Tim Matheson on Lucy

[Brock]

In this month's Shock Cinema magazine, there is an extensive new interview with Tim Matheson and while talking about working with Gleason and Hope, he is quite positive about working with Lucy:

 

It was interesting to work with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. Nobody worked harder than Lucy. Bob Hope was very natural, very comfortable and wasn't as demanding or technical as Lucy, because he played a different kind of character. Lucy, on the other hand, did much broader schtick. Still, you could see that this was a craft they'd both perfected over years and years, as well as being in the trenches of vaudeville. And I got a sense of how hard they'd worked to craft the personas they played on-screen.

 

But Lucy was quite the taskmaster And [Yours, Mine & Ours] was a hard movie for her because she was working with all these kids, who weren't that disciplined in many cases and didn't know their lines. So, she was somewhat of a disciplinarian. She was very nice to me: She'd invite me into her dressing room -- which was a big ol' trailer on the stage -- and she'd ask how I was doing, if I was having a good time, if there was anything I needed, She was very gracious.

 

But, on the set, Lucy didn't suffer fools. If, for example, she didn't like the way you were playing a scene, she'd tell the actor, "Speak up!", and to the director, "Tell him to speak up!" She was very loud and vocal about letting everybody know what she expected. But, I must say, I learned a tremendous amount from her.

 

(Interview by Anthony Petkovich)

[C L A U D E]

Yes, we all know what a pro she was and Tim did go on to many other projects over the decades, glad he liked working with her.  Wonder if she had a problem with her hearing at some point as she always had the actors screaming their lines which made their acting look, well a bit unreal.

[C L A U D E]

While I appreciate her worries that certain actors' lines would not be heard by the studio audience on her shows, this was certainly NOT the case while filming a movie.  I have loved that movie since the very first time I saw it in the theater when it came out and Lucy was terrific in her many scenes of which two were classic, the drunk scene and the eyelash one, she looked absolutely gorgeous.  I find it ironic that Tim played a character who was not fond of Lucy in the film but I've enjoyed every project HE's been associated with over the years, terrific young actor. 

[Neil]

While I appreciate her worries that certain actors' lines would not be heard by the studio audience on her shows, this was certainly NOT the case while filming a movie.  I have loved that movie since the very first time I saw it in the theater when it came out and Lucy was terrific in her many scenes of which two were classic, the drunk scene and the eyelash one, she looked absolutely gorgeous.  I find it ironic that Tim played a character who was not fond of Lucy in the film but I've enjoyed every project HE's been associated with over the years, terrific young actor. 

Although his character softened his opinion of step-mother Helen as the film progressed.  She thought enough of Tim to have him guest 3 years later as Kim's Berkley-going, bearded suitor/accompanist on one of the best Here's Lucy's "Kim Moves Out".

[C L A U D E]

Oh yeah, forgot about that, thanks for the reminder.

[Lucyilove]

Happy to read this, a lifelong fan of the highly appealing and super handsome Tim Matheson.

[C L A U D E]

Yeah, he's aged well also.