 'out-of-town tryout' was last month in Bellevue, Washington, at the REPS Radio Showcase). The cast will include a number of excellent standup comedian/actors who will be in town for that week's "Lucy Fest" comedy festival, August 3-7,” posted this date in 2011.

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Hey Broc.. is The Great Houdini the movie with Tony Curtis? I would like to own it reguardless, is it still available on dvd? Thanks, Kevin

 

While Tony Curtis made a movie about Houdini, the The Great Houdini with Viv is a TV movie starring Paul Michael Glaser (in the title role), Sally Struthers (as his wife), Ruth Gordon (as his mother), Viv (as the housekeeper, maid, assistant, who also "whistles dixie"), Adrienne Barbosom (as the "other woman"), and Bill Bixby (as a minister). Copies are often available on DVD through ioffer.com.

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  • 11 months later...

Added to Vivian's chronology birthdate since last year's posting:

 

 

Marjorie Lord, actress, 74 titles; early career friend and room-mate to Vivian Vance (Lucy's Ethel Mertz); and with whom she shares a birthdate; guest, Desilu Studios'-filmed, Cavalcade of America “The Great Gamble”, 1954, “Take Off Zero”, “Decision for Justice”, 1955; star, Make Room for Daddy, 219 episodes, 1957-64; guest, Desilu Productions', Wire Service “Hideout”, as Phyllis Holley, 1956; Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, “Lucy Makes Room for Danny”, 1958; Desilu Studios'-filmed, The Joey Bishop Show “This Is Your Life”, 1961; Make Room for Granddaddy “Lucy and the Lecher”, 1971; appears with Lucie Arnaz, CBS at 75, 2003; as well as guest Headliner, Lucy-Desi Days, Jamestown NY, 2006; is born this date in 1918.

 

Arthur Lyons, b. 5/27; Lucille Ball early career talent agent, (until she replaced him after her contract expiration and release by MGM, about 1946); dies this date in 1963.

 

The Chautauqua Star - Your Weekly Community Newspaper - Vitameatavegamin and Candy Wrapping: Nostalgic Memories - Lucy Fest, 2012 - August 3-4 - by Peter Hamilton, Star Contributing Editor - “Journey Gunderson, Executive Director, Lucy-Desi Center, did not expressly say it; but, she might have hinted that 'Vitameatavegamin' will not be served at the 2012 Lucy Fest this year. What will be served will be nostalgia, trivia quizzes and wistful comedy. On August 1, Jamestown, will host its five-day Lucy Fest held in various locaitons, downtown Jamestown. Most events will be located at Tracy Plaza/City Hall. In addition, headliners will perform each night at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. Largely, the Lucy-Desi Center will host events during the course of the five-day event. All festivities will be a true comedy festival,” published for this week in July, 2012.

Lucille Ball was president of Desilu Studios, created in 1950, when Desi Arnaz sold his shares to her in 1962, (Desilu was created in 1950). When she took control of Desilu, the company was losing much money. In mid-1967, under Lucille's control, it turned around; showing a profit. Lucille was busy starring in the fifth season of her second hit sitcom, The Lucy Show, and wanted out from under. She made the decision early on in the year to sell Desilu to Paramount, for a reputed $17 million, and made the 'joint announcement' forty-six years ago this date, in 2013.[/color]

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