Lucille Ball (1911–1989)

This was a choice of my book club--I voted against it. I never thought that the physical, pratfall comedy of Lucy was that great, and am not a fan of the show. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (another reason to join a book club--I am often surprised at how much I enjoyed books that I would NEVER have read on my own). I loved the background of her childhood--those were interesting times. And she was one determined young women--continuing to work at anything to make it as an actress. show more I also admired her work ethic and loved learning how Lela Roger, Ginger's mother, mentored so many young actors at RKO--that kind of gem of information was very interesting.

A good read even for non-Lucy fans!! show less

Didn't finish. My expectations, as set by prior reviews, were not met. This manuscript was a little too glossy in some parts. Eve Arden's bio, which I am also reading right now, is better.

But here we run into the issues we always face with classic film and TV personalities. They were very much type cast--- and coached to be that way all the time. This was one of the issues with Lucy in her early movies. They couldn't really find a type for her and, once the show found one that worked, show more audiences wouldn't settle for anything else. Arden's book is written like the made-for-her personality. Lucy's... it has that struggle(especially since I gather this was an unfinished project, published posthumously). I'm not, in any way, trying to avoid the hard stories. I just wish it had a distinctive voice and a bit more polish.

I will always love Lucy. If you want a good book about the show days, read the one written by the show's writer, Jess Oppenheimer. If you want one about her life... actually I recommend something on film. You can't capture her beauty, vibrance, classy-ness, and toughness on paper. show less

I Love Lucy is a show that everyone has seen at least one episode of and many have a favorite episode (the candy factory episode is mine) yet not many of us know Lucy's backstory. After her passing in 1989, her children were going through her belongings they discovered that her attorney had twenty recorded tapes where Lucy told her life story.

Lucy tells of growing up in Jamestown, New York until a family member offered to send her to drama school and that changed the course of her life. Lucy show more details her time as a background actress, becoming a leading lady, and of course, meeting Desi. While Lucy does not get into detail about Desi's affair, she does explain that the point of no return was when he could not keep his temper in check. Despite divorcing, Lucy and Desi remained the closest and friends and the best parents their children could have asked for.

As a huge Lucy fan, I have been wanting to read this for a very long time. I found her story to be interesting and informative. My favorite parts were finding out friends from her childhood ended up as characters on I Love Lucy - including the friend who originally tinted her hair red. All in all, I loved this book...almost as much as I Love Lucy. show less

Love, Lucy is a great book to learn about the personal side of Lucille Ball. It’s a memoir, although published after her death when the manuscript was relocated among her possessions. Much of it is taken up with Desi Arnaz. He was a big part of her life and a vehicle for accomplishing her dream of being a star. Her movie stardom was reached to her great satisfaction but it was her destiny to be the biggest television star of her time. I Love Lucy pioneered the three camera simultaneous show more recording stage, showcased Lucy as the first woman pictured on TV pregnant, and made her the first person to make a public statement on her own live program to deny that she was a communist sympathizer (Ricky did that for her). This book might be a bit slow at first (not for me) but it picks up and finishes with her patented happy final scenes. I never liked Ricky that much and always thought of the show as Lucy’s own. She says that the main idea was to have them be a married couple with Desi being a band leader and Lucy trying to get into show business by latching onto his band performances. I never got that impression. I always thought it was Lucy’s show with Desi making random appearances to show that she was actually married to someone. Lucy says that as she was in the process of finally divorcing Desi, Ethel (Vivian Vance) was going through the same thing with her real-life husband. A lot of sadness I never knew of makes this a good book but not in the gossipy sense. This is a book about Lucille Ball by herself and alludes to other people only when necessary. Compared to books now, this autobiography will probably seem very tightlipped. I didn’t know but found out that she started off as a teenage New York clothing model, became a Broadway showgirl, had an aversion to birds pictured anywhere in her home, became Catholic to please Desi, she’s not a true red-head, that Desi served in WWII as an entertainer, and that Lucy helped start Red Skelton in his career. Lucy only got into comedy film roles because she was type-cast by directors/studios as a rude, wise-cracking girl or as a prostitute and that that exhausted her performance options. This is a great book with lots of personal pictures. show less