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Worst day of the year for a Lucy fan.


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Well, here we are again, remembering Lucy on the 26th anniversary of her passing.  Can't believe it's almost three decades since she left us.  But like George Burns said the day she died, she's gone, but she's still with us.  A news anchor said "the only time we're thinking of her and don't smile."  All three news anchors that night smiled profusely as they showed her career montage and also smiled.  And it was news all over the world.  No internet back then, but it got around the old fashioned way.  No social media but everybody shared thoughts with their friends and family.  As Carol Burnett said, IT'S LIKE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.  I forget what Betty White said, but it ended with her teary eyed and saying I LOVE LUCY!  She was all over the papers, people still read those back then.  She was all over the tv, the newscasts, special magazines celebrating her.  She was aptly described this way by another news anchor, but i think on a morning news show . . . The Movies had Chaplin, TV had Lucy.  But he was quoting a famous critic.  Then came the specials, the tributes, the special awards like the Governor's award at the Emmys.  The news was shocking because we all thought she was getting better.

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I think Lucy would be so proud that she had touched the world so profoundly.  After the debacle of her last series, she thought they had tired of her, The Queen is Dead type headlines had made her think her public had finally abandoned her, but they hadn't, they just didn't laugh at the last incarnation of the greatest tv character of all time.  The face seen by more people more often than any other the world had ever known.  That was the way TV Guide put it.  Sammy Davis at her Variety Clubs tribute said THE WORLD WANTED TO LAUGH, SO GOD GAVE US LUCY.  Bob Hope added that he had worked with her often but never had one negative note from her.  Then, we got the memorials, followed by some Lucy books, everybody seemed to remember her fondly in magazines a year later.  She was mostly remembered for being funny, warm, caring, thoughtful, always caring for family, friends and yes, even strangers in need.  Those who worked for her or with her described her as a hard worker who surely knew her trade better than anyone else.  Desi said he had been asked by The New York Times to split the credit for the success of I Love Lucy, he calmly said, GIVE LUCY 90 PERCENT AND SPLIT THE REST AMONG THE ACTORS, WRITERS, DIRECTORS AND OTHERS.  Gary Morton said the best quality about her was her warmth.  Her fans were left with 79 movie roles, over 500 television shows, and countless appearances on talk and game shows, and many guest shots on other people's shows, a treasure throve that will entertain the world for decades to come.  Every year, new fans discover her as generation after generation has before, all over the world. 

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When you leave this planet, in death, you're lucky if you can leave something, and even luckier in Lucy's case because she left laughter in every heart of every person who saw the shows.  She once said she was happy she had brought laughter as she had seen the importance of it in people's lives, she wanted to make people laugh, she didn't want to make people cry, well, that was not possible when she passed on because the whole world and her fans especially cried that day, April 26th 1989.  I remember it as if it was yesterday.  There would be no more NEW Lucy appearances anywhere, no more searching TV Guide for listings of them.  But hadn't she left us enough of them to satisfy us?  There will never be enough to satisfy REAL fans.  I think Lucy's greatest accomplishment was as a mentor to the world.  She taught women they could do anything, be the top woman in a men's club that was show business at that time, she ran Desilu, which she hated, her job was to act funny and that she certainly did.  She made two happy marriages, raised two talented and gorgeous kids, she worked harder than anybody at a job she adored.  Retirement was no for her so being ill and not being able to perform the way she once did meant that she accepted death at the end, not wanting a life of just sitting at home and not being able to give the public what they wanted.  I think she'd be very proud of the outpouring of love that came when she left us and surprised though quite pleased at that love continuing a quarter century after she passed on.  Any of us would be happy to make that kind of impact or as Carol also said, SHE WISHED SHE WERE HALF THE WOMAN SHE THOUGHT LUCY WAS.  Now THAT's a legacy.  Recognition from Presidents to Kings and Queens, stars on the walk of fame, awards, tributes, statues, wax figures, books, but especially the shows, they will live on forever as we wish she had but we are still thankful for the time she was with us.  We'll never forget you Lucy and thanks for the good times and constant laughter.  THESE POSTS WERE OFF THE CUFF SO I APOLOGIZE FOR THEM NOT BEING PROPER FOR WHAT THE LADY REALLY DESERVES.

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Other celebrities born in 1911: Roy Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Mahalia Jackson (singer, surfer), Danny Kaye, Phil Silvers, Spike Jones, Lee J. Cobb, Maureen O'Sullivan, Tennessee Williams, Vincent Price, Hume Cronyn

Others who died in 1989: Romo Vincent, Bea Lillie, Norma Varden, Milton Frome, Guy Williams, Gilda Radner, Fran Allison, Jim Backus, Mel Blanc, Laurence Olivier, Mary Treen, Amanda Blake, Irving Berlin, Cornel Wilde, Ruth Berle, Marc Daniels,  Frances Bavier, and Audrey Christie

 

Others born on August 6th: Soleil Moon Frye, Robert Mitchum, Andy Warhol

Others who died on April 26th: Gypsy Rose Lee, Irene Ryan, Jim Davis, Broderick Crawford, Joey Faye AND John Wilkes Booth!!

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Beautifully put, Claude. I think we should all strive to follow Lucy's image today in her memory.

That's the one area i wish i had said more, she didn't just help women, like Carol said, she brightened up the lives of people whose lives would have been decidedly duller without her shining presence.

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Other celebrities born in 1911: Roy Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Mahalia Jackson (singer, surfer), Danny Kaye, Phil Silvers, Spike Jones, Lee J. Cobb, Maureen O'Sullivan, Tennessee Williams, Vincent Price, Hume Cronyn

Others who died in 1989: Romo Vincent, Bea Lillie, Norma Varden, Milton Frome, Guy Williams, Gilda Radner, Fran Allison, Jim Backus, Mel Blanc, Laurence Olivier, Mary Treen, Amanda Blake, Irving Berlin, Cornel Wilde, Ruth Berle, Marc Daniels,  Frances Bavier, and Audrey Christie

 

Others born on August 6th: Soleil Moon Frye, Robert Mitchum, Andy Warhol

Others who died on April 26th: Gypsy Rose Lee, Irene Ryan, Jim Davis, Broderick Crawford, Joey Faye AND John Wilkes Booth!!

Why are you butting into Joyce's territory?  LOL!   Just joking, today is also Carol Burnett's birthday, i also think of her every year, remember her story about learning Lucy had died in the morning and then getting her flowers from her celebrating her birthday?

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I forget what Betty White said, but it ended with her teary eyed and saying I LOVE LUCY!

 

No matter how many tears we cry, the laughs will outnumber them.

 

Well, you got that right, word for word, thanks.

 

Did I?  I think I left out a word.  Should be:  No matter how many tears we cry today, the laughs will outnumber them.

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Well some quotes are hard to forget.  I think Betty's was the best one I heard.  It was very poetic and the perfect thing to say on that particular day.

That's true, another one i loved was from Joan Rivers who said . . . Gilda Radner dying so young, that's tragic, but Lucy, dying surrounded by family and beloved by the world at 77, that's fine.  Or words to that effect!

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Lucy's death isn't terribly tragic since she left more material than almost anyone and she died when she wanted. I'm sure she's looking down on us proud of everyone she's inspired and influenced even after her death. I wasn't born in her lifetime but I'm inspired by her every day. Her body may be gone but her work and spirit are everywhere.

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Well some quotes are hard to forget.  I think Betty's was the best one I heard.  It was very poetic and the perfect thing to say on that particular day.

 

 

Odd, isn't it - those were ALSO Desi's final words (after the divorce, that is;  AND.....at the end of his book.....) 

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Lucy's death isn't terribly tragic since she left more material than almost anyone and she died when she wanted. I'm sure she's looking down on us proud of everyone she's inspired and influenced even after her death. I wasn't born in her lifetime but I'm inspired by her every day. Her body may be gone but her work and spirit are everywhere.

Well said and it took me YEARS to figure out what she meant by the I ONLY WANT TO LIVE ANOTHER FIVE YEARS.   When you have had a stroke and they won't let you work even though that's all you had left to keep you going.  When your kids and husband are never around, you don't feel great and are bored to death by life, well, she and my mom both had the right idea by exiting early, now that i'm retired and bored, i get and finally understand what they meant.

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HERE' A STRANGE..........................................'SHE'S STILL GOT IT'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm TRYING TO think of anyone who has passed that can really say that!

You're right, she had nothing else to prove, she had done it all.  And she sometimes bragged about her KNOWING WHEN TO GET OFF!

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