What's New in the Lucyverse? The latest info, news, and opinion on your favorite redhead! Click above.. Table of Contents My Soap Opera Weekly Blog Top Lucy TV Moments Lucy, The Esquire Girl Lucy Collectibles! Lucy A to Z: 4th Edition Non-Lucy Scribbles More Books The ABC Movie of the Week Companion Lucy’s Series Photo Album The Lucy Archives Lucy Collectibles Ask the Lucy Collector! TV Tidbits Wanda’s World Classic Images Interview Six Degrees of Lucy Lucy’s Celeron House A Pop Quiz Lucy & Lois Erma on Lucy "What If?" Lucy... Lucy’s Films A Memo from Lucille Ball Sitcom Queens KSAV: Talking Television Lois Lane Phyllis Hyman A Robot’s Tale Remembering Mom Remembering Craig Links For information on my books, including Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia, The Lucille Ball Quiz Book, The ABC Movie of the Week Companion, The TV Tidbits Classic Television Book of Lists, Kiss Me, Kill Me, and more, click on the logo above. Talk to me.

It's amazing, but almost 60 years after she created the character of Lucy Ricardo, Lucille Ball remains one of the top Hollywood icons, and her popularity is undiminished. Here's where you'll find all kinds of news, pictures and features that center around Lucy, I Love Lucy, her co-stars Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, Lucy's other TV shows and appearances, her movie roles, and…well, you get the picture. All from my unique perspective as a best-selling Lucille Ball biographer and classic TV author. Click at top left on "What's New in the Lucyverse?" to begin your journey. Expanded, revised, updated — the reviews are in for Lucy A to Z: "Very important.... Fresh insights.... This is the most detailed — and most enjoyable — book available on Lucille Ball. A must-have." — Laura Wagner, Classic Images "This new fourth edition is a wonderful read, and I'm pleased to recommend it to everyone." — Wanda Clark, Lucille Ball's personal secretary If you love Lucy, you'll love this book. Available everywhere online. Click the cover above to order. SPOTLIGHT: Edith Head, one of Hollywood's best-known and most prolific costume designers, worked with Lucille Ball on more than one occasion. Head and designer Edward Stevenson won Oscars for the black-and-white costume design in Lucy and Bob Hope's 1960 film, The Facts of Life. Stevenson was with Lucy from I Love Lucy on as her costume designer, but apparently Head also did some designs, especially one number Lucy favored and wore on both The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. A sketch of this blue number, part of which you can see at left, was recently bought at auction by artist Dave Woodman, who kindly shared it with me, to share with you. A source close to the piece notes that this dress was, "the single most worn outfit on The Lucy Show, and the skirt was even shortened for Here's Lucy (when the outfit's familiar big bow tie around the neck was also added)." For a larger version that shows the entire piece, go the What's New? page. Gale Storm, a contemporary and acquaintance of Lucille Ball's, has died. Storm was a quadruple-threat performer, scoring in movies, radio, television (two hit sitcoms), and the pop music charts in the 1950s. She was also one of my favorite Funny Ladies, and I spoke with her several years ago about her career. For more, see my longer appreciation of Storm's career, here. VIVIAN VANCE'S CENTENNARY: The Great Race Of all the I Love Lucy principal cast members, Vance made the fewest films: only three, unless you count a very young Vance cameo-ing in the chorus of the 1933 musical Eadie was a Lady (See YouTube for a gander), or The I Love Lucy Movie, made in 1953 but never released, which was three episodes strung together to capitalize on the series' popularity (it's available on the I Love Lucy boxed set). Vance, in fact, was reluctant to sign on to the series that made her a legend, because she had just finished small roles in two films (1950's The Secret Fury and 1951's The Blue Veil), and thought she might have a film career after 20 years of stage work. Fortunately for us, she was persuaded to do I Love Lucy. Unfortunately for Vance, she submerged herself so well into the character of Ethel that she was forever stereotyped, with Hollywood reluctant to cast her in movie roles; the fear was, people would see her on-screen and, no matter the role, think, "Oh, look, it's Ethel Mertz!". So she returned to the stage after The Lucy Show, and was content with the occasional TV appearance, with one exception: 1965's big, splashy comedy The Great Race. In it, she played the women's-lib-leaning wife of newspaper editor Arthur O'Connell (see Vance's cigar in the pic above), who ends up taking over the paper after her husband has a nervous breakdown during the race. It's a small role, little more than an extended cameo (of it, Vance laughed, "I had more more costumes than lines"), but as usual she threw herself into the part, and her moments are truly memorable. The Great Race starred Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, and lovely Natalie Wood, to the right of Vance in the pic. The movie was one of the Top 10 films of the year, won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects, and was nominated for four others. "Lucy: A Tribute to the Queen of Comedy" content: © 2009 Michael Karol No text may be reprinted nor pictures taken from this site without the express permission of the author. Screen captures are created for your enjoyment, and are not meant to infringe on any copyrights held by the creators.