Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball, is trying to block the Heritage Auctions from auctioning off the personal effects that belonged to her mother, Lucille Ball.
The auction is set for July 17th and include love letters between Lucille Ball and her second husband Gary Morton, her 1984 Rolls Royce and her personal address book that includes addresses from many stars from her day, artwork, silverware and Ball’s favorite backgammon boards, a game which was reportedly a passion of the actress.
These items came into the hands of Susie Morton, who married Gary Morton in 1996, after the death of Lucille Ball in 1989. Susie Morton is better known as Susie McAllister, a former professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.
According to the suit brought forth by Susie Morton, she came into ownership of these items upon the death of her husband, Gary Morton, in March 1999. She claims that Lucille Ball willed her residential real property in Palm Springs, "along with the furniture, furnishings, household equipment and appliances located therein" to Gary Morton. The property included "jewelry, furs, clothing and personal effects," artwork and autographed photographs, according to the complaint.
Upon the death of her husband, she claims she inherited his personal property - including the property he had inherited from Lucille Ball.
When Susie contacted Heritage Auctions to auction off Lucille Ball's items, she said that Lucie Arnaz, through an attorney, claimed "that the items of Morton personal property were Lucille Ball's 'personal effects' and should have been distributed to her [Lucie Arnaz]."
Susie Morton seeks declaratory judgment, a restraining order and injunction, so she can auction off the items.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/13/28767.htm
While I, as a life long fan of Lucille Ball, would be fascinated to see these items, I vehemently respect the Arnaz family and their right to privacy in these items. I hope Lucy fans world wide will avoid this auction and respect the wishes of the Arnaz family. What other motivation could Mrs. Morton have but to cash in on the greatest celebrity of the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteThey were very interesting to see! I don't know if they're still up on the Heritage website or not, but there are links on the home page. I hope this mess can all be worked out as there are very personal items up for auction. It would be a shame for them to go anywhere other than to Lucie and Desi, Jr.
ReplyDeleteLucie Arnaz has been shamelessly milking her mother's and father's legacy for years with her brother under the auspices of "desilu too," hawking calendars and cookie jars and every item you can think of. They have the licensing rights to Lucy's and Desi's images, so obviously Lucille and Desi provided for them generously in their wills. I'm sure the untalented, ungrateful children have made millions. And meanwhile Lucie has bashed Lucille, calling her a bad mother. But she's more than happy to get rich off of her mother. The only blessing is that the ungrateful children do not own the rights to "I Love Lucy," which Lucille and Desi sold back to CBS, so they're not cleaning up on the DVDs, too. Stop being so greedy, Lucie. Try to show just a little of the class that your parents had.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - you need to get your facts straight before you start slamming Lucie or Desi Jr. It sounds like your jealous of them for some reason.
ReplyDeleteWow, really? If your parents had built an empire on their name and image and worked their asses off to maintain it and keep a certain standard of living, I'm sure they would have wanted you to benefit from it. Jeez...
ReplyDeleteEven Perez Hilton is supporting Lucie!
ReplyDeletehttp://perezhilton.com/2010-07-13-not-so-funny-lucille-balls-daughter-sued
I am a great fan of the Legendary Lucille Ball...I feel that Lucy's daughter should absolutely be given ALL of her late mother's personal effects...It is in terrible taste for them to be sold...also...chalk up another blunder for our court system to post a 250,000 bond for Lucille Ball's daughter to come up with to block the auction...This judge should be read the riot act, you CAN'T place a monetary value on these items, they are legendary and historical.
ReplyDelete