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Do You Recall Hearing About the Deaths of the Cast?

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
15 replies | jump to latest

I was but a wee tot when William Frawley died, and hadn't yet watched my first episode
of ILL. I was a teenager in '79 when Vivian Vance passed, but I don't recall hearing/reading
about her death. It was YEARS before I knew she was gone.

I remember the December '86 passing of Desi, as Lucy's last show, "Life With Lucy", had
just been cancelled. I remember turning on the afternoon news, and they ran a clip
of Arnaz and Ball singing "Breezing Along with the Breeze" from the 1954 film "The Long,
Long Trailer." I remember thinking this must've been the hardest time for Lucy. Both
she and Gary Morton attended his funeral.

As for Lucy herself? I remember reading the week before about her emergency heart
surgery, how it took eight hours, and how they actually had to stop her heart to complete
it. I, like other fans, marveled at the news in the coming days, that Lucy was "up and
walking around her hospital room."

The morning of April 26th, 1989, I got up just before 9:00 A.M., and turned on the news
blurb on a local channel. A middle-aged man spout out some stuff about world affairs,
the weather...then concluded his burb by stating that "Lucille Ball died this morning in
Los Angeles. She was 77." Before I could catch my breath, the station ran its station
I.D. promo, then two episodes of ILL were broadcast (as they were every morning from
9:00 to 10:00). First up was "Lucy and Van Johnson." The second ep was "Oil Wells."

While I was shocked at Lucy's death, I wasn't entirely surprised. And I was oddly
unemotional. I remember tears falling when I heard about Audrey Hepburn's death,
as well as Elizabeth Montgomery's. But not Ball. She had led a long, full life, and was
pushing 80. She did it through hard work and perseverance. I watched all the news
tributes (all three major networks devoted that night were to Ball tributes). What a
day!!

Any other memories of these passings?

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

I don't recall hearing about William Frawley's death. I knew he had passed away but I was too young to read the newspaper! I'm sure I heard about Desi Arnaz and Vivian Vance's passing. But I don't have any specific memories of them.

The one I recall vividly is Lucille Ball. It was a huge headline in the newspaper and I remember reading it and feeling sad. Also the date, April 26th, is my mom's birthday.

Just some coincidences with dates here. Mrs. Larry Luckinbill, aka Lucie Arnaz, has the same birthday as my son, July 17th.

Lucy's birthday, August 6th, is the same as my (former) wedding anniversary.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Nice that your mom shares the same birthday as Carol Burnett (better to remember THAT for your mom, than Ball's
passing).

We must be roughly the same age (cough, cough!). I, too, was, uh...around when Frawley passed, but too young to
read the paper! (if we both learned to read at THIRTY, we could say we were "too young" to read about BALL's death!!)

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

Well I had my kindergarten teacher read me the headline of Ball's death! (yeah right, lol!)

Yes, Carol Burnett's birthday. A lot of people used to tell my mom that she reminded them of Burnett. Both are (fake) redheads with a loud and funny take on life.

[–] Cookie.L.A. (2117) 6 years ago

They're DEAD ? ? ?

[–] PaladinNJ (21509) 6 years ago

William Frawley passed before I was born. I read about Vivian Vance death years after it happened.

I remember watching the news and Lucille Ball was in tears about Desi. I was in college when Lucy died ad saw it in the news paper. The Daily News had this huge cartoon of her shaped like a heart with some of her featured roles surrounding it. The caption read: WE LOVE LUCY.

[–] Keelai (34853) 6 years ago

When I was about 8 or 9, my mother traumatized me with the news that William Frawley had died many years earlier. I was shocked and it took a long time to get over it. Later, she told me that Lucy and Desi had divorced a long time ago which traumatized me again.

I remember when Vivian, Desi and Lucy died. Vivian was Lucille's best friend on the show and in real life. I empathized with Lucille's lost.

The death that bothered me the most was Lucille Ball's. She was my favorite comedienne and her show was my favorite comedy. I watched each episode easily dozens of times from the age of 2.

She was heavily criticized for Life with Lucy and it bothers me that she felt so rejected by the public after making everybody laugh for years with her earlier shows and movies.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

But Lucy failed to grow as an actor, and instead became a "clown." Certainly, "The Lucy Show" was redundant at
best (even with a fine cast of kids), and "Here's Lucy" totally awful. By the time of the early '70's CBS was boasting
"All in the Family", "Maude", "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Bob Newhart", and Lucy was doing her tired old schtick with
her marginally talented own kids. She never grew, and the result is the "art" of "I Love Lucy", and the tired
cardboard aura of her later shows. Too bad.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

Yes, I remember reading that Lucille Ball always thought that her public only wanted to see "Lucy Ricardo". Maybe it was just her imagination. Or she couldn't let go of the character.

I don't know if anyone pointed out to her that her fifties comedy WAS "tired old schtick". After a certain age it was just painful to see an older woman act so dumb!

And audiences had grown to like more sophisticated comedy. Besides the ones you cited, there were shows like "Taxi" and "Barney Miller".

Lucille Ball's comedy was still rooted in unbelievable silliness. I'll never forget the episode when Lucy Carmichael got a draft notice meant for Lou C. Carmichael. Yeah like the Army would take one look at a woman in her fifties and put her in boot camp. It was beyond ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I actually think I Love Lucy IS pretty sophisticated comedy, especially when one considers how brilliant the writing was, and how brilliant Ball herself is. In truth, I can't think of another "feel good" show that was also that brilliant,
except for maybe "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

Well yes, ILL was sophisticated (most of the time) and very well written. I can't think of any sitcoms from that era which have had the saying power and popularity today.

Does anyone buy seasons of" Burns and Allen", "Our Miss Brooks" or" Ozzie and Harriet"? Well, maybe some people do. lol

So much of ILL is due to the brilliant performances of the cast. But I think that some of Lucy's silly antics did NOT translate that well for a fifty something woman. Lucy Carmichael just seemed childish. And when she moved to L.A. to work for (screaming) Mr. Mooney, the show became a repetition of which movie star Lucy could get to put his money in Mr. Mooney's bank.

Now I loved Gale Gordon's work. He was hilarious. But he seemed to be a replacement for Ricky always yelling at Lucy. What woman would keep taking that abuse from her boss?

[–] gcarras (2770) 6 years ago

Besides Gale Gordon, don't forgot his predecesser...Frank Nelson..!

"welllll!"

Remember the Golden Rule. Whoever has the most gold makes the most rules.
Golden Retrievers have the most gold, therefore Golden Retrievers make the most rules.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I've always love "Ozzie and Harriet" and will watch eps now and again on Youtube. It is actually quite
funny, what with Ozzie's stammering, and Harriet's voice of reason approach. And watching 20-something
Rick Nelson sing is great (what a HOTTIE he was). Also, Rick Nelson's music plays beautifully today, and
doesn't sound dated. He was the first real "rocka-a-billy superstar. Songs like "Travelin' Man", "Poor
Little Fool", and (his own) "Garden Party" are terrific.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

I used to watch Ozzie and Harriet when i was little.

One time I saw a comedian on TV (probably Ed Sullivan) who asked, "Just what did Ozzie DO for a living? He was always hanging around the house in his sweater."

It was a good show but I simply don't have the fondness for it that I have for ILL.

Ricky Nelson WAS however, quite gorgeous. He did have a lot of great songs too.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

[deleted]

[–] who8mycookie (5) 6 years ago

I know this is a 6 month old thread but browsing the board since I just found it.

The only death I recall learning about was Lucy. I don't recall when or how I started watching ILL but Vance died when I was quite young and I don't believe I had watched ILL at the time.
My introduction to Ball was quite odd as it was from Three's Company and since I didn't know at the time who she was, it didn't mean anything to me. I didn't really know who she was until one time I was on holiday at my grandfather's and one of her other shows came on late night. It was ok and my grandfather told me she was a comedic genius. The show was a color one I saw, it opened with a caricature of Ball in front of a curtain with the actors names. I didn't get the genius part until after her death when I guess I stumbled upon ILL, which quickly changed my mind about her.