A Guide To I Love Lucy
The next step was to find actors to play the supporting roles of Fred and Ethel Mertz, the Ricardos' best friends and landlords. Lucy had just the people in mind. When she was doing the radio show "My Favorite Husband", the Coopers had two best friends named Rudolph and Iris Atterbury. The roles were played by Bea Benaderet and Gale Gordon. Lucy thought that they were perfect, and wanted them to play the Mertzes.
But there was another problem: Benaderet was now playing the role of Blanche Morton on The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show. She didn't have enough time to do two TV shows. The reason why Gordon couldn't do it is conflicting. Most sources say that Gordon was playing Mr. Conklin on the radio series "Our Miss Brooks", and he was under an exclusive contract with CBS Radio. But others say that this was not true. They claim the reason was that he wanted too much money for the part, and the show's small budget couldn't afford it. In any case, neither Benaderet nor Gordon were cast. (Both actors eventually made guest appearances on I Love Lucy.) So Lucy would have to look elsewhere.
Several actors were being considered for the role of Fred Mertz, including Charley Grapewin, Charles Lane, and Charles Winniger. Then one afternoon, Lucy got a phone call from William Frawley, a movie character actor whom she had met on the set of the film Ziegfeld Follies (1946). Ball and Frawley had both appeared in that film, although they didn't appear in any scenes together. Frawley asked her "Do you need a good actor to play Fred Mertz?" Lucy said that she would have to speak to Desi about it. Desi had final approval on the show.
Lucy told Desi what happened. William Frawley was a character actor who had played supporting roles in many movies for years. He was still doing small parts in movies, and had even done some television. The Arnazes thought that it would be great to have a old movie veteran in the cast. Desi asked CBS officials about Frawley. They told him that they were familiar with the man. He was a good actor, but he had a reputation for being unstable and a constant drinker.
Desi met with Frawley at a restaurant. He told Frawley "Lucy and I think that you would be great for the role of Fred Mertz. But CBS said that you have a drinking problem." Frawley denied this, calling the CBS executives names. He claimed that he was only a moderate drinker, but he was drinking scotch as he said this. He promised that his drinking would not interfere with his on-camera performance.
Desi had always been a supporter of the underdog, so he decided to hire Frawley. Desi laid it on the line: Frawley would be cast as Fred Mertz. But he would have to control his drinking. If he was late for work or if he was unable to perform more than once because of his drinking, he would be fired. Frawley agreed. As events turned out, Frawley was able to control his drinking, and he never let it interfere with his work. He ended up playing Fred Mertz throughout the entire run of the show.
Now they needed an actress to play Ethel. They needed an actress who looked like she could be married to William Frawley, but who also had stage and film experience. They considered Barbara Pepper for the role. Pepper was an old friend of Lucy's since the early 30s. They had been Goldwyn Girls together. She was talented, funny, and had the right sort of frumpy look that the role required. But Pepper also had a problem with drinking, and she couldn't control her habit. Lucy liked Barbara, but decided to pass on her. (Pepper eventually made guest appearances on the show.)
They offered the role to Mary Wickes, a friend of Lucy's. But Wickes turned it down because she knew that Lucy had a perfectionist approach to work. She was afraid that it would hurt their friendship. (Eventually, Wickes would also guest star on the show.)
Later, Desi and company hired Marc Daniels to direct the first season's episodes. They told Daniels that they still hadn't found an actress to play Ethel Mertz. Daniels had a woman in mind. He had an old friend named Vivian Vance, who was appearing in a play nearby. He suggested that they take a look at her. Vance was appearing at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California. She was playing a supporting role in the play "The Voice Of The Turtle".
On July 21, 1951, Desi, Oppenheimer, and Daniels went to see her in the play. (Well, actually sources differ on exactly who went to the play that night.) But in any case, after the first act was over, they were convinced that they had found their Ethel Mertz. During the intermission, Daniels went backstage, and saw Vance. He told her about the role. At first, Vance wasn't interested because the role was too "frumpy". But she finally agreed. She was hired on the spot to play Ethel, without an audition or meeting Lucy.
By August of 1951, Desi and company had finally found a theater to film the series in. They chose General Service Studios, a movie studio lot located at 1040 North Palmas Avenue in Hollywood. The studio was seven and a half acres large, with eight sound stages. The Marx Brothers movie A Night In Casablanca (1946) had been filmed there. Desi rented Stage 2, and signed the lease for a year. Then they started renovating it for their use. The building was renamed the Desilu Playhouse. Among their renovations, they put a new door onto Romaine Street. This gave the playhouse an official address of 6633 Romaine Street. Then they started building the sets. The first episode was scheduled to be filmed only days away. So they had to work around the clock to get everything ready on time.
Finally on September 8, 1951, everything was ready. The audience lined up outside to witness the taping. They were brought in, and filming began of the first episode of I Love Lucy. Over the next few weeks, more episodes were filmed.
Finally on Monday, October 15, 1951 at 9:00 on CBS, I Love Lucy debuted on television.
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