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Tag: Desi Arnaz

  • Lucille Ball Fans Demand ‘Ugly’ and ‘Deranged’ Statue Be Removed in the Legendary Star’s Hometown

    Lucille Ball fans are demanding that an “ugly” statue of the legendary comedian be removed from a park in the I Love Lucy star’s hometown.

    Granted, the life-size bronze statue in Celoron, New York, does look more like Conway Twitty, the snake from “Beetlejuice” and actor Steve Buscemi, as fans claim, than Lucille Ball.

    The mayor of Celoron, Scott Schrecengost, has sided with the disgruntled fans.

    Despite the uproar over the statue, it has remained a tourist draw for a legion of Lucille Ball fans since the statue was erected in 2009.

    The campaign to remove the statue began when a resident of Jamestown, where Lucille Ball grew up, started a Facebook page in 2012, called “We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue.”

    A Yahoo! News story about the page started by the resident, who requested anonymity, saying the issue is “not about me; it’s about the statue,” reignited calls for the statue’s removal.

    The resident would like to see the statue removed and a new statue erected outside a planned Comedy Hall of Fame in Jamestown, which is home to the Lucy-Desi Museum & Center for Comedy and the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

    “Lucille Ball was one of the most talented, beautiful, funny women who ever appeared on television; a pioneer, a giant of television. My only goal is to have a sculpture of her in Jamestown which does her justice,” the resident told CNN.

    “This statue in Celoron is not fixable. I love my hometown and I Love Lucy. Let’s get a new statue that is a real tribute to her memory as the Comedy Queen of Television.”

    The resident’s sentiments about the statue were echoed by Colin Dabkowski, a Buffalo News columnist, who said “its deranged grimace and jagged teeth inspire more dread than reverence.”

    “No one here much likes the statue, and one look tells you why. It looks more like an extra from ‘The Walking Dead’ than arguably the most famous comic actress of all time,” he wrote about statue of Lucille Ball.

  • Lucie Arnaz Remembers Christmas With Ricky & Lucy

    The I Love Lucy show is such a familiar favorite that it runs on many different channels at all times of the year. It originally aired in 1951 through 1959 on CBS and it was one of the most watched shows on television. It can still be viewed today via reruns.

    I Love Lucy is an American television comedy sitcom that starred Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. Their show names were Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel.

    I Love Lucy was the most watched show in the US in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.

    A total of 193 episodes aired over over six seasons on CBS. The show is still syndicated in dozens of languages in nations around the world. The show also won 5 Emmy Awards.

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    When the show went off the air in 1959, because of its success, the producers extended I Love Lucy to 60 minutes, with a big guest star each episode. They renamed the show the The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Thirteen hour-long episodes aired from 1957 to 1960.

    An amazing accomplishment of this dynamic duo was the creation of Desilu Productions by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, founded in 1950.

    Imagine being a child of such a well known couple in the 50’s. Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. who grew up in Beverly Hills, California, have fond memories of their childhood, especially during Christmas.

    Arnaz says her parents, Ball and Desi Arnaz, made the most of the holiday at their Beverly Hills home in the 1950s. Arnaz and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., reveled in it.

    “It was the only time of the year when there wasn’t stress,” recalled Arnaz, an actress-singer who tours nationally in concert. “There was a lot of stress because of how hard they worked, and their marriage wasn’t doing well. But Christmas was always a good time.”

    Arnaz went on to describe their Beverly Hills home, “My mother loved the East Coast so she tried to bring it to Beverly Hills. We always had a flocked white tree with blue lights. At night, it made it look like wintertime in the snow,” Arnaz said.

    She fondly recalls watching her parents on the set of I Love Lucy, and hopes the “I Love Lucy Christmas Special” (8 p.m. EST Friday, CBS) will introduce the sitcom to a new generation of viewers.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons 1
    Wikimedia Commons 2

  • Lucie Arnaz Remembers Mom ‘Lucy’ During the Holidays

    Lucille Ball’s comedic genius portrayed in the timeless classic I Love Lucy still garners an audience today. In honor of the holidays, a special colorized episode is being released on CBS. Christmas was a special time enjoyed by Lucille Ball in private as well. Ball’s daughter, 62-year-old Lucie Arnaz, recently spoke about her childhood family memories surrounding the holiday season.

    “It was the only time of the year when there wasn’t stress. There was a lot of stress because of how hard they worked, and their marriage wasn’t doing well. But Christmas was always a good time,” Arnaz said.

    Arnaz went on to explain why her mother spent time decorating the Beverly Hills house in which the family resided. “My mother loved the East Coast so she tried to bring it to Beverly Hills. We always had a flocked white tree with blue lights. At night, it made it look like wintertime in the snow.”

    Arnaz even spoke about how her father (Desi Arnaz) dressed in a Santa suit. “He bent over and kissed me and said `Merry Christmas!’ I thought, `Santa sounds just like daddy,’” Arnaz said before adding that her mother’s response to the memory years later was not one of awe. “Yes, he did that. He got all liquored up and banged on the roof and got in his Santa suit with the presents and the whole thing. And then he had to open his mouth,” Lucille Ball had said.

    Lucie Arnaz is a talented singer and actress in her own right, and starred in Here’s Lucy with her mother. Arnaz recently shared news on her personal website about the release of her previous work. “I am proud to announce all six seasons of HERE’S LUCY (the series I co-starred in with my mother, Lucille Ball, and my brother, Desi Arnaz, Jr.), are now available on DVD courtesy of MPI. The wrap around commentaries on these are priceless.”

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons