933

Remembering a great lady 34 years later...

July 26, 1909 - August 17, 1979

This great actress had an incredible career on Broadway in the 1930's and 40's but it wasn't until she began playing the role of Ethel Mertz in 1951 that she became a household name.  On "I Love Lucy" she played Ethel to Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo and together they were two zany housewives always on a mission.  Their husbands were Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley) respectively.  The show ran from 1951 until 1957 and then the cast played the same characters on 13 Lucy-Desi specials between 1957 and 1960.  In 1962 she returned to television once again with Ball to appear as Vivian Bagley in "The Lucy Show."  This character would turn out to be the first divorced woman in prime time American television.  She left the series in 1965 but returned for regular guest appearances.  Ball's third series, "Here's Lucy", ran from 1968 to 1974, her old pal appeared in six episodes between 1968 and 1972.  She last worked with Lucille in the 1977 special "Lucy Calls the President."

On the big screen she appeared in three films, The Blue Veil, The Secret Fury and The Great Race.  Television guest appearances include "The Buick-Berle Show", "Shower of Stars", "The Deputy", "The Red Skelton Show" (5 episodes as Clara Appleby), "Love, American Style" and "Rhoda."  Her final screen apperance was in an episode of "Sam" which aired on April 18, 1978. 

In 1954 she became the first person to win an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series. 

She left us on this day 34 years ago...

In Memoriam Remembers:
Vivian Vance

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Cast of "Make Room for Daddy" / "The Danny Thomas Show" (583)

It was one of the longest running family sitcoms in television history.  Right there along side "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" it was one of the most beloved programs of the day.  It began on ABC as "Make Room for Daddy" on September 29, 1953.  After 120 episodes the title changed to "The Danny Thomas Show" and in 1957 the program moved to CBS.  After a healthy eleven year run the show ended on April 27, 1964 after producing 351 episodes total.  In 1970 a majority of the cast returned for the show "Make Room for Granddaddy" which lasted from 1970 to 1971 producing 24 episodes.  The cast was headed up by Danny Thomas who played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams.  Jean Hagen played his wife Margaret, Rusty Hamer played his son Rusty and Sherry Jackson played his daughter Terry.  Jackson played Terry from 1953 to 1958 followed by Penny Parker who played the role from...
Read more

Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 - March 31, 1979)

She began in New York on Broadway and then started appearing on radio. Some of her radio credits include "Henry Aldrich" and "Mr. & Mrs. North." When she became a widow in 1953 she relocated to California where she began appearing on film and on television. Her first film was Meet Me at the Fair. She also appeared in The Perils of Pauline in 1967. She is best remembered as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Beaver's Principal on "Leave it to Beaver." She also had a recurring role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Her final film appearance was in Shampoo in 1975... Other Television Credits: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre" "The Bob Cummings Show" "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" "I Love Lucy" "Lux Video Theatre" "The Jack Benny Program" "The Thin Man" "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" "Maverick" ...
Read more