WOMAN PETITIONS LUCILLE BALL BIOPIC TO INCLUDE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

[LittleRickyII]

If these petitioners get their way, will this biopic become a fictionalized version of Lucille Ball's life?  I've had online ads pop up saying that Lucille Ball performed her physical comedy while suffering from RA.  Those ads always make me cringe simply because I do not believe them.  I recall interviews where Lucille Ball claimed she had suffered from RA briefly when she was in her early '20s, as if it went away, and that she was written up in medical journals at the time.  Even if it's true that Lucille Ball once had the disease, then that contradicts what these ads imply: that she still had it when she was performing her comedy on TV.  But I personally don't believe she ever had the disease, and apparently some friends and family members close to her at the time didn't believe she had it:  https://books.google.com/books?id=GYZ6AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=lucille+ball+interview+arthritis&source=bl&ots=I0mKyh7f2j&sig=_3QSJtSC7QM7Ajw8MJy3nlsyvpI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgKahUKEwj-3_nk8Y3JAhUX4WMKHUvhAA0#v=onepage&q=lucille%20ball%20interview%20arthritis&f=false

I've had two cousins with RA, one who passed away due to complications from it.  It's not a disease the simply goes away, contrary to LB's claim:  http://www.curearthritis.org/rheumatoid-arthritis/   It actually gets worse and worse and more debilitating over time.  I think LB either fabricated the story, or was confused about what she actually suffered from. 

 

If anything about RA is included in this movie, I don't think it would be truthful.  I would love to know Lucie and Desi Jr's take on this.  Any opinions here?  Here is an article about the petition, posted on the MeTV website:

 

 

http://www.metv.com/stories/woman-petitions-lucille-ball-biopic-to-include-rheumatoid-arthritis

 

 

A WISCONSIN WOMAN WANTS SCREENWRITER AARON SORKIN TO SHOW LUCY DEALING WITH THE ILLNESS, AS IT INSPIRES HER EVERY DAY.

 

In the late 1920s, Lucille Ball was working as a model for Hattie Carnegie when she became seriously ill with rheumatoid arthritis. The disorder caused the budding actress to temporarily sideline her career. Ball continued to struggle with the illness throughout her life on television.

As we reported two months ago, there is currently a Lucille Ball biopic in the works. Cate Blanchett is penciled in to play the comedienne, and Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs, The Social Network) will supposedly write the script. Now, a woman in Wisconsin is petitioning the filmmakers to include Ball's arthritis in the story. Madison resident Kirsten Schultz created the Change.org petition because she too suffers from Still's Disease. 

Schultz writes:

As of this writing, the petition has garnered over 800 signatures. "This could be a great awareness raiser.  This could be a great way to inspire people to still continue after their dreams," Schultz told WKOW Madison.

Lucy has served as an example and an idol to so many, but especially to those of us living with various forms of inflammatory or autoimmune arthritis. On a personal level, she has influenced so many aspects of my life from my hair color occasionally to my poise to persevering with arthritis.

I LOVE LUCY

• 11/15 4:00PMThe Diner
• 11/15 4:30PMLucy Learns to Drive
• 11/16 6:30AMThe Inferiority Complex

 

The movie itself is not quite a done deal. After reports of the film spread around the Internet, Sorkin backtracked a bit while on theSteve Jobs press junket, saying, "The press kinda jumped the gun on the Lucy and Desi story. I’m not sure yet that I'm doing it. I hope I do it. I think there’s a fantastic story there, and if I do it, I'll start doing research and I'll be able to answer your question." Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. would co-produce the onscreen story of their mother.

Are you a passionate fan of I Love Lucy too? Don't forget to vote in our Pick Me: I Love Lucy poll! We're airing the top ten episodes that you pick.

[LittleRickyII]

One of the links I provided above discusses Lucille Ball's claim that her rheumatoid arthritis was cured by using a horse serum.  It is also stated there that, contrary to Lucille's claims that she was paralyzed, friends and family members claim she was never paralyzed but suffered malnutrition, instead, and thus a theory that she was actually experiencing rheumatic fever, not rheumatoid arthritis, which could have weakened her legs but not paralyzed them.  Here's the link again:

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=GYZ6AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=lucille+ball+interview+arthritis&source=bl&ots=I0mKyh7f2j&sig=_3QSJtSC7QM7Ajw8MJy3nlsyvpI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgKahUKEwj-3_nk8Y3JAhUX4WMKHUvhAA0#v=onepage&q=lucille%20ball%20interview%20arthritis&f=false

 

And now I came across this advertisement from 1906 for various health serums, these include horse serum.  And it advertises the horse serum as helpful for both rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatic fever. 

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=CFJKAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA43&lpg=RA1-PA43&dq=rheumatic+fever+horse+serum&source=bl&ots=tlqEl8rDev&sig=Wt9pVsPzWKYqq_1au6_6maxLmjU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAmoVChMIs4u5xPWNyQIVS8ZjCh2A8wff#v=onepage&q=rheumatic%20fever%20horse%20serum&f=false

 

So maybe it's possible she had rheumatic fever and over the years her memory got foggy and she confused it with RA.  In any case, I do not believe she ever suffered from RA.

[Luvsbway]

Another thing that complicates the RA claim is up through 54' Lucy was still letting the car accident story in Central Park be the explanation for the teaching herself how to walk again years and why she had to return home from NYC.

 

I never thought she had RA because for one all the reasons you state and then she seemed to make up a story to cover for it only coming out with the RA thing in the late 50s.

 

I've seen that stupid patition too and just shake me head as clearly the woman who started it has not done her research.

[Brock]

I have such mixed feelings on this as someone for whom arthritis has been a pain in the ass, literally, since my teens. Naturally, a biopic should be as truthful as possible but whether Lucy was actually an RA sufferer or not, I've seen over the years that piece of Lucy mythology (if that is indeed the case) has become very important to certain groups of fans who have taken more than a small degree of inspiration from it.

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Wow!! The rheumatic fever makes sense and she does have an ability to mis remember some names (I have THAT disease).. So why the car wreck story? Maybe the accident happened after leaving the airport ... her long self piloted flight.. she was jetlagged and crunched up her car.

 

This info kinda debunks my theory of a botched abortion.

[Luvsbway]

Maybe her car was filled with all those artificial flower arrangements she had to deliver and couldn't see.

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Maybe her car was filled with all those artificial flower arrangements she had to deliver and couldn't see.

HA! That's a good one! BA-ZINGA!

[Neil]

I've always felt the following is a POSSIBILITY----and I wouldn't love her any less or have less respect for her if it was true.

I don't know that the theory that Lucy had a child out of wedlock in the late 20s has ever been proven or debunked.   If indeed she did, this would explain the inconsistencies in her story about those years.   I believe the story she stuck with was that she had rheumatoid arthritis because "I had to learn to walk again".  But I also remember the Central Park story.   IF it's true and I haven't done enough research to know, I can't blame her:  the stigma would have been career-crippling.  Look what Loretta Young did, and got away with! 

I was able to talk to the woman who ghost-wrote "Love, Lucy" (her name escapes me at the moment: Betty.....?).  She said that when Lucy found out she went back to Jamestown to do some digging, Lucy got nervous and called the project off. Lucy certainly did a good job of keeping the book quiet, since Lucie didn't even know until the manuscript was found.

[Luvsbway]

And Gary only remembered a passing comment Lucy once made to him one night in bed about the book. That's pretty secret to be dictating a book to a woman audio taping it and him never meeting the woman or seeing Lucy at some point during her days spending a lot of time doing that and wondering who she was.

 

Do we have any confirmation on the years this "learn how to walk" thing occurred? I once read it was up to three years but that seems so long in the timeline and to be away from NYC.

[Taylor]

I don't believe she had RA either or was in a car accident.  Something happened in those years where she had to "sideline" her career that she obviously didn't want the public knowing about, hence the rheumatoid arthritis story, then the "I had a bad car accident" thing.  I think it's best to respect her privacy in my opinion and just let it go.  No one can prove what really happened back then, it was 80+ years ago.  

[leenorman]

I've always felt the following is a POSSIBILITY----and I wouldn't love her any less or have less respect for her if it was true.

I don't know that the theory that Lucy had a child out of wedlock in the late 20s has ever been proven or debunked.   If indeed she did, this would explain the inconsistencies in her story about those years.   I believe the story she stuck with was that she had rheumatoid arthritis because "I had to learn to walk again".  But I also remember the Central Park story.   IF it's true and I haven't done enough research to know, I can't blame her:  the stigma would have been career-crippling.  Look what Loretta Young did, and got away with! 

I was able to talk to the woman who ghost-wrote "Love, Lucy" (her name escapes me at the moment: Betty.....?).  She said that when Lucy found out she went back to Jamestown to do some digging, Lucy got nervous and called the project off. Lucy certainly did a good job of keeping the book quiet, since Lucie didn't even know until the manuscript was found.

 

Just a short word or two:  Some 'gossip' Reports 'say' a child was born to LUCILLE & DESI; so, the 1920's story can only mean another thing, assumably.... just sayin'

[Taylor]

Just a short word or two: Some 'gossip' Reports 'say' a child was born to LUCILLE & DESI; so, the 1920's story can only mean another thing, assumably.... just sayin'

There was no secret child of Lucille and Desi. People just need to mind their own business and stop making up crap IMO.

[Gypsy]

I have stayed silent in this as i really think a woman has a right to live her life as she sees fit..and to have some privacy (even if there is nothing to really talk about) after she has passed on. I am sure she is rolling in her grave!

[Will]

Just a short word or two:  Some 'gossip' Reports 'say' a child was born to LUCILLE & DESI; so, the 1920's story can only mean another thing, assumably.... just sayin'

Read this week's closer magazine. Lucy had a martial side and suffer 2 miscarriages and really wanted children with Desi so there is no secret child then that is absurd.

[Taylor]

Read this week's closer magazine. Lucy had a martial side and suffer 2 miscarriages and really wanted children with Desi so there is no secret child then that is absurd.

 

Yup.  And the idiots who actually believe that crazy woman's story that she's their long lost granddaughter are as bonkers as she is.

[Luvsbway]

I like that we finally have confirmation on the number of miscarriages because I've sometimes heard 3 thrown out there but could never date the third.