Major LIES/Hit Piece SPREADING about Bill Frawley (Fred Mertz) from "I Love Lucy!" 

I’m 67. I grew up watching I Love Lucy and it was a great show. All I know is that William Frawly as Fred Mertz made me laugh and did a great job 😂

I’m glad you brought up This is Your Life William Frawley, it’s very obvious he was quite beloved. ♥️

My 3 Sons ... I love Lucy ... many movies ... many shows ... he did well, his way 👍

Bless you Rick for being a friend to Bill Frawley as I hold all four of the cast in equal affection. Pleased that you mentioned Vivian's full statement on Bill's passing; could not imagine Vivian being so hateful. Gift to know Bill had a My Life tribute!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

We all have our flaws and shortcomings. A man should be judged on the totality of his actions. Great piece, Rick. We're glad to have you - and your classic TV escapes - in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving!

All four characters make "I Love Lucy" the magical experience it still is. Lucky William Frawley has you to defend him.

This is why research is so important. Unfortunately journalists don’t care about the truth anymore. Just what will bring them attention (clicks) which means money 💵. They will write stories in a way that is pleasing to who pays them or owns the place they work. Bill Frawley was a talented human being. Who made mistakes like we all do. But someone being normal doesn’t get anyone to read the story.

Hey Rick, thanks for this heartfelt video about the great William Frawley. First of all, whoever wrote that article is the jerk, Bill's comedic timing, his facial expressions were always spot on!!! I believe that he was very underrated. I Love Lucy is my favorite show of all time & Bill Frawley's Fred Mertz was a big reason for it's success!! Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family!!! 🦃

This was a good segment. To further verify things see the recent interviews with either of the Livingston brothers of my three sons. They have spoken at length about their off screen relationships with both William Frawley and William Demarest. Living witnesses to back your words.

I still think that Vivian and Bill had great respect for each other because there acting together was phenomenal and someone who plays I love Lucy all the time, I watch these episodes over and over and I just notice things all the time. The chemistry between them all was amazing that I couldn't even believe that Desi Arnz was being an unfaithful husband like he was being. It is hard to believe that their acting to tell anything was majorly wrong between any of them.

Glad you are disputing all the lies about Bill Frawley (Fred Metz). Happy Thanksgiving Rick.

Happy Thanksgiving, you hardworking guy❤ I love Bill Frawley. He was invaluable to I Love Lucy and it wouldn’t have been the show it was without him. Thank you for defending his name once again, Rick🙏❤️ I’ll check out the video link:)

So blessed for you Rick and you are a gem. William Frawley was a complex man but I see in times on the show where he was so caring to Little Ricky and also to. Other children.

I think Fred and Ethel were the funniest part of I Love Lucy and I thank God for that show. I remember watching the reruns every day with my brother and it brightened up our otherwise unhappy childhoods in an abusive home. I still love it and have 2 sets of full I Love Lucy dvd's.

Watching this I remember seeing Mr. Frawley on My Three Sons. His character on I Love Lucy was "gruff" but still lovable. Thank You clearing up these articles about him.

My gosh, everyone of Bill's generation, my parents generation and MY generation liked to lift a glass now and then. By today's standards they'd all be considered alcoholic. True some actors indulged more than others, but it was different times. Frawley was a wonderfully gruff old Irishman and beloved by some, not much by others, kinda like the rest of us. The boys on MY THREE SONS adored him and always speak fondly of old Bill. I too love his work and am glad you have affection for him as well. Why anyone would write a "hit piece" on a guy whose been dead for 57 years is beyond me? Thanks for the video kid and setting the record straight.

Most people never knew that William Frawley was the 1st entertainer to introduce the song My Melancholy Baby to an audience.

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃

Rick, thank you for setting the record straight. There are some actors who I'm not a fan of and actually a few I despise because of the Characters they play. I've always loved William Frawley and the added dimension he brought to both My Three Sons and I love Lucy. William Demorest had big shoes to fill and I might add he pulled it off quite well. Truthfully, I didn't like the name Bub. I watched the clip you attached on William Frawley's life. It made me love him even more! As a recovering addict of nearly 30 years and a functioning one at that, so many Stars have not survived their addictions or the lime light. I always thought Bill's tremors were from alcoholic withdrawl and I've seen that in friends and coworkers. I believe he had an illness and that's why he kept his hands in his pockets. As you stated, Bill stayed true to his promise to Desi about never drinking on set. Maybe he wasn't a happy Man when he drank and for him to live as long as he did it seems he may not have been the heavy drinker he's purported to be. He was loved by so many and all of us Fans. May Our Lord Jesus Christ rest his soul.

There was such chemistry between Frawley and Ball. It was obvious that he adored her and that come through in their scenes together.

Stanley Livingston of My Three Sons affectionately recalled Frawley buying him a surfboard for his birthday, and how thoughtful it was.

Sadly, for many years, l also believed these negative stories about William Frawley, but like you, l did some research and found it not to be true. Lucille Ball really admired him as a professional and friend and even had him as a guest star on one of the later Lucy shows!! 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reporting with this insightful post!!

I don't understand why we like to pry other people's lives open (especially when they aren't here anymore) and try to find things to insult. I really really like Mr. Frawley and he was just wonderful on the show. That being said, wasn't too happy on hearing the incident with Clifton Webb as I do really like him as an actor as well.😁He's a really fine comedic actor in a very delightful film called "Sitting Pretty". But anyway...thanks again for this video, Rick. Such articles really serve no purpose at all and it's nice you took the time to correct it. Going to see the This is Your Life video now😊

Thank you for this video Rick! I too have seen various articles about other celebrities of the time. These writers pick pieces here and there from whatever sources and throw things together that are either not true or misleading and I do the same as you thinking “ what? What IS this? It doesn’t make any sense”. I have many many books on “ I Love Lucy” and they ALL validate what you mention, that Bill Frawley was NEVER drunk on set or filming. So messed up that people do things like this. Anyway, thanks again for another great video and for setting the record straight for us “I Love Lucy” fans.

In one episode, when she hands Fred a cup of coffee, Lucy called him Fritz, which was obviously an ad-lib. I can't help but wonder if that was her nickname for Bill Frawley.

You got it right that a lot of folks didn't seem to like Mr. Frawley, and the one who detested him most was his own co-star "Ethel" (Vivian I think her real name was). She hated him, and even toasted his death...what a cold, cold, cruel person you have to be to do that!!

it's sad that people want to smear a public figure only after they are dead so they can't defend themselves

TV stars of today make all kinds of way out there demands that are more outlandish than wanting to go a few ballgames.

He was my favorite character on the show.

I love William Frawely, he is in so many 1940”s movies ,so good . The Miracle on 34 th Street is classic which he appeared in. 🎥🎭😍

You do great job any news obout a new remake of classic show you are right he a great part of a show

They say the greatest coward can hurt the most ferociously. I mean, cutting down a man who can’t defend himself? What’s that all about? Let Frawley have his peace. Great video Rick!

Another wonderful post. But seriously, the thing that bothered me was the fact that Mr. Frawley and Mrs. Vance didn't like /hated each other. And they took that to the grave. They had such great comedic timing. But thankfully, they were true to their craft and were able to put the feelings aside when they were in front of the camera. Thanks for posting it. Hope everyone had a good Happy Thanksgiving.

Sensational video Rick. Happy Thanksgiving to you

Happy Thanksgiving, Rick and great video! I would love to see you do a filmography of William Frawley as I knew he had done many movies before the show, but unfortunately the only one I remember seeing him in was Miracle on 34th Street! Similar to Natalie Schaefer's movie career!

Just a little factoid: Actor John Gallaudet was in Season 5's "The Ricardos Are Interviewed," playing Ricky's new agent "Johnny Clark," who tries to get the Ricardos to move to a Park Avenue penthouse. He was one of Frawley's closest friends, and when Frawley passed away, Gallaudet was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.

Who wrote the article: CNN or MSNBC 😅😅😅

I never heard he was a jerk. I've read that Vivian Vance had a problem with him as her TV husband, since he appears quite a bit older than her and he resented that attitude but behaved professionally during his time with her. Frawley was, however, a "classic Irish drunk" in his own words. Desi Arnaz wanted him for the show but knew this fact and laid down the law with him from day one: He would be sober during filming, period. He would allow one slip-up, but if it happened a second time they would write him out of the show, and this was a pretty lucrative deal. I don't know if it was ever a problem, but he was never written out. Great video!

In later life Frawley's health got so bad that producers of My Three Sons couldn't afford medical insurance on him, and eventually left the show to be replaced by William Demarest, who finished the series as Uncle Charley. And it's a well known fact that when he died Vivian Vance said, champagne 🥂 for everyone!

You're absolutely right, Rick. People write this stuff because it sells better. And people love to trash 🗑 other people, especially if they are no longer here to defend themselves. Thanks Rick, for standing up for Bill. 🙏 I'm sure he would have liked to have you as a friend. ❤ 🎉

I always enjoyed watching him in whatever show or movie he was in. Never heard of or saw any of the negative comments before. He was great on I Love Lucy! Thank you for defending a great actor and man.

I always thought Bill Frawley was a wonderful actor...whether on I Love Lucy or My Three Sons. I've heard the stories of him supposedly drunk on set, but not on I Love Lucy. I always heard he was either drunk or showed up late while on My Three Sons and that the producers or directors warned him repeatedly about it. Whether true or not, I don't know...but your video here shed a ton of light on the subject. I totally appreciate how you clarified Vivian Vance's quote after Frawley's death. I knew they despised each other, but even in death, one can speak kindly of the other, regardless of how they felt towards each other in life. Even Jane Wyman spoke kindly of Ronald Reagan after his death, despite how their marriage went. May Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Bill Frawley and Vivian Vance continue to Rest Peacefully.

I remember having read that Vivian Vance said "Champagne for everyone!" after William Frawley died. I was saddened to hear that, and I was hoping that it was not true. Thank you for clearing this up, saying that Vivian Vance also said, "Let's celebrate, let's honor this man, a light has gone out in the world today". I'm glad that she said all of that after "Champagne for everyone!" William Frawley is one of my favorite character actors. He was excellent on "I Love Lucy," and I can't imagine anyone else playing the role of Fred Mertz.

Producer William Asher seemed to have that "I don't want to be the wife of someone so OLD" thing follow him around! It happened later on his then-wife Elisabeth Montgomery's show "Bewitched" with the second lady who played Gladys Krazits, apparently.

Thank you Rick! I just watched “This is your life, William Frawley” and it was great! I also loved Frawley’s work on I Love Lucy…he’s even better ( in my opinion) on My Three Sons! I’m finding that nowadays, we cannot always trust what is written about many beloved actors…Bill Frawley proved himself to be a true professional, in everything he did!

The actor that played Chip on "My Three Sons" said William Frawley drank a lot on the lunch breaks. Sometimes he did not want to return to the set and they would send the actor who played Chip (who was a little kid) to persuade William to come back to the set.

Just watched him on Miracle on 34th street. What a talent. This is just hype journalism and the writer should head back to school. Never heard the whole Vivian Vance quote until this video. She obviously respected his work.

Fred Mertz had the best one liners of all time..

I’m currently watching William Frawley in a 🎥 Kiss Tomorrow Good Bye with James Cagney . 🎭📺

So blessed to see/hear you again!

Thanks Rick for such a thoughtful and respectful piece of work. Bill frawley was in most ways an old school gentleman and he is worthy of so many fine words🎉

❤ 🦃 HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🦃 ❤

Glad you called out this reporter for distorting the truth and coming to a wrong conclusion. The false headline is very damaging to his reputation. Thanks for doing this video and setting the record straight.

I like how news sources put down some people especially when they cannot set the record straight. I prefer unbiased reports especially when the actor/actress, entertainer are not around to confirm or deny the allegations.

It's too bad you didn't put the author's name of this article as its obviously a chop job article reminiscent of many rag magazines in that era and even more now! I would pass this on to his estate and surviving family to deal with.

It’s always cool to see a new I Love Lucy video. Happy Thanksgiving Rick, I hope you’re doing well. Keep up the great work and take care!

He was in some ways like his on-screen (I Love Lucy) counterpart. He was stingy with money. Vance commented, which I believe Frawley overheard causing the fued, that he should be playing my father, not my husband. To be fair, it was a private conversation, but at the same time, private conversations should be held in private offices, so anything said in public becomes public

William Frawley and William Demarest were separated at birth.

Happy Thanksgiving Rick, Thankyou for making a positive and a truthful video on William Frawley, No matter what people say about him, I'll always be a fan of his.

Such horrible fake bad news about Bill.

I LOVE YOU ALL HAPPY DAYS 😊 ❤

I'm definitely gong to check out the This Is Your Life video & I've never heard the rest of Vivian's quote about Bill Frawley's death. Very interesting.

I'm glad you cleared it all up. Why would people make this up. I liked him in Huckleberry Fin. Excellent job on the video Rick.

I always wondered why William Frawley hands are constantly shaking? Does anyone else notice that?

I admire your passion and your effort to set the record straight.

Bill Frawley was my favorite character in "I Love Lucy" and I also like him a lot as Bub on "My Three Sons" much more than William Dearest. Thank you for doing this video of a very fine, very funny actor.

Happy Thanksgiving

Vivian Vance absolutely hated William when he died she broke out a bottle of champagne.

As a Catholic, I agree, what does his singing in Church has to do with what he did later. He had also done same acting while still living here in Iowa in Burlington. Also, so he had a problem with Clifton Webb. But if he was so terrible like this article paints him, why did he appear in more than 100 movies over the years? & why did he get hired to play Bub on My Three Sons? I could go on. But it is clear to me that this person is doing a hit piece for whatever reason, wrong as it was for him to attack William Frawley.

Never heard of it, but I don't believe he was a jerk in ANY way.

He was great I'm miracle on 34th street speaking to the Judge loved his line. Oh your going to be a real popular fella

Vivian Vance was the jerk. She disliked him simply because he was cast as her husband and he was so much older than her. She should have been mad at Lucy and Desi, not him.

Luv luv luv Fred

I wonder if the article is AI generated? I say that because it seems to be a little bit incoherent. Recycling a lot of old hearsay that has been around the internet for decades without tying it together well.

The link to It's My Life doesn't work....I tried looking up It's My Life William Frawley. Nothing comes up.

Bill Frawley was too much a professional to show up on the set drunk. It's wrong for people, who weren't even born yet to speak ill of the dead.

❤❤❤❤❤

❤❤

The problem with Vivian Vance started with her. She resented being "married" to a man much older than she was on the show. Vivian was bad mouthing him in this regard to Lucy once just off the set, again because of his age and her much younger age, and Bill heard her. He needed this job and she was putting it in jeopardy. He was both hurt and scared, he had experienced a long period of underemployment and unemployment and she was putting "I Love Lucy" at risk for him. He never forgot and never forgave her. I can understand his feelings 100%. Bill went on to 10 years on I Love Lucy and 5 years on My Three Sons. The boys on My Three Sons adored the cantankerous character on and off set. Producers had the boys go to lunch with Bill every day to keep him from drinking too much, they would say Uncle Bill we need to get back to the set, inevitably he would agree, letting some choice words escape with his yielding to them. The boys say they enjoyed his company, off color language and humor. When Demarest took over it was all business, the boys said they missed "bad boy" Uncle Bill because he made them laugh...

Frawley was a good actor seen some of his movies. I never would believe it. I do believe the Amazon movie that Frawley and Ball had a special relationship and that lucy could talk Frawley down if needed and vice-versa. The show without Frawley would not have been as good . Frawley was Fred Mertz. Sorry article did not convince me.

Vivian Vance NIXED a lucrative "comeback" special BECAUSE she didn't want to work WITH Frawley again. Are you his agent or stepchild?

Hey Rick Great to see you go after this ill informed "author." I appreciate your work. Take care of Yourself 😊

This a textbook example of "yellow journalism" especially with the misquote of Vivian Vance. I've never heard this about him. They did the same thing to Lucille Ball when she died. There all these nasty stories about her and even one hinting that she and Vivian Vance were more than friends. So horrible just to sell papers. Sounds like someone wrote this from reading a little bit on Wikipedia and made stuff up as he or she went. I don't know why but I just get the feeling a woman wrote this. I might be wrong.

I think the person who wrote that article was a bit of a jerk!

Don't get me wrong, ALL of those people who were actors in ILL were GENIOUS in their own rights.....absolutely fabulous in their own interpretaions of their characters......but we DO all have our favorites. Unfortunately, haters is part of the life of any public performer........whether it be behind a microphone, on stage, or in front of a camera. There are going to be people JEALOUS of them for some reason. Sure, some of these actors DO deserve the bad press and comments from haters, but there are also much more bad press and hate going on because of jealousy........in other words, just outright stupid people with no lives, that have nothing better to do than bad mouth everybody else. Desi nor Lucy would put up with bad behavior on set. Desi might have fired someone for coming to work drunk, but Lucy would have verbally SHREDDED them! And NOBODY wanted that!!!! Mr. Frawley may have gotten a lot of horrible things said about him, but it all stemmed from rumors, which at that time, people would have rather believed than investigated for the truth. Actors just had to live with it unfortunately. Lucy had even more bad press and gossip, as she was a hard core businesswoman, and in an era of HUGE male egos and men dominating the corporate branches of business, she was NOT to be messed with....which got her a LOT of "nicknames" (which I will NOT list on here). But she didn't care. She knew what she had to do, and she did it. And she and her coworkers were all the better for it. I hope this rubbed off on Mr. Frawley as well. I know he was an actor before ILL, but he wasn't a household name yet. And becoming a world dominated household name, can really do a number on your mental health. So when the haters start their hating for all the wrong reasons....it can get to you. As far as Ms. Vance and Mr. Frawley go.......it all stemmed from her character role. She didn't want to be playing an older woman, to a real older man. She didn't like that Lucy demanded she stay 20 pounds over weight to help her look "older" than Lucy. Ms. Vivian also had troubles with being in the entertainment business, which is why she was constantly going to mental help therapists. Her anger stemmed from other sources, not that she truly hated Mr. Frawley. But, you know what? Desi, Lucy, William, and Vivian will ALWAYS have the last laugh.........because haters come and go and are forgotten........but WE will ALWAYS LOVE LUCY AND THE GANG!!!! And that will make them remembered for all eternity!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Good for you Rick, but if you start standing up to self-aggrandizing jerks who smear others reputations on RU-vid and the media in general, which seems to me to be over 50% of everything posted, you'll never get a moments sleep again! Again, kudos to you for this post!

I LOVE William Frawley without him the tv show would have failed. Haters are always gonna hate

There is no way for any of us to know 100% one way or another unless we were present at that time. You also admitted bias towards him so.....?

Rick: I like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving Day for sure! You also You Have A Day for sure forever and ever!

I didn’t like him. I didn’t hate him. He was just there.🤷‍♂️

i love fred

What a great video you made. I always loved William Frawley. It’s so good you gave some respect to him and discredited that article. Fans like you will keep his true legacy alive. Thank you.