ALL GOOD THINGS in June

I pick up the pace again as summer begins with Mary Tyler Moore being my classic actress for the month. This year I decided to concentrate on classic actresses who dominated the small screens and Mary definitely fits the bill. I will post pics, facts, and all other assorted goodies pertaining to the awesome Mary. My guest of the month will be my friend from Facebook, Melinda Kinnaird. And I also kick off my annual summer photo series called At The Beach/Summer Lovin', showing classic stars in photos under the sun and having fun. So please check in from time to time to see what's going on here at All Good Things.

Facts and trivia about Lucille Ball

Here are some facts and trivia about my classic goddess of the month, provided by IMDB:


Red hair and blue eyes

Originally interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, Court of Remembrance. In 2003, she was re-interred in the Ball family plot in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, New York.

Was the first woman to own her own film studio as the head of Desilu Productions.

Was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Died the morning of April 26, 1989, the fifty-sixth birthday of her friend Carol Burnett. That afternoon Burnett received the flowers that Ball had ordered for her birthday.

She was fired from working at an ice cream store because she kept forgetting to put bananas in banana splits.

TV Guide picked her as the greatest TV star of all time.

Was known for a while as Dianne Belmont back when she was a model.

Pictured on a 34¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 6 August 2001.

Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.

Her favorite movie she made was The Big Street (1942). Up to her dying day, she resented AMPAS for not recognizing her performance in the movie by including her for an Academy Award nomination.

Felt that she did not deserve the title of "Queen of Comedy" and felt that it belonged to her idol, Carole Lombard.

She was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609-1675), left England on the ship "Lyon's Whelp" for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorsetshire, England. William, along with his 2 brothers, helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the Revolutionary War and 2 of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island.

Her 1960 divorce from Desi Arnaz was quite amicable. They divided their $20 million television empire equally, each retaining 25% Desilu stock (282,800 shares), she got the homes in Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, and Desi got the beach house in Del Mar, California and his Horse Ranch in Corona, California. In addition, they agreed to joint custody of their children with him paying $450/month child support

Mother of Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.

The Greatest TV Comedies - I LOVE LUCY (1951-1957)

I have written about the greatest TV comedies of all time before on my blog and it makes for perfect timing as Lucille Ball is my TV goddess of the month. And without a doubt, her series, I Love Lucy is one, if not, greatest sitcom of all time. I know any number of fans can chime with their all time greatest but if you made a list of top 5 sitcoms of all time, I Love Lucy would probably be on 99.9% of those lists. 

Lucy in a typical Lucy situation

Lucille Ball created one of the most famous characters in TV history with the zany housewife Lucy Ricardo, who was married to Cuban bandleader Ricky (real life husband at the time Desi Arnaz). She would continually try to get into the biz herself through some kind of crazy shenanigans, usually involving her best bud, Ethel Mertz (played by good pal Vivian Vance). Ethel was married to Fred (played by William Frawley). The couples lived in the same apartment building which made for perfect comedic situations.

Fred, Ethel, Lucy and Ricky

The chemistry between the four leads was about as good as it gets. Ricky, usually losing his cool after finding out about Lucy's latest scheme...and the madder he got, the less English he would speak. And Lucy herself was perfect..playing off everyone with great timing. She wasn't called the First Lady of Television for nothing.

The Ricardos

The series produced 179 episodes over the course of six years to huge success and several Emmy wins. Everyone has their favorite episodes but once you start talking about them, a smile comes across your face and the memories come flooding back. Everyone remembers Lucy and Ethel working at the chocolate factory or Lucy get hammered on Vitameatavegamin, as she pitches the medicine for an advertisement. There are so many classic episodes to choose from that you can't go wrong with any of them.

Classic Lucy expression

Facts and trivia:

The original choices to play Fred and Ethel were Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet, the co-stars of Lucille Ball's radio show, My Favorite Husband.

William Frawley and Vivian Vance actually hated each other in real life. In the show, displays of affection were forced.

Voted #2 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Show of all time.

Desi Arnaz invented the rerun during the pregnancy episodes of this series by re-airing some episodes from the first season to give Lucy some rest.

Lucy and Vivian each won an Emmy for their performances during the series 6 year run. The fellas did not. The show itself notched 2 Emmys for Best Situation Comedy in 1953 and 1954.

Follow-up series: which both had lengthy runs as well...

The Lucy Show (1962-1968, 156 episodes)
Here's Lucy (1968-1974, 144 episodes)

Classic TV Goddess of the month: Lucille Ball

Who me? Lucy playing coy

Ever since I started my blog three years ago, my main monthly feature was dedicated to the classic film actresses of our golden age. This year I decided to change things up by concentrating on actresses who had their biggest success on the small screen. And who better to kick off the year than with everybody's favorite redhead, Lucille Ball. So all month long I will be posting facts, photos, etc about the one and only Lucy. This post is just an introduction to her to everyone.

Listening in on as Ginger talks shop on the set of Follow the Fleet

First, Ms. Ball had a very successful film career when she started out. So I don't want to imply that she only achieved success on the small screen. At the young age of 22, she had a lot of uncredited roles in such films as Kid Millions (1934), Broadway Bill (1934), Roberta (1935) and Top Hat (1935). Her first major break came with another Astaire/Rogers movie, Follow the Fleet (1936) when she was cast as Kitty Collins. Larger roles in more big films would soon follow. Stage Door, Joy Of Living, Having Wonderful Time (with Ginger again), Room Service (with the Marx brothers) and headlining her own series, Annabel, a pair of screwball films co-starring Jack Oakie. 

Lucy in a very big hat

She got to flex her dramatic chops in the classic thriller Five Came Back (1939). She would meet her eventual husband Desi Arnaz in Too Many Girls (1940). Their pairing would eventually lead to the classic sitcom I Love Lucy, which of course I will be talking lots about in later posts this month.

With Red Skelton and Gene Kelly in DuBarry Was A Lady (1943)

But Lucy would star in lots more films during the 40's before I Love Lucy would air in the mid 50's. Other notable films during this decade include Dance Girl Girl (1940), Seven Days Leave (1942), The Big Street (1942), DuBarry Was A Lady (1943), Best Foot Forward (1943), Without Love (1945), Easy To Wed (1946), and Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949). Quite the output for an actress more known for later sitcom fare.

With Esther Williams and Van Johnson in Easy To Wed (1946)

So I will begin with Lucy's legendary run in TV beginning with my next post. Hope you guys will stop by to check it out.

CLASSIC MOVIE GODDESSES in 2013...with a twist

Here is my schedule for the goddesses I will be featuring next year. The twist, you might ask? Well this time I am focusing on some of the best known TV actresses of yesteryear. Most of the actresses I chose did make feature films during their career too and some were extremely successful. But they achieved even greater success in TV. And most of their fans know them immediately once you say their name or sing their theme song or say a certain catchphrase. So here are the 11 women I will be featuring next year, one a month. There will be no Classic TV Goddess for the month of March (my annual favorite classic movie actress tourney takes place then). Here is the list below which may change if I decide to move the actresses around a bit, but these are definitely the eleven (ummm 13) I will be talking about. I will rotate every year between film and TV goddesses if this goes well.

Here's LUCY

JANUARY - LUCILLE BALL (had to kick things off with Lucy)
FEBRUARY - FLORENCE HENDERSON/BARBARA BILLINGSLEY (two for one)
APRIL - PATTY DUKE
MAY - NICHELLE NICHOLS/YVONNE CRAIG (Some sci-fi/comic book love)
JUNE - MARY TYLER MOORE
JULY - MARLO THOMAS
AUGUST - BARBARA EDEN
SEPTEMBER - ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY
OCTOBER - CAROLYN JONES
NOVEMBER - DIANA RIGG
DECEMBER - GRACIE ALLEN

Expect other notable TV actresses to pop up in the coming years such as:
DIAHANN CARROLL
SALLY FIELD (she did get her start on Gidget and The Flying Nun after all)
STEFANIE POWERS
TUESDAY WELD
SUZANNE PLESHETTE
LINDA EVANS
ELINOR DONAHUE
AUDREY MEADOWS

and many many more!