Television audiences will always fondly remember Lucille Ball as the titular character she
played on the hit 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy.
While the character of Lucy on the show may have been bubbly and innocent, it appears
as if Lucille was a much more demanding figure behind the scenes.
Some even have claimed that the beloved comedic actress could be a bit of a monster when she
was working on set, though her demanding nature was only in pursuit of the comic perfection
that made her various shows so successful.
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at how Lucille Ball was a monster on set, according
to costars.
In the decades since I Love Lucy first began airing in the 1950s, titular star Lucille
Ball has gone down in history as one of the most legendary and inspirational comedic stars
of all time!
After having struggled to find fame in Hollywood for many years and ending up on radio, Lucille
was given the opportunity to star in her very own television sitcom.
As a consummate professional, Lucille took the job very seriously.
From the very first episode of I Love Lucy, Lucille put an immense amount of work into
honing her comedic performances, and she expected everybody else on the set of the series to
be working just as hard as she was.
I Love Lucy has gone on to become one of the most popular television series of all time,
so Lucille Ball must’ve been doing something right!
However, the star’s demanding nature behind the scenes of the series rubbed a lot of her
coworkers the wrong way.
In the years since I Love Lucy came to an end, there have been many horror stories about
what it was like working with Lucille on the show’s set.
One of the coworkers that Lucille could often be found butting heads with on the set of
I Love Lucy was Vivian Vance, who portrayed the character of Ethel.
Although Lucille Ball felt more professional respect for Vivian than she did arguably any
other coworker on the set, the two still found themselves butting head numerous times due
to creative differences.
Lucille and Vivian were the same age, though Vivian was often done up by the makeup department
to look a bit older and frumpier than Lucille was.
The purpose of Vivian Vance looking the way that she did when portraying the character
of Ethel was for comedy.
Of course, Lucille’s real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, was playing her husband on the
screen.
Desi Arnaz played the fictional Ricky Ricardo, who was as suave and charming on the series
as Desi was in real life.
Meanwhile, the character of Ethel had a husband played by William Frawley, a much older and
far less attractive screen presence than Desi Arnaz.
For these reasons and more, the comedy of I Love Lucy simply necessitated Vivian not
looking quite as attractive on the screen as the character of Lucy did.
Understandably, the pain of having to look less attractive than Lucille started to wear
on Vivian Vance during the filming I Love Lucy.
Although Lucille and Vivian were the same age, Vivian’s character was married to a
much older man than Lucille’s was.
Not only that, but Vivian’s character was routinely made the butt of the joke for how
unattractive she was supposed to be, with her still not apparently being good enough
for husband Fred, despite the age gap.
Vivian Vance’s distaste for performing on I Love Lucy was also worsened by her poor
relationship with actor William Frawley, who played her aforementioned on-screen husband,
Fred.
Fred and Ethel Mertz proved the perfect counterpoint to Ricky and Lucille Ricardo, despite the
tension that occurred between the stars on set.
Lucille always remained happy with Vivian’s performance, even though Vivian might not
have been content with her role.
Although Vivian Vance may have grown to consider Lucille Ball a bit of a monster during the
time that they worked together on I Love Lucy, the two maintained professional respect for
each other and continued to work together over the years leading up to Vivian’s death
at the age of 70 from cancer.
Vivian understood that Lucille was simply trying to make the best comedy possible for
the television audience at home and that she never intended to make her feel bad about
herself.
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Even though Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance didn't always see things the same way while
working together on I Love Lucy, Lucille claimed that Vivian was the costar that she had the
most professional respect for.
According to the late Lucille Ball, no one could make her laugh on the set of one of
her shows quite like Vivian Vance.
Although Vivian was always relegated to playing second fiddle to Lucille, she was an integral
part of what made her comedy work.
Besides Vivian Vance, many other stars came out after I Love Lucy’s end with stories
about how hard it could sometimes be to work with Lucille Ball.
Former child actor Keith Thibodeaux played the character of Little Ricky on the series,
and he has some memories about how demanding Lucille Ball could be to others on the set
of the show.
While Keith claims that Lucille was always kind towards him, he also remembers feeling
a little bit intimidated by the beloved comedic actress due to how seriously she took her
work.
Another person that worked with Lucille Ball and claimed that she wasn’t always the easiest
person to get along with was fellow female comedian Edie Adams.
Edie Adams worked alongside Lucille Ball on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, which was the real-life
husband and wife duo’s follow-up to I Love Lucy.
Lucille’s quest for comedic perfection continued on the series, and arguably continued for
many years after that!
According to the late Edie Adams, Lucille wasn’t quite as easy to work with as many
other comedians of the time.
While many comedians of the day liked to keep things simple and easy on the set of their
shows, Lucille was a much more authoritarian ruler on her sets.
However, this attitude from Lucille was simply a result of her workflow being different than
the majority of her fellow comedians.
Whereas other comedians of the time had a much more lackadaisical approach to their
comedy, Lucille was more of a stickler.
Part of the reason that Lucille Ball could be such a monster on the set of her shows
was that she hated improvisation.
Lucille needed lots of rehearsal in order to get her comedic performances exactly the
way that she wanted them to be, and this required everyone who was working with her to be able
to say every single line exactly the way that she needed it to be said.
This insistence on perfect delivery led to rehearsals for Lucille’s shows being much
more demanding than rehearsals for other programs of a similar nature, and this didn’t go
unnoticed to her variety of costars.
Lucille Ball was a very physical comedic actress, and she put a whole lot of care into every
one of her comedy bits.
During the days of I Love Lucy, this often meant going out of her way to become an expert
on seemingly unrelated skills, such as rolling pizza dough.
If the character of Lucy was going to have to roll pizza dough, Lucille was going to
make sure that she knew how to do it in real life!
According to Lucille, she couldn’t figure out how to make rolling pizza dough funny
unless she really understood the art.
While Lucille Ball’s demanding nature on the set of her shows certainly paid off in
terms of success, it still rubbed some of her coworkers the wrong way.
Another thing that made the environment on the sets of I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi
Comedy Hour difficult was the real-life relationship between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had been married for over a decade before starring on I Love
Lucy, and they went through numerous ups and downs throughout their marriage.
They had originally been hoping that performing on the show together would save their marriage,
but this didn't turn out to be true.
Instead, their tumultuous relationship continued over the course of the series filming, as
well as the filming of their subsequent show together.
Since the earliest days of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s marriage, Desi had a habit
of cheating on his spouse with various ladies of the night.
According to the late Desi Arnaz, he didn’t understand why his wife would be upset about
his cheating so long as the women that he was cheating on her with were prostitutes.
Lucille and Desi didn’t see things the same way, leading to them getting divorced after
two decades of marriage.
Some say that one of the reasons that Desi cheated on Lucille so much during the time
that I Love Lucy was being filmed was that he was often emasculated by her controlling
behavior on the show’s set.
Between Lucille and Desi, Lucille was the one with the much stronger comedic vision
for I Love Lucy.
Desi often had little to say about the artistic direction of the show, while Lucille exerted
so much creative input that it literally scared her coworkers.
Although Lucille and Desi certainly loved each other, some speculate that Desi continued
cheating even after it began driving their marriage apart because he needed to feel like
he was in control somewhere.
Although it seems that Lucille Ball could be a bit of a monster on the set of her shows,
she was simply doing what was best for her comedic vision.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Lucille Ball rubbed many of her
coworkers the wrong way due to her strict professionalism on the set of her shows, or
did you assume that the beloved comedic actress had been as easy going as her peers?
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