Search results
The series was broadcast for six years as half-hour episodes, later changing to hour-long specials from 1957 to 1960 titled The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour). [6] Vivian Vance played Ethel Mertz, Frawley's on-screen wife. Although the two actors worked well together, they greatly disliked each other.
So, in mid-1951, when actress Lucille Ball contacted Frawley about the possibility of taking on the role of gruff landlord Fred Mertz in her new comedy television series, I Love Lucy, she and...
Ball was born in 1911, Arnaz in 1917, creating a six-year age difference between them. In fact, Ball and Arnaz married when they were 29 and 23 respectively. So, when I Love Lucy began, Ball was 40 years old while her real-life and TV husband was 34.
Jun 18, 2024 · Reading about I Love Lucy in the Hollywood trades, and recognizing that it was based on the radio show My Favorite Husband, he assumed they were going to need an older couple to play opposite Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
- Ed Gross
By 1951, when he contacted Lucille Ball about a part in her TV show I Love Lucy (1951), he had performed in over 100 films. His Fred Mertz role lasted until the show ended in 1960, after which he did a five-year stint on My Three Sons (1960). Poor health forced his retirement.
People also ask
How long did Fred Mertz play Lucille Ball?
Did Fred Mertz win 'I Love Lucy'?
When did Fred Mertz retire?
Who played Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy?
Apr 16, 2023 · The series, which centered around Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and their friends Fred and Ethel Mertz, was a sensation in its time and still lives in syndication seven decades later.