Great Lucy quotes

[Luvsbway]

I've found that Tumbler and Instagram are a treasurer trove of some great and really poignant quotes about Lucy and from Lucy.  Many I have never come across before.  I thought rounding them up here would be a good idea.

 

 

"It was just that we couldn't make our marriage work out because we'd grown so different over the years. But we learned how to solve that when we separated-and today, we have a very special place for each other in our hearts."
-Lucy, in an interview

 

 

"My sister didn't say it, but we knew she never stopped loving Desi. Wherever she stayed, she placed a framed picture of him in sight. She would also force Gary to run home videos of her, Desi, and the children." -Fred Ball

 

 

"I always loved the way they look at each other. Even when they were getting old, every time the whole family got together and when Mom saw Dad, she got that light in her eyes and had a big smile on her face." - Lucie Arnaz 

 

 

"When he [Desi] died, my mother lost a piece of herself. In fact, she died of a broken heart. It physically broke.” - Lucie Arnaz

 

 

"Desi was terribly emotional about her. He really was crazy about her. You could feel how they felt."
- William Asher 

 

 

[On Lucy] She cared about her appearance. She was well groomed. But she never had a drop of plastic surgery her whole life. She just got bigger sunglasses and higher collars." - Lucie Arnaz

 

"I fell in love with those big beautiful blue eyes when I met her while filming the last of Dance, Girl, Dance. When she looked at me intensely, I forgot my name, my sadness, my home. It was unnatural how I could fall in love so fast." - Desi Arnaz

 

 

You start interviewing Ms Lucille Ball, and then Mr Desi Arnaz enters and Ms Ball leaves. It's not that she leaves in person, she merely leaves in spirit. Ms Ball looked at Mr Arnaz as if he were something that floated down from above on a cloud." - Kyle Crichton 

 

 

“Lucy loved Desi till the day she died. He was the father of her kids. Even after she married Gary, she’d still run these lovely home movies of her and Desi and the kids when they were little. Everybody was in them, smiling by the pool, running up real fast, waving hello, Lucy walking knock-kneed and doing her Lucy faces. She’d sit there giving commentaries. She loved watching those movies.”
- Jack Carter 

 

 

“What do you say about a marriage that has ended? All those hopes and dreams, the children, the years, the fights and the love? I can’t put it into words and neither can Desi. We still loved each other desperately.” - Lucy. 

 

 

"Lucy and I already had that once in a lifetime love. It is time for us to become friends. We were both so damaged from this big romance that lasted two decades, but we cannot just erase each other away. I think of her everyday, even her voice echoes in my conscience. You can't just erase your soul mate away." - Desi Arnaz

[Luvsbway]

 

"She loved him no matter what. He was her addiction, and she was his." -Van Johnson

 

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

WOWW....  I didn't ever think it was as MUTUAL as it was.. THEIR LOVE I MEAN.. Guess I have been under water or a rock or too stupid to pick up on the fact of how much Desi loved her.  I thought she was more engrossed than he was and I am ashamed that I never considered he may feel the same.  That quote from Desi about how he fell for those blue eyes damn near makes me weep.  I guess I feel weepy since I may never know a love that strong.. or perhaps I see the HUMANESS of Desi Arnaz and I am very touched.  (You see I grew up around a selfish, cold hearted man .. so seeing a secure man reveal his true feelings is not only refreshing, it's down right beautiful)

 

I watched the special features on the Lucille Ball special with Dean Martin at the MGM Grand.  I can't remember his name now, but (the guy who played the reservation clerk) was giving his take on working with Lucille .. and I am not going to be able to quote exactly.. but he was talking about her "ARTISTRY".. and I got to thinking .. Another reason I like her so much is her ARTISTRY.  Her ability to fill every second with interesting beautiful moments. 

 

One quote attributed to Lucille which I do like and have etched on a wooded plaque:

 

    The secret to staying young?  Eat right, get plenty of rest and LIE about your age.

[Caewi]

"Watching you fly away from me last night was - well - I can't put it into words this morning more than I could talk last night. I didn't cry- I was too dead for tears. I didn't talk all the way home - that guy never stopped talking but I didn't even hear him." -A letter Lucy sent to Desi in October 1940

[Caewi]

"I never regret marrying Desi. We had our ups and downs, but doesn't every marriage? I loved him. I love him." -Lucille Ball 

[Caewi]

"Desi sometimes came on the set of 'The Lucy Show' and they acted like they were still married, him hugging her and she asking him for advice." -Vivian Vance

[Caewi]

I've always wondered if this one is true or not:

 

"At her own request, Lucy was not invited to the wedding (Desi and Edie's). She still carried a torch for Desi. It would have been too painful to watch him marrying anyone, even a woman she approved of." -Warren G. Harris

[Luvsbway]

I've always wondered if this one is true or not:

 

"At her own request, Lucy was not invited to the wedding (Desi and Edie's). She still carried a torch for Desi. It would have been too painful to watch him marrying anyone, even a woman she approved of." -Warren G. Harris

I hate the Harris book as it seems to fictional at parts. I don't believe this statement because it comes from that book.

[GeneaLady]

WOWW....  I didn't ever think it was as MUTUAL as it was.. THEIR LOVE I MEAN.. Guess I have been under water or a rock or too stupid to pick up on the fact of how much Desi loved her.  I thought she was more engrossed than he was and I am ashamed that I never considered he may feel the same.  That quote from Desi about how he fell for those blue eyes damn near makes me weep.  I guess I feel weepy since I may never know a love that strong.. or perhaps I see the HUMANESS of Desi Arnaz and I am very touched.  (You see I grew up around a selfish, cold hearted man .. so seeing a secure man reveal his true feelings is not only refreshing, it's down right beautiful)

 

I watched the special features on the Lucille Ball special with Dean Martin at the MGM Grand.  I can't remember his name now, but (the guy who played the reservation clerk) was giving his take on working with Lucille .. and I am not going to be able to quote exactly.. but he was talking about her "ARTISTRY".. and I got to thinking .. Another reason I like her so much is her ARTISTRY.  Her ability to fill every second with interesting beautiful moments. 

 

One quote attributed to Lucille which I do like and have etched on a wooded plaque:

 

    The secret to staying young?  Eat right, get plenty of rest and LIE about your age.

 

Oh believe me, after 20 years I still can't figure out how he could love her so intensely yet treat her the way he did. The thing is, he couldn't figure it out either. If he could, I'm sure he would have stopped. His comment about her voice being his conscience is interesting because I often wondered if he heard Lucy's voice in his head, both during and after their marriage, screaming "STOP SCREWING WOMEN AND GETTING DRUNK!"

[Luvsbway]

"Lucy's secret at home and on TV is she's sweet, sexy, and unrestrained"-Desi Arnaz

 

 

"I really think that one of the contributing things to this show was that Lucy and Desi really loved each other, and I think you can see that on this show."- Madelyn Pugh Davis 

 

 

"She fell in love with him, with his accent and his dark, dark beauty"-Van Johnson 

 

 

"I'm like a mother hen with my Lucy. Or so she calls me. I worry about her a lot, mainly about her getting too tired from overwork. From all she has told me I was an A-I worrier when I heard she was going to have a baby. 

You know the gags they have about news fathers. Well, I guess I was really one of those characters. Anyway, the news certainly made me excited enough"-Desi Arnaz 

 

 

"We'd been doing the act for six weeks and nothing had even gone wrong. But suddenly one day at the Stanley in Pittsburg...At the show, after Desi sang his opening lines on Cuban Pete, I was supposed to sing mine, I sang, "They call me Sally Sweet, I'm the Queen of Delancey Street," and stopped That was as fas as I could go. The audience was embarrassed for me, I could see that, feel it. I was supposed to go from the song-when I finished it-into dance. Desi waved to me to dance. He grabbed me "Dance, dance!" he whispered "Quick! Dance!" I strumbled into my dance, the tears streaming down my face. I went up to the mike and told the audience I'd never been on stage before this tour but "I want to show you I can do this act, Desi motioned to bandleader in the show and said "Start again" And we did the whole show again and I didn't miss a line and the applause was terrific"-Lucille Ball/

 

 

"Life with Desi is crazy and exciting, but our love is depp and changeless"- Lucille Ball 

 

 

"My Mom spent a lot of time with Lucie and me. She attended school plays and Little League games, helped me with my homework, and made an effort to get to know my friends. She took us to Disneyland and followed us around with a home movie camara. She even tape recorded interviews with us. Mom saved everything from our childhood and kept boxes of boxes of moments, including baby shoes, our drawings, and all the gifts her fans sent when I was born" -Desi Arnaz Jr

 

 

"Desi has a Cuban temper which sometimes explodes, on the set, with a whoosh heard as far as La Cienega Boulevard. As a calming wifely strategem, Lucille may grab him about the waist, kiss him behind an ear and break into a hottchy-kootchy dance. He laughs and the strom is spent". -Laura Bergquist. 

 

 

"I never fell in love with anyone quite so fast. He was very handsome and romantic. But he also frightened me, he was so wild. I knew I shouldn't marry him, but that was one of the biggest attractions" - Lucy

 

 

"I couldn't imagine a life without her"-Desi Arnaz 

 

 

"Boy, I melted rigth into his arms. We were criticized for hugging and kissing too much in public, but we were both so gone, we didn't care"- Lucy

 

 

"And I keep rememberin' that right here I first met this crazy character (RKO Studios)...six months later, we were married. What a woman! It's been sometimes up and down like an elevator, but every day I say: Desi, you are a very lucky guy. "-Desi Arnaz (Interview with the Chicago Tribune, 1958)

[Caewi]

Oh believe me, after 20 years I still can't figure out how he could love her so intensely yet treat her the way he did. The thing is, he couldn't figure it out either. If he could, I'm sure he would have stopped. His comment about her voice being his conscience is interesting because I often wondered if he heard Lucy's voice in his head, both during and after their marriage, screaming "STOP SCREWING WOMEN AND GETTING DRUNK!"

I think you make a greet and very true point. He knew he was doing things wrong but I don't think he had a clue on how to fix things. I don't think he could even understand why he did them. A good psychologist could have done a world of good in their marriage. He really loved her and I think he would have loved to stop cheating but how if that's all you've ever known and you can't get any real guidance from anyone?

[Caewi]

So cute Lubsway thanks! The word sexy didn't come up very often, must have been the times.

[Luvsbway]

Only other time I recall sexy from the 50s was in a Saturday Evening Post article in 1958. Lucy goes through all these things she believes she isn't listing sexy as one of them.

[Caewi]

"When my mother came back to television, my father directed 'The Lucy Show' - and she was married to Gary Morton, who's doing the warm-up. My God, that's really psycho. There were these three years, that crossover period, where they tried- 'Okay, we won't be married. We won't change anything. I can have my women. She can have whoever she wants. Fine, maybe it's better this way. Sure, let's try that.' See how long that works when the two people are still madly in love with each other." -Lucie 

 

What time period do we think these three years are? It seems implied that these years were through the Lucy Show time period which would also put here as married to Gary at this time. THAT would be an interesting thought!

 

[Luvsbway]

I saw this yesterday and thought it was an odd quote too. I guessed they were 1960-1963 which gets them through both marriages. It's just weird because it covers the Gary marriage start.

 

So what is this implying. We can do what we want but still have something on the side?

[Caewi]

It would seem to be this time as the quote makes it clear that they were just divorced. I can't see Lucy continuing a relationship with him while she had Gary though. Perhaps Lucie meant more that emotionally it was very tough and therefore didn't really work out and Desi had to leave the show?

[Luvsbway]

This first quote about kills me.

 

 

"I wanted to take care of him. If he was happy, I was. I love him, I always will. That's a fact." -Lucille Ball, about her ex-husband Desi Arnaz     

 

 

 

“I could go on and on—there’s so much to say about Lucy—also known as Lucille Ball Arnaz—but to sum it all up—I owe her everything.” – Desi Arnaz

[Caewi]

I've never heard much about how Lucy felt following Desi's death so I thought this was especially cute - 

• She became very quiet when he passed, didn't leave the house much. Sometimes, I could hear that laugh; they used to laugh together when we were playing board games together. She really missed him." -Lucie Arnaz

[Luvsbway]

I can’t bear the idea of dancing with some man I don’t know and like well. Desi knows this, so he’s always ready to explain that I’m too tired to dance. Or else he cuts in after a minute or two, and I was fine being close to him with my arms wrapped tight around him and our cheeks touching for as long as I wanted. He was my comfort and I felt safe with him close and near. ---Lucy

[Luvsbway]

"I know that falling for him is dangerous and bad for me, but it's too late. We're both too gone to turn back. I couldn't have helped my feelings anyway. This thing between us is beyond me." -Lucille Ball 

[Luvsbway]

"It was simple to them. There was no Lucy without Desi, and no Desi without Lucy. Without each other, they felt incomplete."

-Van Johnson

 

 

"It was a big romance from day one. They just took one look and it was like instance kiss dolls; you know, instant love."

-Ann Miller

[Luvsbway]

Wow, I have all kinds of questions about this:

 

 

"Lucille Ball declined to pose for a picture with Desi Arnaz when they had a date at the Harwyn - though Desi was willing. So I went backstage at 'Wildcat' to ask Lucille why. Desi was in her dressing room, Lucille was bending over him friendly-like straightening his tie. He was flying back to LA. 'Phone me when you get back to the ranch,' she said. Desi was tired. 'You shouldn't make those early appointments when you're going to stay all night," she reminded him. Desi'll return here soon to direct her in a TV show, 'Lucy Goes to Broadway.' So I asked her, 'Are you two getting back together?' Lucille said, 'We've never been apart.' Now if you want to figure this one out, go right ahead..." -Earl Wilson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (January 1961) 

[Luvsbway]

"She would sometimes sit in her chair and just stare at Desi while he was working. After a few minutes, she would smile and walk over to where he was standing, wrap her arms around him and give him a big kiss." -Jess Oppenheimer

[Caewi]

Wow, I have all kinds of questions about this:

 

 

 

"Lucille Ball declined to pose for a picture with Desi Arnaz when they had a date at the Harwyn - though Desi was willing. So I went backstage at 'Wildcat' to ask Lucille why. Desi was in her dressing room, Lucille was bending over him friendly-like straightening his tie. He was flying back to LA. 'Phone me when you get back to the ranch,' she said. Desi was tired. 'You shouldn't make those early appointments when you're going to stay all night," she reminded him. Desi'll return here soon to direct her in a TV show, 'Lucy Goes to Broadway.' So I asked her, 'Are you two getting back together?' Lucille said, 'We've never been apart.' Now if you want to figure this one out, go right ahead..." -Earl Wilson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (January 1961) [/size]

Such a strange one. The use of the word ranch makes it feel as though it was much earlier than 1961. If the dates are correct though, it gives us more information about our Lucy/Desi/Gary timeline. By this time I thought she was dating Gary? And apparently ready to get back with Desi.

[Luvsbway]

The ranch she is referring to is the horse farm he bought in 59’. Yes this timeline is crazy because she had met Gary back in late Dec 60’. So what the hell was going on? From what I can put together from some other books is that she really was juggling both of them in early 61’. One of the books says that Desi did propose to her around this time but she kept him waiting for an answer. Also it sounded like he might be making more trips to NYC during the winter as she bought him a vicuna coat. This quote makes those reported things all the more true. I think the big question here is what would have happened if Gary had never come in to the picture when he did?