PEOPLE IN AMERICA - May 26, 2002: Lucille Ball
By Mario Ritter
VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about
the much-loved performer Lucille Ball. Her famous television series, “I Love Lucy,” was first broadcast in
nineteen-fifty-one.
((CUT 1: “I Love Lucy Theme”)
VOICE ONE:
The “I Love Lucy” show was a huge success. It was the most popular television show of
the Nineteen-fifties. The kind of television program Mizz Ball helped develop is called a
situation comedy. Some television experts give her credit for inventing this kind of series.
Today, some of the most popular television programs in America are situation comedies.
VOICE TWO:
One reason for the great popularity of “I Love Lucy” may have been its real-life connection
with Mizz Ball’s family. On the show, she was Lucy, the wife of Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban
musician. Ricky was played by band leader Desi Arnaz, who was Lucille Ball’s husband in
real life. The show combined issues common to the life of married people living in the city with
musical performances and comic theater.
Often, a show would include a part with Mister Arnaz acting seriously while Mizz Ball added a
funny element. In the following piece, Mister Arnaz tries to sing normally and Mizz Ball adds
the comedy:
(CUT 2: By the Waters of the Minnetonka")
VOICE ONE:
Also on the “I Love Lucy” show were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Mizz Vance
played Ethel Mertz and Mister Frawley played Ethel’s husband, Fred Mertz. On the show,
the Mertzes were friends of the Ricardos and owned the building in which they all lived.
Fred Mertz loved baseball, which was America’s most
popular sport at the time. “I Love Lucy,” often showed
Fred Mertz intensely watching baseball or some other sport like boxing while Ethel
added her own funny comments:
(CUT 3: “Seeing a baseball game is fun”)
VOICE TWO:
A well-known story about the “I Love Lucy Show”
concerns the birth of the
Arnaz’s son, Desi Junior. Officials of the broadcasting company wondered what to do when Mizz Ball became
pregnant in nineteen-fifty-two. Mizz Ball explains that her husband, Desi, came up with a solution:
(CUT 4: “Why don’t we have it on the show?”)
VOICE ONE:
Mizz Ball’s pregnancy was made part of the show. In fact, critics say the show in which Lucy
Ricardo tells Ricky that she is pregnant is one of the best. In it, Lucy goes to the entertainment
place where Ricky’s band is playing to tell him that they are going to have a baby. Ricky
suddenly understands that he is going to be a father after Lucy secretly requests the song,
“We’re having a Baby:
”
(Cut 5: “We’re Having a Baby”)
VOICE ONE:
Mizz Ball gave birth to her second child on the same day that Lucy Ricardo gave birth. In fact, Desi Junior’s
birth date was planned to happen on the same day as the broadcast.
The show in which Lucy gave birth was one of the most popular television programs ever broadcast in America.
(In fact, the story is that Desi Junior’s birth replaced reports about Dwight Eisenhower’s first presidential
ceremony on the front pages of America’s newspapers.)
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
The success of the “I Love Lucy”
show did not come early in Lucille Ball’s life, or easily. Instead, it was the
result of years of hard work.
Mizz Ball was born near Jamestown, New York, in nineteen-eleven. She tried to get into show business at an
early age. Early on, she went to the same acting school as the famous actress Bettie Davis. However, she left
when she was told that she did not have enough acting ability.
In the early Nineteen-Thirties, she moved to Hollywood. She appeared in a number of movies, but was not well-
known.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-forty, she met the leader of a musical group who had been born in Cuba. His full name was Desiderio
Alberto Arnaz de Acha the Third. They worked together in a movie and married soon after they met. For the next
ten years, she appeared in movies and on radio. He travelled a lot with his band.
In Nineteen-Fifty, the broadcasting company, C-B-S, decided to make a television program based on the radio
show, “My Favorite Husband.
”
Lucille Ball was the star of the radio show. She wanted Mister Arnaz to play
the part of her husband on the television show. C-B-S rejected the idea. But, she refused to give up. She and Desi
travelled around the country performing in a show together to prove that they would do well on television. Their
show was a success. C-B-S offered them both jobs.
VOICE TWO:
Mizz Ball had another demand. She wanted her show to be a production of the best quality. Early television
pictures were not of good quality. Mizz Ball wanted her program to be filmed, which would improve the picture,
and then broadcast later. Yet she wanted people to watch the program as it was being filmed so the sound of their
reactions could be captured.
Mizz Ball also wanted to film the shows in Hollywood. C-B-S did not want the extra costs. So, Mizz Ball and
Mister Arnaz agreed to work for less pay. In exchange, C-B-S let them own the program. That agreement made
them owners of what would become one of the most successful programs on television.
VOICE ONE:
During the fifties, Mizz Ball won almost every honor there was for television actors including several Emmy
Awards. Yet, even the most popular performers could not escape the political realities of the time. Conservative
lawmakers accused Lucille Ball of being a Communist. The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept a secret record
of information about her, just as it did about many Hollywood actors at that time.
VOICE TWO:
Mister Arnaz supervised their company, Desilu Productions. The company produced sixteen different television
programs and ran three production centers, called studios.
In Nineteen-Sixty, Lucille Ball and Mister Arnaz legally ended their marriage. Mister Arnaz sold his part of the
company to his ex-wife. Mizz Ball became the first woman to head a major production company. It was one of
the biggest in Hollywood.
Mizz Ball also was the star of several other shows of her own. “The Lucy Show” was broadcast from nineteen-
sixty-two to nineteen-sixty-eight. “Here’s Lucy” followed until nineteen-seventy-four. Mizz Ball later sold
her production company to Paramount Studios.
VOICE ONE:
“I Love Lucy”
showed Mizz Ball at her best. Mister Arnaz added something that was unusual for American
television at the time. Many of the songs on the show were in Spanish. One song, “Babalu,” is popularly
connected with “I Love Lucy”. Its words are Spanish and its sound is Latin American. It is this mixture along
with the excellent performances that made the show special:
(CUT 6: “Babalu")
VOICE TWO:
Mizz Ball died in nineteen-eighty-nine after a heart operation. Yet, she still makes people laugh. Her programs
are rebroadcast on television and there are hundreds of Internet sites about her. After all these years, everyone
still loves Lucy.
(CUT 7: “I Love Lucy")
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Mario Ritter and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of
America.
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