I was and still am, a huge I Love Lucy fan, and I loved Ethel Mertz. It's so hard to believe Vivian Vance and William Frawley didn't get along. They were both so perfect in their roles. I guess that would be considered a sign of true professionalism. On a side note, My favorite episode was the one where Lucy got to dance with Van Johnson., because ehe finally got her wish and wws in a show
Thanks for posting this. There are so few interviews with Viv. I read her book a few years back and she had lots of personal trouble. I don't think she ever realized how many people adored her work. She was gone way to soon. Please post the rest of this if you have it. That would be awesome.
This is from the rare "Joan Rivers Show" that aired in the 1960's. It only lasted 1 season, but you can view almost all the episodes including this one on Hulu for free.
I never realized just how much of an influence Lucille Ball had on Vivian and probably vice versa. They had been close friends for decades and it shows. Look at Vivian's facial expressions; the way she forms her lips when she speaks. it's all Lucy. They could have been sisters.
Thank you for this. I loved the real-life Vivian Vance's seeming "I don't take shit from anyone!" attitude and personality. And who knew that Joan had a TV show in the late '60s, too?!
@@donnaw1047 Rivers got a lot of air time as a guest with Carson. Then Rivers jumped ship and started her own talk show in competition with him. Carson never spoke to Joan again!
From what I have read, Vivian Vance first love was live theatre. This is where Desi Arnaz discovered her. Lucille Ball had to almost beg her to join her in Here's Lucy. The only way Vivian Vance agreed was to be only in a few episodes.
Lucille Ball wanted Barbara Pepper for the role of Ethel Mertz. It was Desi Arnaz who selected Vivian Vance for the role of Ethel Mertz. Thank goodness Desi made that decision because Vivian was excellent as Ethel. In fact, Vivian was excellent in any role she played. In 1986 Lucille Ball said "when I watch I Love Lucy these days, I find myself looking at Vivian. She was really wonderful."
youfilha True, but only partly. There was no comedic tension without Desi and his reactions to play off of. Yes Vivian Vance was awesome, but when you think about it, So was Desi.
ahhh havent seen the Joan Rivers show since I was a kid. I LOOOVED this back then and thought she was hilarious ---- she was so unlike the other talk show hosts -
Just about everyone kept their figure back then, why? because Monsanto and their genetic modified food did not exist yet. Maybe a little but now they account for about 80 percent of what people in the States eat and drink.
That is true, food is definitely jam-packed with sugar, unnatural fats, and oils now but the main issue is people back then exercised more self control when it came to treating themselves to junk foods. They also did a heck of a lot more physical work in those days. They usually walked to the store and their jobs, a date was very often a walk around town holding hands with you sweetheart instead of a trip to the Cheese Cake Factory, parents went outside with their kids and taught them how to fish, hunt, play sports, sled and swim, they did yard work themselves instead of having landscapers, and played on amateur sports teams on the weekends even as adults just to socialize. Now we drive everywhere and watch several hours of Cable each day instead of doing physical activities. Human bodies are not meant to sit around all day.
Just shop at fucking Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, World Market, Wegman's, Fresh & Easy, Sprouts, Henry's and all the other organic and health food market chains...These aren't elitist markets blocked off from the public...
When Viv passed on, i remember Lucille Ball was so depressed. She started playing backgammon alot. Infact, it didn't matter who you were, Lucy would play you as long as you sat opposite of her. R.I.P. Lucy and Viv.
Actually, even though Lucille Ball and Barbara Pepper were friends (as was Lucy with character actress Mary Wickes, best known for her roles as "Miss Esther Cathcart" on "Dennis the Menace," and in the "Sister Act" films), I read in several sources Lucy really wanted Bea Benaderet for the role of "Ethel Mertz," and Gale Gordon to play "Fred Mertz."
It's funny how she looks younger here than she did as Ethel 15 years earlier. Her and Lucy were actually about the same age but Lucy demanded to be the best looking one in the show.
"I Love Lucy" was created by Jess Oppenheimer, who had produced Lucille Ball's radio show, "My Favorite Husband." The Mertzes were based on characters from "My Favorite Husband," the Atterburys, who were an older couple. Oppenheimer had the same thing in mind for the Mertzes: they were supposed to be an older couple, like the Atterburys. That's how the characters were written. William Frawley was first hired to play Fred Mertz, then they had to cast the role of Ethel, who was supposed to be near the same age. Director Marc Daniels discovered Vivian Vance and thought she would be great in the role, took Desi to see her in a play and he agreed, but Lucy was not so sure because Vivian was rather young -- way younger than William Frawley, and much younger than the part Jess Oppenheimer and the other writers had in mind for her to play. But Vivian Vance was determined to be cast as Ethel -- she badly wanted to be hired -- so she showed up on the set in a bathrobe and curlers, trying hard to play down her looks and look the part of Ethel. This finally convinced Lucy that she could play Ethel (Audrey Meadows did a similar thing to convince Jackie Gleason to cast her as Alice on The Honeymooners). Lucy was always concerned about believability, and clearly if Vivian tried to look young and glamorous, she would look ridiculous (and not believable) being married to Fred Mertz (William Frawley). When Vivian Vance joined Lucy on their next series, "The Lucy Show," that character -- Vivian Bagley --was supposed to be in the same age group as Lucy's character so this was no longer an issue. But what she was required to look like as Ethel Mertz was entirely something Vivian Vance got her own self into because, in the beginning, she really wanted to play the part of that older woman, Ethel Mertz. So don't feel badly for Vivian Vance because she got exactly what she asked for. (Incidentally, Mary Wickes, who was friends with Lucy, had really wanted the part and hoped it would be given to her.)
Yes, but sometimes it backfired on Lucy. If you watch very closely when Lucy and Ethel are sitting next to each other at the employment agency (the chocolate factory episode), they are side by side. Vivian is clearly prettier than Lucy. No mater what Vivian wore, or how she talked, she was still much prettier.
Barbara Pepper found her niche too, originating the role of "Doris Ziffel," wife of "Fred" and mother to "Arnold," on "Green Acres." And both Gordon and Pepper made appearances on "I Love Lucy" too, even if some other actors did get the roles of "The Mertzes."
Was Barbara Edens mother? There were rumors for years that Desi had an affair with Barbara: cause of the DIVORCE. She and Lucy didn't hang out much at all. Lucys people created and wrote the show. SHE WAS THE COMIC GENIUS. Don't gin up hatred against Lucy she was a kind generous person.
Gordon gained much acclaim in several radio and TV sitcoms, most noteworthy continuing his role of "Principal Osgood Conklin" on TV's "Our Miss Brooks," then as the second "Mr. (John) Wilson" on Screen Gems' "Dennis the Menace" series, eventually beginning his long co-starring roles with Lucy on her three series' after "I Love Lucy," as banker "Theodore Mooney" on "The Lucy Show," brother in-law and boss "Harry Carter" on "Here's Lucy," and in Lucy's last and short-lived "Life With Lucy" series.
what do you think your daughter will call your 'do when you've passed? The stringy grease mop? doesn't look like you've changed in the last 20 years, either ... like mother like daughter
Benaderet found her starring niche as "Kate Bradley" in "Petticoat Junction," as well some very prominent supporting roles on "The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" before that, and as the first voice of "Betty Rubble" on "The Flintstones" before and during "Junction."
She seems so different when you see her in an interview. Her reactions to people is quite interesting, and she seems very interested in what others think,
I Love Lucy first aired in 1950. This interview with Vivian is 19 yrs later. She looks a Ton Better here than what she did 20 yrs before. The Diff is Stunning....Just sayin
This is from that same series (titled "That Show with Joan Rivers"), but this episode is not on the dvd set. I'm hoping that if the dvds sell well, they will release more episodes.
YES THEY DID MAKE VIVIAN LOOK OLDER ON I LOVE LUCY THEY GAVE HER LARGE SIZED CLOTHES AND IGNORED HER MAKEUP BECAUSE LUCY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SPOTLIGHT NOT ETHEL, AND ETHEL MERTZ ( OR THE MERTZES IN GENERAL) WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN OLDER LADY WHICH EXPLAINS FRED! :D
I had that impression that Viv had a 'take no prisoner attitude.' Women back then had to do what it took to make a decent living in the entertainment world.
I can easily picture Lucy brusquely telling Jean Arthur she needed to lose weight, without there being hard feelings. Judging from the harsh way she talked about Desi Arnaz in interviews after their divorce she clearly wasn't a woman that avoided speaking her mind.
I wish I still had my tape of Joan Rivers on her talk show in 1993 with Joanne Worley, Ruth Buzzi, Alan Sues and Dick Martin for Laugh-In's 25th anniversary...it was like the rat pack, they couldn't stop laughing!
