In 1989 the Academy made the cruel mistake of nominating the “Stars of Tomorrow” on the Oscars and having the young performers sing and dance on the show (including Corey Feldman.) Watch this clip and you will be shocked by how LITTLE success many of these familiar young actors had – none of them came close to getting an Oscar…(Watching Bob Hope and Lucille Ball in their 80’s introduce the segment is fun too!)
Everybody’s been talking about how Nicole Kidman bears little resemblance to Lucille Ball, the character she’s playing in Being the Ricardos. In fact, Nicole is a natural redhead with curly hair – just like Lucille. And she has the same tall model figure that Lucy had. In this photo she’s wearing a wig and we hope it looks real up close. A movie can be totally ruined right from the beginning if a character is wearing an obvious wig. If we spot a wig in a film we cannot get into the story- it’s all about the wig. THAT’s how important hair experts are on a set. We wonder if Nicole will have those strangely drawn on lips that Lucy had…
Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA
You may not recognize this actress in her 1950’s wardrobe, but she abruptly became famous because she was seen in the company of Brad Pitt. She’s Alia Shawkat, and it turned out she and Brad are just friends, but it put her on the map. Alia is costarring in the Lucille Ball film (with Nicole Kidman) now called Being the Ricardos for Amazon. She plays Madelyn Pugh Davis. Madelyn and Bob Carroll Jr were the writers of the entire I Love Lucy 180 episode series. Madelyn was one of VERY few female writers in Hollywood – certainly it was her female point of view that made Lucille Ball so funny. Let’s face it, female writers are BETTER at writing female characters. Leave it to writer/director Aaron Sorkin to acknowledge the importance of these comedy writers.
Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA
Nice to hear that Aaron Sorkin has written and is directing a feature film about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz called Being the Ricardos and it looks like Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem will be starring. Lucy and Desi filmed 180 episodes (that’s a LOT!) of the hit show I Love Lucy for the six seasons it ran in the early 50’s. It was one of the all-time most successful series on TV, and Aaron’s script deals with one production week of the show in which two devastating events occurred threatening the couple’s careers and their marriage. Interesting that Nicole and Javier are neither American or Cuban. What we want to know is: Who will play Fred and Ethel Mertz? Any suggestions?
Photo: I Love Lucy
Looks like Cate Blanchett’s Amazon project about Lucille Ball is finally happening and not a minute too soon! Aaron Sorkin’s script was originally called “Lucy & Desi,” but it’s been changed to “Untitled Lucille Ball Project”– maybe Desi isn’t so important. At one time Javier Bardem was suggested to play Desi – THAT we would love to see! We can already picture him in those gabardine suits with slicked back hair. Keep in mind there will be funny “I Love Lucy” sequences in the film, but it IS a drama about the 20 -sometimes rocky- years Lucy and Desi were together!
Did you recognize Lucille Ball in those go-go boots above? According to television historian Richard Metzger of Dangerous Minds.net, Lucille Ball did an hour long variety special, “Lucy in London” in 1966 in conjunction with her series “The Lucy Show.” “Lucy Carmichael” won a free trip to London in a dog food jingle contest and she took “Mr Mooney” (Gale Gordon) as her plus one. Monsanto sponsored the show. In this clip Anthony Newley took her shopping on Carnaby Street after she fell in the Thames. Watch for a cameo by Twiggy. Oh, and that’s The Dave Clark Five singing. Have fun!
#sofiavergara #janetcharlton
Sofia Vergara is done up pretty convincingly as Lucille Ball in this photo she posted online, but the question is WHY? This is obviously a professional makeover – Sofia didn’t do it in her bathroom at home, and there is considerable attention to detail. Is she made up for a dream sequence on Modern Family? A costume party? Or is Sofia trying to show another side of her personality to casting directors? It IS, after all, getting her a lot of attention!
Memories of Lucille Ball: Lucy was born on August 6, 1911 so Saturday would have been her 100th birthday. After she divorced Desi Arnaz , Lucy married 13 years younger stand-up comic Gary Morton, and he seemed to be the perfect husband for the rest of her life. We remember seeing them together at Pips playing backgammon, and once we ran into Lucy and Gary shopping in Carl’s Market. Gary pushed the cart and Lucy pointed to the things she wanted and he scooped them up. They bought lots of canned tuna on sale. Another time we were hovering outside her dressing room at some event and we overheard that distinctive deep, gravelly voice of hers saying “Gary freshen my drink, will you?” We always wondered what made her voice become so deep – smoking, drinking? We also visited Lucy’s Beverly Hills house before it was sold and destined to be torn down. She had a hidden bar- you pushed a button on the den wall and a well-stocked hidden bar popped out. We miss Lucy.
Who would have guessed Lucille Ball was a big fan of Tom Cruise! Tom’s ties to Paramount are deeper than we realized. Years ago, after Risky Business was released, Lucille Ball and her husband Gary Morton produced Tom’s next film, “All The Right Moves.” The Mortons and Cruise were considered an odd pairing at that time in Hollywood, but Lucy liked Tom and once described him as “a clean cut all American kid.” Eventually, Tom moved his offices into the enormous Lucille Ball building at Paramount and by the time he left last week, he was occupying the entire structure. So he must be feeling some sentimental twinges.
