This video is an eye opener. For any Lucy fan to think she was perfect in everyway just because they refuse to believe anything negative about her, is very naive. Lucy had her own flaws just like we all have. Love you Lucy!
My mother looked just like Lucy. My mother was gorgeous. I real head turner. My mother kept her hair the same color as Lucy, not because she wanted to look like Lucy it was just her preference. My mother also had beautiful blue eyes. Everyone told her she looked like Lucy. It was a shock when my mother passed away when she was only 44 and I was 10. It was so unexpected. My mother worked and had lots of energy. She never complained about her health. I have a really good memory of my past. I can remember back when I was 2 years old. I believe God gave me my good memory so I could always remember my mother. I miss my mother so much. She was so good to me and we had a very good relationship.
How beautiful. Thanks for sharing Lori. I bet your mother would be so proud of you. I enjoyed your comment very much. You are a good writer. What a special bond you and your mother had. I could almost see your gorgeous, red-headed mother in my mind's eye
everybody has a different side of their life that hardly anyone ever sees...I believe that they still loved each other though out the rest of their lives and they probably still do now.
Willie Mae (sp?) was with Lucy from the time Lucy was new in the business. Sad to hear Lucie say they were never as happy with their children, etc. than when they were working. I would venture to say it had to do with the fact that when they were home, they were in an unhealthy marriage...nothing to do with the kids.
All of the people in the documentary were close family friends, and family members of Lucy and Desi. No one bad mouthed anyone in it. All of them were telling their personal experiences with them. This was an amazing documentary. Lucie did a phenomenal job in bringing out the truth in Lucy and Desi's lives, something she wanted to discover on her own after all of the negative and false accusations made against them.
Actually did not like Carol Cook at all - seemed negative about Lucy - like a know it all type. Also, she had colored her hair the same color as Lucy - seemed like she was in competition or jealous.
Carol Cooke was No one when Lucy gave her a chance in her series, but as usual she always felt she deserved much better ,and here she is trying to find fault in everything about Lucy ,as Vivian learnt soon after she left Lucy in the lurch during 'The Lucy show, there weren't any takers for all the talent she thought she had. Same thing happened with Carol Cooke and Desi Arnaz ,only Lucy carried them on an upward trajectory....alone they were nothing ,while Lucy was applauded in everything she did
this is heartbreaking. i'm not going to lie. i've heard parts of this but i've never known the true story. i feel sorry for both Lucille, and her children. my mom never takes the time to even go outside with me either, never did- not even when i was younger. i mean, you can't take 10 minutes out of your day to spend time with your kid? i just never felt the bond. i'm not close with my mother and i wish i was
Lucille Ball was and is a phenomenon. Of course, now that she is dead expose their personal lives and explain things that are nobodys busine2. Everybody has family problems and some are brutal. So for all of the critics, expose yours publicly first before going after these wonderfully entertaining human beings.
I agree with you, Karen. In reality, Desi was the one who built the Desilu ranch in Chatsworth, set up his and Lucy's social calendar, prepared the guest list and all the food and entertainment, and believed his wife's talent a form of genius; hardly "Ricky Ricardo!" He was also a tender, unconditionally loving parent with his children, not afraid to demonstrate his "feminine" side in this regard; hardly a "machista," whatever THAT means! In their home, whomever could, did---no gender biases.
We have Desilu to thank for Star Trek and probably the mobile phone and who knows what else ? I LOVE LUCY xxx thanks for posting , most informative I already knew most of it but nice to see it presented like this x
i knew they always appreciated their father more. i can tell because they talk about him more frequently then her. if you mention their mother to them, i can tell they don't like to bring up the subject. i love lucille and i knew she wasn't the perfect mother, but i didn't know all of this. i've never heard them say these things about her. although, when they were older, she made up for the time not spent with them, and they played the roles of her children in The Lucy Show.
Lucy was a born entertainer. What other people put first in line (their marriage, children) weren't as important as her. She was never as happy as when she was doing what she loved.
Dear Rachel: As Lucy is quoted as saying in the book, "Desilu," "Hell, yes I believe in nepotism! If a member of my family can do the job, I'll hire 'em!" She showed her love for her kids and relatives by drawing them into her professional world---it was just her way of saying, "I love you." In Lucy's generation, this way of showing of "love and caring" was not uncommon; a.k.a.: "The Family Business!"...wish it would come back into vogue...!
This is incredibly sad...maybe you should put a disclaimer on this video warning people that this will burst their "I Love Lucy" bubble. I never really knew this about Lucille (at least not to this extent)...and I didn't know Lucie felt that way about her mother. "So, they made this show that took off like 'Gangbusters', and now the rest of the universe has it...and they never had it. They never got what they wanted." -Lucie Arnaz ...how incredibly sad...
Lucy became allegedly "mean", according to the book, "Desilu," because when Desi had her to buy him out of the company in the mid-1960s, she found herself having to deal with the corporate "mucky-mucks" and, according to Lucie Arnaz, Desi had always done well in this area but Lucy dreaded it and just wanted to be a comedienne; also, losing Desi "hardened" her; she seemed "mean" when she meant no malice. Still, she coped, a true professional, feeling she had to be strong for her company's staff.
Also, had it really tough in the marriage, being married to Desi who was an addict: sex, alcohol and gambling which he had issues with it before their marriage, but as time went on and pressures increased - everything got worse, no matter what Lucy did. She got hardened by Desi's sexual exploits known to everybody. How painful that must have been and she admitted to becoming hardened so it did not hurt so much.
I think this is what happens when a person puts everything into their work , the home life suffers , this does not make a bad person though , just the way it goes in Hollywood
Lucy was raised in very difficult circumstances - beloved father died before she was 4; mother was away to find work up to a year at a time. She was responsible for her younger brother and cousin Cleo at an early age. MGM died early, as did her aunt, Cleo's mother. Etc. much else too. By age 15 she left home to find work in NYC to help support the family. Work was all important to her whole world - in Hollywood, worked hard to rent a house and reunite the family - mother, grandfather, brother and cousin, which she did. Again - had to work hard to do this.
i just adore them. I was sad to find out that Lucy wasn't the Lucy we saw on tv. I still love her regardless. But the way they describe her...really makes sense. You can tell that she was very off and on...
Dear Angie: Yes, it is heartbreaking. Lucy and Desi lived in an age when "appearances" and "denial" were oddly synonymous with one another; but it seems to me that few married couples tried as hard to "make the dream come true," and as the world's most famous couple, yet! Whew! Not something many of us would want to take on!
This is so typical of super successful parents. My mother always told us that the most important thing in our family was "the company", which was a huge concern. We all pulled behind my dad, bucked up while he was gone so much and supported that notion. I don't regret a moment of it--he was a great man, and we helped him get there.
Dear Rachel: I had the same kind of problem with my dad---my mom had to be both father AND mother, and that takes a LOT of woman! But take heart---my dad mellowed, and still is mellowed---people change for the better. My best wishes for your relationship with your mom. God bless!
i like how nobody paints lucy as the bad guy. they accept that she was the way she was because of her struggles. I think that’s the best way to be viewed ie, being told your flaws but your flaws don’t always make you a horrible person.
Dear Bethany: The lady is question was a member and true intimate of Lucy's, along with show biz historian, Robert Osbourne, of the Desilu Playhouse Workshop. Carole (nee Mildred) Cook, was an original 1959 member of DPW, which was a smallish but prestigious "acting school" that Lucy developed in the late 1950s to help young, struggling talent get a foothold in a business that was over-run with competition. Lucy was Matron of Honor at Carole's wedding and were devoted friends till Lucy's death.
lucille is sort of like my own mother. she never really has time for me, and cares about other things. like lucille's friends said, "she never had the TOOLS to be a mother." and my father is always there for me, and he makes time for me. and my parents are divorced also, so i can relate very well and i understand what they mean
I realize I am 8 years late (lol) in commenting but I can totally relate to this section about Lucy not being very maternal as my own mother did not have the tools to be maternal with me. She is gone now and I miss her terribly but she was always interested in issues going on within her own life instead of focusing on me and the chapters I was going through (within my life).
Semantics. Desi Arnaz said for the entire run of the series, including the hour episodes, they called the program 'I Love Lucy'. You'll never read any of them calling it anything else. But, you're right, the named series never had that exact episode. According to the writing team they got the idea from the Marlon Brando movie filmed in Japan around that time.-+*
evadanca777 - Lucie and Desi Jr. are not DISSING their mother. If you listened to what Lucie, Desi Jr.,many family friends, and employees ALL said Lucy's work came first. Not her children, not her marriage, her work. They are not jealous of their mother's fame, they are likely hurt because they were NOT her priority when they were children, and therefore, missed out on the feelings of having a mother.
Arnaz chased the ladies and drank a lot but he did love Ball very much in his own way. Even Ball admits that. But, she was a real load to him. Arnaz said once that she had a hard time expressing her emotions, which often left him doubting her love, for him or their kids. He said that he tried to compensate but failed being there for them in person, but was emotionally available to them where their mom wasn't at all. Desi Jr. said once that she never stopped being an actress, was always 'on', whereas their dad was the opposite and had a harder time being 'on'. He also said that Arnaz shouldn't have been where he was, with all the responsibilities and pressures which he could not deal with. At first he bluffed his way thru, then started acting out and started heavy on the booze. That gave him some relief but given his nature was like setting off a bomb. Lucie said her brother caught it from both parents. She said their dad was extra hard on her brother, thinking he was a 'sissy' and not much of a rugged male. Their mom often attacked him for being the thing she hated more than anything: lazy. Which she attributed to their father, who she said pushed them away from hard work and towards play. That was something she just couldn't do. Arnaz said she was a ball-buster and applied the same logic she did at work to their relationship. He said that she wouldn't let him near her emotionally. Guess it's a wonder they stayed together for 20 years.
I don't know if you saw the documentary but Lucie was definitely not a bitch. this was the most beautiful and real documentary i have ever seen. the main reason why Lucie even chose to make it was because she was trying to defend her parents from all of the demeaning and false stories and films made about them.
well that was her close friend. she appeared on several episodes of here's lucy and the lucy show. lucy was the maid of honor at her wedding. i think she would know if lucy spent time with her kids or not.
Lucy hair colour was a bright orange not red headed, Lucy actually looked better as a blonde Desi jr resembles his father so much my gosh a very handsome man like his father Desi
since when did desi ever beat lucy? yeah he was unfaithful and became an alcoholic but it was never reported that he hit her. she was so serious she would never stand for that. if anything Lucy reportedly knocked him out cold by hitting him on the head with a hammer and would throw things at him. they both had a lot of problems but they still managed to be really close at the end of it all. none of their personal problems should take away from both of their brilliance.
It is so sad. I didn't think they were bad mouthing their mother either. Actually, I felt there was a lot of compassion and sadness and that they knew they were loved just that their mother's drive to succeed was so overpowering and there just wasn't room to be the mother that they wished she was.
First of all their mother had a very hard upbringing - work was seen as a savior. She and her bro Fred did not have a father, he died before Fred was born and their mother Dee Dee was away for weeks, months, and even a year or more to find work.
If Lucy even looked at another man Desi would have flipped out - but it was ok that he had sexual relationships with as many women as possible sometimes several hookers a night. Pretty gross esp. if your spouse really loves you. I remember reading that he went out with a woman who really understood him who did not mind about his sexual appetites. (before he married Lucy) He certainly continued all his addictions after he remarried. (his 2nd wife, who also loved him, almost divorced him too. Both his wives really loved him but an addict is an addict is addict - unless he/she gets help.
@@AdventuresWithJules I think her comments are basically cutting and feel nasty to me. Notice she dyed her hair the same color as Lucy's. Other than being on some of the Lucy shows - don't know abt her much as an actress.
That whole thing that was said about Jack Benny was sort of true. On another video titled "Behind the Scene Of Here's Lucy" Jack Benny did seem like he was ordered around by Lucy. I did read in TV guide though that she reallt went out of her way to treat Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton like royalty.
Did Madeline Pugh have an affair with Desi? I read somewhere they did.. This amazing couple even made the headlines when they divorced over the Cuban Missile situation! That is how popular and Important America felt they were. They are really Genius together and a part.
yes, exactly. and that's why when they were growing up and were teenagers. she tried to spend as much time with them as she could and make up for it all, so that's when they became stars on "The Lucy Show"
ok so after reading these comments, i'm not sure if i want to watch this. as an avid fan, do you think i should or should i not watch it so nothing gets ruined. please dont tell me anything because i love them too much
THe subtitles are funny as the computer has left out god, santa and other keywords so that it is funny modern jibberish, especially on the missing christmas special
The documentary had the potential to be so good but detail re accoustics was .very poor:, so I missed a good deal. Pity! You often find all attention is given to the visual and the quality re accoustics is forgotten.
Not even close! Christina and Christopher Crawford suffered horribly from Joan's "drunken rants" and "physical abuse", Lucy was only emotionally distant from her kids. If you heard what Lucie Arnaz said, she said that she had a understading to why her mother was like that, and still loved her regardless!
I have read Lucy’s & Desi’s autobiography’s & other books on their lives . Lucy told her cousin Cleo that the most important thing to her was her work. Desi gave her 2 options towards the end of I Love Lucy. He told her that they could Sell the studio, make enough money to retire & have time to spend with the kids & choose projects that interested them in doing, or in order to compete with the other studios, he would have to devote more time to the business. She told him that she did not want to quit. That is when she chose her career over her marriage & family. Even at the end of her life, she told friends that she was the happiest when she was working. Desi always had an eye for the ladies & Lucy knew that. But she said was that she could not handle the drinking because it changed him. His drinking worsened as the pressure of running Desilu became too big. Desi was the one who asked Lucy for the divorce & he told her to file for it.
You DON'T save or improve a marriage by being in each other's way 24 hours a day, and under the pressures and time required to be responsible for a hit TV series and heads of a studio. Familiarity breeds contempt. Just like children won't save a marriage, in fact they can be the cause for dissolution of a marriage.
People make Desi out to be a horrible guy, but that's not fair. It's never one person's fault. Lucy sounds pretty mean in the interviews... I'm sure she'd be hard to live with.
I always hated how Desi tried to steal the spot light with his boring songs... he actually wanted the show to be named after him, the only reason he let it be called I love Lucy is that they told him that he was the I in I love Lucy
@Rulya Mórrigan Ard Mhacha You don't seem to bright yourself. You do realize that his dialogue, including 'dumb' jokes, were written by the same scriptwriters that wrote her dialogue? It's pretty clear that their two children saw him as more of a caring parent than Lucy. There are some interviews available that show her to be somewhat snobbish and vain person that could be plain rude when in the mood. Just because she was clever, hard working and successful doesn't mean she was a nice person.
Dear Ted: With all due respect, you could do well to take "refresher" courses on "the 'typical' Hispanic man"; most that I know are not the patriarchal fiends that you describe, but loving, caring, kind, and protective of their wives and children. You're "talking," but your "dogma" seems to be leaving skid marks over your "karma"! (Re)research your mindset on the issue a bit more. And, not to be mean, it seems to me an "educated" man would know your spelling "probabbly" is wrong: 1 'b' only.
Desi was a louse. He cheated, gambled, womanized and drank like a fish. A hard worker at work. yet, when fun came. He did it obsessively. Lucy, enjoyed her later years with Gary. However, Desi and Lucy stayed close friends.
+RetroGuy76 ......of course she loved Desi! but, she would stay with Gary if her life depended on it, because the louse would stray again. Gary and Lucy truly proved the ultimate live in the end. Interred means nothing.
