Lucille Ball

I was reading through the local news this week, and came across an article that hit me with a plethora of emotions. At first, I was open mouthed, and speechless - but admittedly, most of the time I found myself bursting into laughter.

The article was about one of my favorite radio comediennes, Lucille Ball.

This week marks what would have been her 105th birthday, and to celebrate, in her home town of Celoron, New York, they're going to remove the statue of her likeness from the Lucille Ball Memorial Park, which was erected in 2009, and replace it with a new one.

Now, when you think of Lucille Ball, the star of old time radio shows such as My Favorite Husband, iconic television series such as I Love Lucy, and over 72 movies during her career, I'm sure that you can picture in your mind's eye the glamorous Hollywood star pictured to the right, or at least the playful and animated character Lucy?

I'm fairly certain that this, isn't the image you had in mind...

Strangely enough, after being mocked for its eerie stare, toothy grin and general lack of likeness to the actress, the statue has actually become a bit of a unique tourist attraction, and is fondly nicknamed 'Scary Lucy' - so it's my guess that it will somehow manage to stick around somewhere in the Lucille Ball Memorial Park.

Lucille was born on August 6th 1911, and had a tough upbringing in Jamestown, New York after her father died and her mother remarried and moved away, leaving Lucille in the care of her step grandparents. 

She attended a New York City drama school, where she was soon kicked out for being "too shy and reticent to put her best foot forward." However, she persisted and got her start as a singer, model and film star. 

But into the late 1940s, her movie career was stagnating. Her husband, Desi Arnaz encouraged her to try broadcasting, and it wasn't long before she landed the lead part in the radio comedy, My Favorite Husband, as Liz Cooper.

The success of this brilliant radio series caught the attention of several CBS producers, who wanted to recreate something similar for television, but when they wouldn't include her real life husband, as she requested, she walked away.

Her marriage had been failing for some time, due to Desi's drinking and philandering ways, and so they created the show I Love Lucy to try and stay together. Taking it on the road, their success soon had those same CBS producers hot on their heels, who snapped them both up - and I Love Lucy was to hit our screens not long after.

I Love Lucy never actually became a radio series, however, there is one episode called Breaking The Lease which was in fact made as an audition show for the hugely popular TV series and was an exact replica of the TV version. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz played the two main characters, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and Vivian Vance and William Frawley played their friends.

In the episode Lucy and Ricardo are determined to move out, and end the lease they have with their friends Fred and Ethel Mertz. Lots of laughs come from Lucy's clever little schemes to make the Mertz's throw them out and this culminates in an incredibly loud finale. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as Lucy had planned...

Happy listening my friends,