October 31, 2007

Lucille Ball to Appear in New USPS Stamp


Featuring Iconic Celebrities from the Hollywood Legends Stamp Series, the United States Postal Service announces their branded Hollywood Legend Stamp Puzzles are now available.

Six new stamp puzzles featuring John Wayne, Lucille Ball and other Hollywood Legends stamps take the puzzle out of gift giving.

Manufactured in the United States by White Mountain Puzzles, these 1,000-piece puzzles also depict images of Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

The "Hollywood Legends Puzzles" are some of the consumer products licensed by the U.S. Postal Service. Other items include apparel, fashion accessories, packaging and shipping products, toys and games.

"U.S. postage stamps celebrate the things that make our nation great," said Nick Barranca, Vice President, Product Development. "They remind us of America's natural wonders, important historical events, and the people who touched our lives. Like the Hollywood stars they depict, these puzzles are sure to be popular."

The "Hollywood Legends Puzzles" can be found at specialty retailers including: It's a Puzzle stores, Go! Games stores, and at whitemountainpuzzles.com.

Christie's Auction Brings Money to Lucille Ball Center

The stakes were high as bidders from around the globe took part in one of the most anticipated auctions of the season at Christie's this past weekend, where buyers had the chance to bid on some rare and important jewels, as well as some items that belonged to Lucille Ball.

Twelve items from the estate of Lucille Ball were auctioned off, including five pendant necklaces, two watches, two rings, a retro diamond and gold evening bag and matching cigarette case, selling for a combined total of $331,000. Part of the proceeds went to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, in Jamestown, NY.

The most anticipated sale of the day was an extremely rare blue diamond ring, a 5.07-carat rectangular cut "fancy" stone within a pave-set pink diamond, which sold for the highest price of the day to an anonymous buyer over the phone. The blue diamond was simply described as having been the "property of a gentleman". It was the last sale of the day.

The total in sales for the day was $38,878,650, the highest selling item going for $2,885,800 and the lowest selling item, a colored diamond ring, going for $1,375.

October 29, 2007

Lucille Ball Visits Her Home After Death

According to the New York Post, Lucille Ball was seen a few years after her death visiting the remains of her home on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills.

Apparently, Gary Morton sold the home that Lucy lived in with Desi since 1954 and continued to live there after their divorce and her remarriage to Gary. Lucy loved the house so much that she persuaded the owners to sell it, even though it wasn't on the market. A few years after her death, Gary sold the home and the new owners bulldozed it down to build another house for themselves. It was during this time that she was seen wandering around the home frustrated and melancholy about her beloved home being destroyed.

Another story from the New York Post, is about what once was owned by Desilu Studios among others. The original owner of Culver Studios, Thomas Ince, is said to be still be roaming the studio.

Lucie Arnaz Performs at Birdland


Lucie Arnaz will perform at New York's Birdland jazz club on Sunday and Monday, November 18 and 19, 2007. Appearing with her are two of her children, Katharine and Joe Luckinbill, with musical direction by Ron Abel.

Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street in New York City. The shows start at 7PM and tickets are $35. For reservations or other information, call (212) 581-3080, or visit the Birdland web site.

October 18, 2007

Desi Arnaz Orchestra Member, Tony Terran Produces CD Tribute


A very special tribute CD "Tony Terran Remembers" along with Brent Mosley and David Longoria is available from New Found Records.

Tony Terran is the last surviving member from the Desi Arnaz Orchestra and played lead trumpet on every single I Love Lucy television show that was ever taped including Here's Lucy. He has over 10,000 recording dates to his name. Tony has played on everything from the infamous "Rocky Theme Song, "Karate Kid" movies, to the original "Star Trek" television shows.

Tony has recorded with New Found Records all of his favorite songs from the I Love Lucy television show, including: the famous theme song for I Love Lucy, Cuban Pete, Babalu, Tico Tico, etc. There is also a Great Treasure included at the end of this CD ... Tony shares his personal stories about what it was like to work with Desi and Lucy backstage including how he got his job as the lead trumpet player!

This really is an unbelievable and historical CD!

By purchasing copies of Tony's CD you are also helping New Found Records continue to bring great music to the public that shouldn't be kept a secret!

You can read more about Tony Terran from his myspace website.

"Lucy at the Movies" in Bookstores


Who doesn't know Lucille Ball? From late night Nick-At-Nite viewings to 24-hour TV Land marathons, inevitably every television-owning American is familiar with the hilariously charming "I Love Lucy." Wildly charismatic and graciously fluent with slapstick comedy, Lucille Ball has lit the small screen for decades, and is a staple in American television. But a staple in American film?

In the shadow of her celebrated television career falls her equally impressive movie career, little recognized except by Ball aficionados. And while much is written about the housewife/Tropicana performer, the lavishly illustrated and highly detailed new book, LUCY AT THE MOVIES, (Running Press; October 2007; Hardcover; $29.95) is the first to take a thorough look at the film life of this classic Hollywood golden girl.

In her career, Lucille Ball performed in over eighty movies, most made in the 1930s and 40s, long before her famous antics as Lucy Ricardo. Author and classic film devotee Cindy De La Hoz not only chronicles Lucille's experience in film land, but offers a comprehensive look at each of the movies themselves, including cast and crew lists, production facts, movie synopses, behind-the-scenes stories, and contemporary movie reviews. The book is also packed with biographical insights and hundreds of never-before-published production stills and portraits, all of which define Lucille as a gifted entertainer within the golden era of American cinema.

"The value in this encyclopedia is the information on not only the film career of Lucille Ball, but the way films were made. It's an invaluable history of the motion picture industry and those who first created it," says Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz, of LUCY AT THE MOVIES. A testament to the beautiful and talented film star, De La Hoz leaves no role untouched as she manages to transport us back to Hollywood's Golden Age, reminding us that there was life before Lindsay Lohan and the starlets gracing today's tabloids, and boy was it glamorous.

You should purchase the book today, through the "Everything Lucy" website link below. Help support "Everything Lucy" and the foremost Lucille Ball website on the internet today!

About the Book: Title: LUCY AT THE MOVIES Author: Cindy De La Hoz Publisher: Running Press Format: Hardcover Price: $29.95 ISBN-13: 978-0-7624-2706-2 ISBN-10: 0-7624-2706-X Publication Month: October 2007

Jamestown Article on Carol Burnett Donation


The Jamestown Post Journal posted an article on October 12th regarding the Carol Burnett Donation to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center. Carol Burnett is donating two television episodes that likely haven’t been seen in public since they originally aired in the 1950s.

When Carol Burnett awoke on her 56th birthday in 1989, she learned on the morning news that Lucille Ball had died. Later that afternoon, the flowers she received every year arrived at her home with the note "Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy."

"From an archival perspective, these programs have also been invaluable in helping us document the wardrobe that Lucy wore on these shows. Until Ms. Burnett’s offer to help, we had no images of Lucy from these TV appearances — no footage, no photographs,’’ Wyman said. ‘‘We have many costumes and personal attire in our archives for which our collections manager continues to research the provenance. These programs helped document several costumes for us."

Read the article for more information. For more information about the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, call 484-0800 or visit their website.

Lucy's Sparkling Jewelry

This past Tuesday was the auction of Christie's Auction House which featured the sparkling jewelry of Lucille Ball.

On the Today Show on October 11th, Rahul Kadakia showed off some of these items. Watch the video below:

Sparkling jewelry from Christie’s
Sparkling jewelry from Christie’s

October 10, 2007

Lucille Ball's Trust Buys New York Condo

Lucille Ball's daughter, Lucie Arnaz has recently purchased a $1.1M Condo with a trust that was set up by her mother. Her eponymous trust closed last month on a two-bedroom, 1,014-square-foot apartment at the new rental-turned-condo building Sheffield57 near Columbus Circle.

"It's my trust set up by my mother and it has been invested for two decades," Ms. Arnaz, the 56-year-old actress, wrote to The Observer. "I manage it now and I felt this was a good investment for the Trust. It's that simple. I may or may not even live there."

Read The New York Observer for more information.

Cake Honoring Lucille Ball Wins Gold Medal

Mark Seaman, owner of the Neighborhood Bakeshop in Libertyville, Illinois as well as professional cake stylist, recently won a national competition for a six-tiered creation honoring Lucille Ball. The gold medal was won in a one-of-a-kind national wedding cake competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Mark spent 200 after-work hours creating the cake. The cake's shape is actually a plastic foam form but the icing required painstaking detail and patience. The feathered pedestal, for example, took 36 hours to make, Seaman said. The cake features the initials of Lucille Desiree Ball as intricate icing details in a heart shape on the side of the cake.

The winning entry is on display under an acrylic enclosure at his Libertyville store for the foreseeable future. Visitors should note the flowers are made of sugar not silk.

For more information, read the Daily Herald's story.

October 09, 2007

Carol Burnett Donates Special TV Episodes

Jamestown, NY – One is the Queen of comedy. The other, the Princess. They appeared in each other’s television series. They were friends for years.

When Carol Burnett awoke on her 56th birthday in 1989, she learned on the morning news that Lucille Ball had died. Later that afternoon, the flowers she received every year arrived at her home with the note “Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy.”

Recently, Carol Burnett called the executive director of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Ball’s hometown to ask, “How can I help?” Executive director Ric Wyman reported, “Naturally, my first response was to invite her to Jamestown, New York. While Ms. Burnett agreed that she hopes to be able to visit here some day, she was more immediately able to provide us with something we’ve wanted for a long time.”

As a result, her hometown museum now holds in its archives a copy of every installment of The Carol Burnett Show in which Lucille Ball appeared.

“Because these episodes of The Carol Burnett Show are not available on home video or in syndication, we believe they’ve not been seen since their original air dates,” Wyman said. Ms. Burnett has generously given the Lucy-Desi Center permission to incorporate this footage into future exhibits at the Lucy-Desi Museum.

“From an archival perspective, these programs have also been invaluable in helping us document the wardrobe that Lucy wore on these shows. Until Ms. Burnett’s offer to help, we had no images of Lucy from these TV appearances—no footage, no photographs,” Wyman said. “We have many costumes and personal attire in our archives for which our collections manager continues to research the provenance. These programs helped document several costumes for us,” Wyman noted.

What inspired Carol Burnett to call? Wyman explained, “Ret Turner, a five-time Emmy award winning costume designer—who designed several gowns for Lucy—is also a close friend of Ms. Burnett’s. Ret has been a staunch supporter of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center for several years and was with us in Jamestown this summer. Earlier this year, Ret shared his experiences of the Lucy-Desi Center with Ms. Burnett. This lead to Ms. Burnett’s call to us,” Wyman said.

With the strong connection between these two iconic comediennes, the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center’s collection is greatly enhanced by the addition of these offerings.

For more information about the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, call (716) 484-0800 (toll-free: 1-877-LUCY-FAN) or visit their website.

October 08, 2007

Vintage Hollywood Magazines Featuring Lucille Ball Made Available

Fergie may sing about "The Glamorous Life," but Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Elvis lived it. And now you can relive it in the pages of Hollywood Studio Magazine Vintage Collection.

Recently Ralph Benner, publisher of the legendary Hollywood Magazines such as Rona Barrett's Hollywood and Tiger beat, opened the vaults and has made
available to the public vintage issues of Hollywood Studio Magazine. Stored in a warehouse for over 20 years, these magazines are in mint condition and take you back to the real "Glamorous Life" of the Hollywood legends. The stars who lit up the screen and yes, the gossip columns, too, come alive with elegant color photos, interesting behind-the-scenes stories and a fascinating look into the business that made them stars.

If you remember the glittering life style of the "old Hollywood," or just want to find out more about what it was really like when stars walked the red carpet in mink and sable and long cigarette holders, let Hollywood Studio Magazine take you there.

For more information, go to Hollywood Studio Magazine. Issues of the magazine are limited and once they are gone, they are gone forever. The glamorous life of old Hollywood may be gone forever, too, but relive it in the pages of Hollywood Studio Magazine.

The Lucy Anniversary Special magazine sales for $10.00. One year after her death in 1990 this collector’s issue contains more never-before-seen photos; profiles of her most memorable leading men; a tribute to her husband Gary Morton and her mother Desiree Ball; Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr; an episodic guide to The Lucy Show; four glamorous color portraits and color pull-out poster of Lucy as Mame.

Lucy: A Loving Tribute sales for $10.00. Published in 1989 at the time of her death. Includes a collector’s treasury of never-before-seen photos; Scenes from 80 of her top films, intimate family photos; a complete guide to every I Love Lucy episode and photo career highlights from her other TV shows. Plus 4 Color Portraits and Pull-=Out Color Poster!

Hollywood Studio Magazine had its debut in 1957 and ceased publication in 1992. Every issue was a collector’s gem. Printed on fine quality paper, each issue contained star photos in color, pull out movie posters suitable for framing and vast files of untold stories about the glory days of the motion picture industry and its most glamorous stars.

The Saturday Seven: Funny Female Friendships

Good friendships are perhaps one of the most valuable things in life to have. Friendships enrich our lives, keep us laughing and get us through the week. Photo at left: Friends Betty White, Lucille Ball and Carol Channing. For some reason women tend to develop close friendships, different from men.

Read more from the Palm Springs Savant.

Religion takes center stage with Mississippi ballet company

JACKSON, Miss. - Instead of heading off to college after high-school graduation, Elizabeth Kraft left her Northern Virginia home for a small dance studio in Mississippi.

She had long aspired to dance professionally. But after enrolling in various programs, Kraft said, she found the competitive world of dance to be “cutthroat.” She even considered giving it up.

“The Lord showed me that without dance in my life,” the 19-year-old said, “it would be kind of empty.”

She and other dancers from around the world were drawn to Ballet Magnificat!, a nondenominational Christian ballet company that combines classical dance instruction, family-friendly material and a mission to share the Christian faith. It’s part of a trend incorporating dance and other creative arts into religious expression, scholars say.

Kraft is a member of the Jackson-based company’s trainee program, where dancers are schooled in classical ballet and get to participate in Christian-themed performances.

A fellow trainee, Hanna Nagel, 22, traveled from Germany to join after dancing in secular companies in her native country. Nagel said she found her religious beliefs interfered with some of the provocative subject matter portrayed on stage. She knew there had to be a place where her spiritual side could exist with her passion for dancing.

Ballet Magnificat!’s building is unassuming from the outside. But with four dance studios and a school of arts that teaches about 400, the narrow hallways are abuzz. Music echoes through the sweltering studios, the temperatures suiting dancers’ need for warm muscles.

The company was founded in 1986 by Kathy Thibodeaux, a silver medalist at the II USA International Ballet Competition, held in Jackson every four years.

Her performance to the contemporary Christian classic “We Shall Behold Him” was “sort of the seed that started out as Ballet Magnificat!,” said Keith Thibodeaux, Kathy’s husband and executive director of the business.

Keith Thibodeaux is no stranger to performing. Though not trained in ballet, he plays the drums, a talent that earned him a gig as Little Ricky, the TV son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz on “I Love Lucy.”

Kathy Thibodeaux said most of the company’s performances are biblically based stories put to dance with contemporary Christian and classical music.

“We use the same dance vocabulary that we were brought up in. We just sell a different message,” she said.

What started as a four-person ballet company has grown to two professional touring companies - Alpha and Omega - and 31 trainees. They attend classes five days a week in preparation for ministries in the touring companies as well as other mission work.

“Our desire is that it will magnify the Lord in all that we do. Dancing is just a gift that the Lord gave us,” Kathy Thibodeaux said.

Members of the Alpha Company spent the beginning of September on a European tour that took them to Germany, Greece and the Czech Republic. Alpha is performing “Ruth,” a contemporary spin on the biblical story.

The group says it has not faced much resistance in performing Christian-themed productions.

“We really get to go where the normal crews of church pastors or evangelists are not able to go to,” Keith Thibodeaux said. He believes the performances attract people who enjoy ballet - as well as people who’ve never seen ballet but attend because the group is Christian.

Cynthia Newland, assistant professor of dance at Christian liberal-arts school Belhaven College in Jackson, said Christian dance found a place in the “Jesus Movement” of the 1960s and grew.

Along with dance, other creative arts such as painting and poetry reading are joining more traditional expressions like music and drama in worship settings.

“I’ve in particular seen much more of a growth and a resurgence in dance in the last 12 years,” Newland said. “That is being done in churches of all denominations.”

Harbor City Plans Lucille Ball Celebration

Harbor City, Maryland is planning a tribute to Lucille Ball, complete with red wigs and polka-dotted dresses.

"It's got to be big. This is a Lucille Ball celebration!" choir director Michael Gellert told the women during rehearsal this week at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park.

Harbor City, which has about 70 members across Maryland and northern Virginia and 26 members from Anne Arundel County, is a barbershop choir affiliated with Sweet Adelines International.

Read more in the Maryland Gazette.