Bob Carroll Jr. Passes On

News has been released that Bob Carroll, Jr., one of the writers of many of the I Love Lucy episodes has died. He was born, August 13, 1918.

Bob Carroll, Jr., along with Madelyn Davis wrote many of the episodes of alot of Lucille Ball's TV Comedies from I Love Lucy through Life With Lucy. He also produced one of Lucille's specials, Lucy Calls the President. Most recently he was featured in The Desilu Story in 2003.

Further is a story on Bob Carroll from TV Week.

Lucille Ball Actor, Charles Lane Turns 102 Today!

Charles Lane, who co-starred in many of Lucille Ball's I Love Lucy episodes turns 102 today!

Charles Lane, whose first role was in the 1931 film, Smart Money has starred with many of Hollywoods greatest including James Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, Edward Robinson and Lionel Barrymore. Born Charles Gerstle Levison on January 26th, 1905 in San Francisco, he was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild 74 years ago.

He appeared with Lucy in several I Love Lucy episodes, including the classic show where Lucy gives birth to Little Ricky, "Lucy Goes to the Hospital". Lane played a character he described as "this old guy who is expecting his 10th child or something", in the waiting room with pacing, nervous father-to-be Desi Arnaz. He was also a first-season regular on The Lucy Show where he played the Danfield banker, Mr. Barnsdahl. He first appeared with Lucy in her film, "Miss Grant Takes Richmond".

When he turned 100, he celebrated at the Marina Beach Marriott hotel in Marina del Rey, CA with many of his friends and associates, including those from his "Lucy" days. The party featured many memorabilia, film clips and photos from his long career.

Lucy's Home in Beverly Hills

Check out the interactive map of Lucille Ball's home in Beverly Hills. It's estimated worth is over 5 million!

Happy Birthday Little Ricky

On this date in 1953, Lucy Ricardo gave birth to Little Ricky on I Love Lucy in the episode, Lucy Goes to the Hospital! More viewers tuned in to this television show than the presidential inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower the following day! Forty-four million viewers (72% of all U.S. homes with TV) tuned in to watch Lucy on January 19, 1953!

Little Ricky as a child was played by Kieth Thibodeaux, whose stage name was Richard Keith. One little known fact, Lucille Ball gave birth to Desi Arnaz, Jr., the same day that the episode of Little Ricky's birth aired on television. These births made many television viewers think that Little Ricky and Desi Arnaz Jr. were the same people.

A few months later, Desi appeared on the premier cover of the first TV Guide on April 3, 1953. Which helped the new magazine become an instant success and continues today in the U.S. market, the Canadian equivalent has been discontinued this past November, 2006 and is only available on the internet.

As a baby, Little Ricky was played by twins, Michael Mayer and Joseph A. Mayer. Their mother, Eva June Mayer appeared as an extra in the "Homecoming" episode of I Love Lucy

Robert Osborn remembers Lucille Ball

In The Evening Class Blog, the author speaks about Robert Osborne, prime time host and anchor of Turner Class Movies cable network.

In speaking about Lucille Ball, Osborne says:

While Osborne was an actor under contract with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, it was Lucy who encouraged him to become a writer. I asked if he could speak a bit about her and why it was he heeded her advice?

Though Lucy was famous for her comedy, Osborne described her as a very serious business woman who suffered a bit for not thinking she was smart, even though she had major street smarts. After interacting with Osborne for a while and noting his great interest in Hollywood history, she suggested he shift into writing because—while there were plenty of actors to go around—there were not as many writers. Further, she wasn't confident that Robert had the necessary street smarts to deal with auditions. There were so many aggressive young actors who could do nothing else with whom Osborne would be competing and Lucy felt he should explore his other talents. He could write. He had a passion for Hollywood's film history. Osborne took Lucy's advice and has never regretted it. To this day he has not seen a play or a movie where he felt he should have played the part. Lucy remained his friend over the years, checking in at least annually to see what he was doing, who he was socializing with, and frequently inviting him over for dinner.