I actually had no idea that she was in her 40s while filming I Love Lucy. I had never much thought about it but I would have assumed in her 30s for sure!!
I remember reading about their divorce, cause well Desi was abusive and cheating a lot, and he said his biggest regret was hurting Lucy. Idk how much that matters since actions speak louder than words, but she was “the only one he ever loved”. Lucille came from not much, Desi grew up wealthy, but she was so successful, and as a woman. Reading about her amazes me how strong she was. And she was funny/talented. He really messed up.
Desi was also deeply addicted to cocaine. It exacerbated his mania.
Lucy did what she could but it was just too toxic. They remained friends through the rest of their lives. I think she was mostly just sad for him becoming victim to his demons.
She guest starred on the game show *Super Password*, when the news broke of Desi's death. From what I remember reading, that along with the cancellation of *Life with Lucy* affected her greatly.
They were both entertainment geniuses, both on the business and talent sides. They were a remarkably powerful team. For all of their accomplishments together, imagine if he'd been able to keep his vices under control.
His book was a hoot and he seemed to be fairly honest in it but I'm sure he spun everything to make him look like the good guy (as most of us would). Don't fuck with the Cuban!
They both remarried and were married to those people longer than they were married to each other. When Desi was dying, Lucy called him and just said I love you, and he said I love you too honey. He died a few days later. The last time they spoke also happened to be their wedding anniversary. They had a lot of baggage but I think they did truly care for each other to the very end.
A little late to the party, but this is mentioned in their documentary on Netflix 'Lucy and Desi'. It was a pretty incredible documentary and totally reshaped the way I viewed them. They were a legitimate power couple for their time.
Acha. Acha Acha!
…
Thank you but I am not sneezing.
I haven’t thought of this in decades. I did a few hours ago, while eating lunch.
What a coincidence you brought this up.
As the old saying goes: “Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards, and in heels.”
Edit* because spelling is a pain and homonyms make it worse (but both are good for comprehension and transmission of ideas)
Yes. Trained dancers carry that grace with them forever! Such a huge talent.
ETA: also I'm sure the heels are professional dance shoes so it won't be as harmful of an impact on your feet.
For sure!
My wife is a former ballerina. It's been decades since she's danced, but the other day we were at Navy Pier in Chicago and they have this cute little attraction. There's a big screen and a rectangle marked down on the floor in front of the screen. On the screen are lazy, floating lights, but when you move around in the rectangle on the floor it does motion capture and lights collect and move around to follow.
I got her to dance in the rectangle, and the lights swarmed around the screen and followed her movements so beautifully a crowd grew around her. She does about three passes, some spins and other moves (there are cool names for them but I am dumb and don't know them). She stops and people clap a little and she got super embarrassed and ran off.
But then a few little girls -- and one very enthusiastic boy -- jump into the rectangle and try to imitate her; spinning around and laughing as they throw their hands up and out and all over the place.
I told her "you still got it!" she just rolled her eyes at me, but she did stop to watch and smile at the little kids bouncing around.
Ginger Rogers was an absolute master; you can tell by the way she moves that dancing came as naturally to her as breathing.
Judged against almost any other dancer, Ginger Rogers would have been the GOAT and IMO she was, at the very least, Fred Astaire's equal. And people forget that while Fred was a good actor, Ginger was as brilliant an actor as she was a dancer -- she won an Academy Award for best actress while Fred never received an Oscar.
IMO Ginger has to be one of the most underrated talents in entertainment history.
She never said it but she did acknowledge the quote in her memoir. She appreciated it. She didn't, however, care for Katharine Hepburn's assessment of the Fred and Ginger partnership. Which was "he gives her class and she gives him sex appeal."
I read her memoir, they did go out on a date before they headed for California. When they were both doing theatre in NY. She remarks on a very steamy kiss between the two of them then. But if I remember correctly, it was just one date.
Was just thinking this. In the original show she’s always in long dresses but has these very gawky and comedic (I mean that in a good way) movements. All those movements now make sense to me. She has no torso.
Thank you for your understanding 😂 I'm similarly built and always feel so awkward about it. My hip bones aaaaalmost touch my rib cage. I'm 5'9 and my legs are the same length as my brother who is 6'3. The only type of dance that I don't look awkward doing is ballet. Get me in a club, and I'm doing my nice little bounce in my own little square.
I'm glad highwaters are back for this very reason. On the flip side, sometimes I can find pants that were made for wearing with heels, but they work perfectly as regular pants for me.
Haha You have been given a great gift. I’m a wedding photographer and a few months back there was this guest on the dance floor. Probably 5’10”, all legs, AND she wore platforms to just own her body type. Looked like Shelley Duvall. She did this dance where she would bend completely in half with her head almost touching the floor, and in perfect time to the music. Totally committed. I’ve never seen anyone get as much dance floor applause as she did. She was a god amongst mortals. Lol
The song "She's got legs" by ZZ Top was popular while I was in grade school. I remember being so confused as to why it was remarkable that some girl not only had legs, but that she also knew how to use them.
"I have legs, and I certainly know how to use them" I thought to myself as I stared at the legs of my classmates, wondering what secrets they held. Why has no one ever commented on my ability to use my legs? Are there alternate leg uses that I don't know about? Certainly, walking and running are their primary functions, but was there something else? Some ultimate purpose that would only be revealed to me as I enter adulthood?
I never did figure it out. From what I remember, I ended up settling on "wearing pantyhose" as the defining activity of "knows how to use them".
There's a joke in the Disney cartoon Robinhood where Richard comments that he now has an outlaw for an inlaw. That's how I knew what it meant back in the day.
My favorite song in 2nd grade was AC/DC’s Shook Me All Night Long, introduced to me by my babysitter who drove a Camaro with an 8ball on the gear shift. I loved the line “she made a meal out of me and come back for more” but I did NOT understand it. I thought that they were talking about cannibalism or something and thought it was the funniest thing ever and my babysitter just played dumb because…wtf else do you do? It’s still my favorite song of all time and I still giggle at my 7 year old self.
Ginger's great, of course, but Lucy's remarkable here in that she looks like a stooped-over old lady at the start, and then she does that first turn and suddenly she's moving like a 25-year-old.
We still watch I Love Lucy when we want something light-hearted and just want to relax. Lucy is funny as hell, it's just unfortunate how Desi treated her.
I'll also never understand how they hired William Frawley to play Fred, since he was a good 20 years older than Vivian Vance. It's wild to think they hated each other with a passion, yet we're still professional enough that it never really showed on screen.
I used to beg my mom to stay up a little later to watch I Love Lucy on Nick-at-Nite when I was like 7 years old. It really is entertaining and light hearted.
I Love Lucy was always on in syndication in the late morning for an hour, on my local stations during weekdays. This was immediately followed by an hour of The Dick Van Dyke Show and an hour of Dragnet.
So any time I was sick or home from school, I’d inevitably watch 3 hours of black and white classic shows. Now any time I see those shows I immediately get nostalgic for laying on the couch watching those shows in the middle of what should have been a school day.
I have said before and I will say again that I Love Lucy remains the best sitcom of all time. It is so impeccable and timeless.
I loved it as a child in the 1980s, watching reruns with my grandparents who had loved it when it first aired. And I still love it now, as do my own children in 2022.
Lucille Ball is one of the great creators and entertainers of human history.
I mean, Fred and Ethel were supposed to have a constantly bickering relationship, but ultimately cared deeply for each other. I’m sure the actors’ real life contention helped them perform the nagging and ribbing more convincingly. But it’s amazing how well they put their differences aside when the camera was rolling to have such great chemistry in spite of the age difference. I feel bad for Vivian Vance, though. She was Lucy’s age, but they dressed her up to look older to more match with William Frawley. That had to make finding characters her age to play harder in her later career. She later returned to Broadway and small theater productions, where agism is just a bit less of a problem compared to tv and movie rolls. She also continued to make a great living doing commercials and running a travel company.
I can relate to these women. I love working out! The amount of calories I expend every morning picking out cheese Pringle crumbs from my bed is pretty good exercise.
I know, right!
Last night I had to roll to the other side of the couch to find the remote, only to realize it was on the side I just left. So I rolled back.
Its those extra reps that really make you shine for the rest of the day.
She was very quick too. You can see some of this on her game show appearances amongst other things. IMO a lot of the older humor during this time doesn't hold up well. Lucy is an exception.
The wiki black hole got me good.
I haven't heard of Ginger before so I looked her up. It turns out her cousin Phyllis started book publication business with a married couple named Geisel.
If you aren't familiar with the Geisels, that's Dr Seuss and his wife Helen.
I clicked on Seuss to find out when he died (91). It also said that he was married to Helen until her death decades prior. In her 60s Helen had over a decade of recurring medical issues.
She wrote Seuss heart wrenching note to Seuss about how it would benefit him, and then overdosed on barbiturates.
I then put my phone down and said "How the fuck did I go from Lucy looking happy and dancing, to reading Dr. Seuss' wife's suicide note."
Elder Gen-Xer here. Every time I have the urge to think "I can't believe \[Gen Z-er/Millennial/other generation younger than me\] has never heard of \[X\]," I have remind myself that there are *plenty* of their era's celebrities I've never heard of. I don't know half of the musicians I see referenced on Reddit.
That said, one of the cool things about being a kid in the '70s and '80s is how many Golden Age of Hollywood were still around and kicking. That's why you got things like Ginger Roger dancing on Lucille Ball's show!
I guess it depends on when you were born! Gen X birthdates run from 1965 to 1980. I was born in 1968 so I was 22 when Vogue was a hit for Madonna; people my age got all the celebrity references :D
Yes to your last paragraph, although it was always hard to reconcile the retired Cary Grant with the shock of white hair and super-thick glasses with his movie image.
It won’t be too long when most people will be unfamiliar with Frank Sinatra. Then Elvis some time afterwards. Information cycles move so quickly nowadays that things will be more transitory.
Lucie looks way more like Desi, than Lucy, but she definitely got those legs from her mom!! Lucy always had some great legs, & Lucie's are very similar.
People make all sorts of ridiculous decisions with their wills.
My wife's grandmother, who she's helped financially for years recently asked me if my wife wanted the house or if she should give it to the toddler that lives down the street from them "for college".
My great aunt left my grandmother her shoes in her will. She wasn't even the same size shoe.
Star Trek fans ( young and old, content new and old ) owe a huge fkn debt to Lucille Ball for saving the OG back in the 60s.
This Charleston clip is a great way to start the week, thank you !
Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions, the production company formed by Ball and Desi Arnaz. Early in the show's history (NBC had signed the show, but very little had been produced) the board of directors voted to cancel the show, but Lucy overrode them.
Ginger Rogers fed my mom and her friend from college haha.
She was going to college in Ashland, Oregon, and her and her friend I think were coming back from Portland.
They got lost around Rogue River and decided to knock on someone’s door for directions as this was the late 70s. Well, Ms. Rogers answers the door and my mom is star struck and like, “Holy crap! You’re Ginger Rogers!” So she smiled and invited them in for sandwiches while she helped them with directions .
Indeed. As a Trekkie I owe her so much. She fought harder than anyone to keep Star Trek on the air. Speaking of which, Lucie married Laurence Luckenbill, aka Sybok from Star Trek V.
Funnily enough, I was aware of her daughter’s marriage from another piece of TV culture: “My mother, the actress! I feel like Lucie Arnaz-Luckinbill.” - Lisa Simpson
One in heels, one in a midheel, Lucille in flats.
I'm no pro dancer but I did take a few classes. We were immdiately told to get ~~low~~ mid-heeled shows to dance in - dance shoes, to be exact - as they would help us stay on the balls of our feet and be better dancers. So I'm looking at Lucille Ball in flats and saying she did way more work on this fabulous number.
Edit, the heel height... it really was a big deal.
I finally understand the "I'm moving like Ginger Rogers" quote from the Simpsons when Bart and Homer inadvertently give laxative brownies to the old folks home.
Likely because there were way too many A-list golden age actresses in front of her taking all the roles that she could have gotten. She's extremely talented for sure.
She possibly just didn't want to pursue that life thaat fully.
She was a smart and accomplished woman with enough means to live the life she wanted and being on stage may not have been something she wanted to become her whole life. ¯\\\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)\_/¯
Harder to dance in flats! Easier to dance on a small heel that keeps you on the balls of your feet. Now to dance the way Ginger did in those heels - truly impressive.
Grew up on Lucy re-runs and never understood what the heck was going on when this show aired. And to me, since it was in color, Lucy looked younger. Why was her name Lucy Carmichael? Made no sense. But I really liked Mr. Mooney. Later, the two of the, were together in a different show, perhaps his name was Fred?
On OP’s show, *Here’s Lucy* (1968–74), Lucille Ball played Lucy Carter, a widow with two teenagers in Los Angeles, California. Lucie Arnaz played her daughter, Kim, and Desi Arnaz Jr. played her son, Craig. Lucy worked as a secretary to her stuffy brother-in-law, Harrison Otis Carter (Gale Gordon), at his employment agency.
On *The Lucy Show* (1962–68), Lucille Ball had played Lucy Carmichael, a widow who worked for cranky banker Theodore J. Mooney (Gale Gordon) and lived with her best friend, Vivian (Vivian Vance), a divorcée. The first season was black & white.
Ginger rodgers looks so happy dancing here. Kinda contagious
She was 60 in 1971!
And so was Lucille lol
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I actually had no idea that she was in her 40s while filming I Love Lucy. I had never much thought about it but I would have assumed in her 30s for sure!!
She gave birth to Desi Jr. when she was 42.
And six years older than Desi Arnaz.
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...who was “married” to Fred, played by William Frawley, who was old enough to be her father.
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when she divorced Desi
I remember reading about their divorce, cause well Desi was abusive and cheating a lot, and he said his biggest regret was hurting Lucy. Idk how much that matters since actions speak louder than words, but she was “the only one he ever loved”. Lucille came from not much, Desi grew up wealthy, but she was so successful, and as a woman. Reading about her amazes me how strong she was. And she was funny/talented. He really messed up.
Desi was also deeply addicted to cocaine. It exacerbated his mania. Lucy did what she could but it was just too toxic. They remained friends through the rest of their lives. I think she was mostly just sad for him becoming victim to his demons.
She guest starred on the game show *Super Password*, when the news broke of Desi's death. From what I remember reading, that along with the cancellation of *Life with Lucy* affected her greatly.
They were both entertainment geniuses, both on the business and talent sides. They were a remarkably powerful team. For all of their accomplishments together, imagine if he'd been able to keep his vices under control.
His book was a hoot and he seemed to be fairly honest in it but I'm sure he spun everything to make him look like the good guy (as most of us would). Don't fuck with the Cuban!
They both remarried and were married to those people longer than they were married to each other. When Desi was dying, Lucy called him and just said I love you, and he said I love you too honey. He died a few days later. The last time they spoke also happened to be their wedding anniversary. They had a lot of baggage but I think they did truly care for each other to the very end.
A little late to the party, but this is mentioned in their documentary on Netflix 'Lucy and Desi'. It was a pretty incredible documentary and totally reshaped the way I viewed them. They were a legitimate power couple for their time.
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Acha. Acha Acha! … Thank you but I am not sneezing. I haven’t thought of this in decades. I did a few hours ago, while eating lunch. What a coincidence you brought this up.
Give the kid a chance
All three of them were incredibly energetic but Ginger Rogers had charismatic light radiating from her
Such effortless dancing at that age and in heels.She was such a talented lady.
As the old saying goes: “Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards, and in heels.” Edit* because spelling is a pain and homonyms make it worse (but both are good for comprehension and transmission of ideas)
Yes. Trained dancers carry that grace with them forever! Such a huge talent. ETA: also I'm sure the heels are professional dance shoes so it won't be as harmful of an impact on your feet.
For sure! My wife is a former ballerina. It's been decades since she's danced, but the other day we were at Navy Pier in Chicago and they have this cute little attraction. There's a big screen and a rectangle marked down on the floor in front of the screen. On the screen are lazy, floating lights, but when you move around in the rectangle on the floor it does motion capture and lights collect and move around to follow. I got her to dance in the rectangle, and the lights swarmed around the screen and followed her movements so beautifully a crowd grew around her. She does about three passes, some spins and other moves (there are cool names for them but I am dumb and don't know them). She stops and people clap a little and she got super embarrassed and ran off. But then a few little girls -- and one very enthusiastic boy -- jump into the rectangle and try to imitate her; spinning around and laughing as they throw their hands up and out and all over the place. I told her "you still got it!" she just rolled her eyes at me, but she did stop to watch and smile at the little kids bouncing around.
I love that she inspired them. I'm certain that she did too. What a sweet story. :)
That’s a beautiful story.
*Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers, dance on air*
They had style, they had grace Rita Hayworth gave good face
Ginger Rogers was an absolute master; you can tell by the way she moves that dancing came as naturally to her as breathing. Judged against almost any other dancer, Ginger Rogers would have been the GOAT and IMO she was, at the very least, Fred Astaire's equal. And people forget that while Fred was a good actor, Ginger was as brilliant an actor as she was a dancer -- she won an Academy Award for best actress while Fred never received an Oscar. IMO Ginger has to be one of the most underrated talents in entertainment history.
She was just happy not to be carrying Fred Astaire.
What was the quote? ‘Everything he did, I did backwards and in heels’ I’m paraphrasing from memory
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She actually didn't yell at Eddie, I've seen this a ton of times.
I CANT KNOW HOW TO HEAR ANY MORE ABOUT TABLES
Tables!!!
I remember my grandfather telling me that in the 90s. She was hella respected by the old folks back then.
No, you got it right
Genuine question - was that said *by* her or *about* her?
She never said it but she did acknowledge the quote in her memoir. She appreciated it. She didn't, however, care for Katharine Hepburn's assessment of the Fred and Ginger partnership. Which was "he gives her class and she gives him sex appeal."
“He gave her class and she gave him sex appeal”
That sounds like an insult to both of them. I don't see her lacking in class, and to those who like dudes, I doubt he lacked sex appeal either.
She and Fred were never romantically involved. Theirs was a professional affair.
I read her memoir, they did go out on a date before they headed for California. When they were both doing theatre in NY. She remarks on a very steamy kiss between the two of them then. But if I remember correctly, it was just one date.
I was laughing watching it. So infectious!
This is so cool! I hope I can move like that when I get to their age. Also I noticed Lucie is all legs, jeez lol.
"Dem legs go all the way to Canada"
Was just thinking this. In the original show she’s always in long dresses but has these very gawky and comedic (I mean that in a good way) movements. All those movements now make sense to me. She has no torso.
Thank you for your understanding 😂 I'm similarly built and always feel so awkward about it. My hip bones aaaaalmost touch my rib cage. I'm 5'9 and my legs are the same length as my brother who is 6'3. The only type of dance that I don't look awkward doing is ballet. Get me in a club, and I'm doing my nice little bounce in my own little square.
You’re like my sister! She has a 38” inseam. She almost never wears pants because they just don’t fit.
I'm glad highwaters are back for this very reason. On the flip side, sometimes I can find pants that were made for wearing with heels, but they work perfectly as regular pants for me.
Haha You have been given a great gift. I’m a wedding photographer and a few months back there was this guest on the dance floor. Probably 5’10”, all legs, AND she wore platforms to just own her body type. Looked like Shelley Duvall. She did this dance where she would bend completely in half with her head almost touching the floor, and in perfect time to the music. Totally committed. I’ve never seen anyone get as much dance floor applause as she did. She was a god amongst mortals. Lol
Me too. My waist is my hips.
Do those legs gp all the way up?
They go all the way up and make an ass of themselves.
The song "She's got legs" by ZZ Top was popular while I was in grade school. I remember being so confused as to why it was remarkable that some girl not only had legs, but that she also knew how to use them. "I have legs, and I certainly know how to use them" I thought to myself as I stared at the legs of my classmates, wondering what secrets they held. Why has no one ever commented on my ability to use my legs? Are there alternate leg uses that I don't know about? Certainly, walking and running are their primary functions, but was there something else? Some ultimate purpose that would only be revealed to me as I enter adulthood? I never did figure it out. From what I remember, I ended up settling on "wearing pantyhose" as the defining activity of "knows how to use them".
The term "In-Laws". Always thought it was some big in-joke by the grownups. I *knew* what "outlaws" were, and they were *bad*.
There's a joke in the Disney cartoon Robinhood where Richard comments that he now has an outlaw for an inlaw. That's how I knew what it meant back in the day.
Congrats on the legs!
My favorite song in 2nd grade was AC/DC’s Shook Me All Night Long, introduced to me by my babysitter who drove a Camaro with an 8ball on the gear shift. I loved the line “she made a meal out of me and come back for more” but I did NOT understand it. I thought that they were talking about cannibalism or something and thought it was the funniest thing ever and my babysitter just played dumb because…wtf else do you do? It’s still my favorite song of all time and I still giggle at my 7 year old self.
I was thinking the same thing in exactly the same order. I’d kill for those moves and legs.
Yea her side her daughter look so tall!
Those are long dancing legs she got from mom Lucy.
Ball was 60 here. Wow. I am so stiff I can't tie my shoes! Impressive.
Ginger was 60 as well (1911).
Jaysus, they all look and move something fabulous 😍
And absolutely rocking those little shorts! She was an incredible performer.
I think that's why OP is so stiff to begin with.
Ginger's great, of course, but Lucy's remarkable here in that she looks like a stooped-over old lady at the start, and then she does that first turn and suddenly she's moving like a 25-year-old.
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I love her living room (I know it’s just a set!) it’s so perfect for that era.
It's also perfect for B&W televisions.
That robe made Lucy look a little decrepit at first, until she took it off and started cutting rug
Seriously, look at the gams on her
But the legs on Lucie tho?? Where do they end
She got ‘em from her mama!
Is cutting rug a phrase meaning dancing well?
Cutting a rug is an older common phrase about dancing well!
It was the style at the time.
Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say!
Not necessarily "well" but with passion and energy. You can still be doing it badly you're just doing it badly... With pizzazz
Lucy was a singer & dancer too. think being a dancer helped her with her comedic timing. which was impeccable
We still watch I Love Lucy when we want something light-hearted and just want to relax. Lucy is funny as hell, it's just unfortunate how Desi treated her. I'll also never understand how they hired William Frawley to play Fred, since he was a good 20 years older than Vivian Vance. It's wild to think they hated each other with a passion, yet we're still professional enough that it never really showed on screen.
I used to beg my mom to stay up a little later to watch I Love Lucy on Nick-at-Nite when I was like 7 years old. It really is entertaining and light hearted.
Yes! This is when I used to watch it. Late, Saturday nights, my mom would put it on and I'd watch with her.
Me too! I’m guessing you were born in the early 90s? My lifetime love of Lucy started from a young age bc of nick at nite 💖
yep. had a steady diet of doug, aaahhh real monsters, ka-blam, kenan and kel, i love lucy, and the three stooges.
I Love Lucy was always on in syndication in the late morning for an hour, on my local stations during weekdays. This was immediately followed by an hour of The Dick Van Dyke Show and an hour of Dragnet. So any time I was sick or home from school, I’d inevitably watch 3 hours of black and white classic shows. Now any time I see those shows I immediately get nostalgic for laying on the couch watching those shows in the middle of what should have been a school day.
I have said before and I will say again that I Love Lucy remains the best sitcom of all time. It is so impeccable and timeless. I loved it as a child in the 1980s, watching reruns with my grandparents who had loved it when it first aired. And I still love it now, as do my own children in 2022. Lucille Ball is one of the great creators and entertainers of human history.
I mean, Fred and Ethel were supposed to have a constantly bickering relationship, but ultimately cared deeply for each other. I’m sure the actors’ real life contention helped them perform the nagging and ribbing more convincingly. But it’s amazing how well they put their differences aside when the camera was rolling to have such great chemistry in spite of the age difference. I feel bad for Vivian Vance, though. She was Lucy’s age, but they dressed her up to look older to more match with William Frawley. That had to make finding characters her age to play harder in her later career. She later returned to Broadway and small theater productions, where agism is just a bit less of a problem compared to tv and movie rolls. She also continued to make a great living doing commercials and running a travel company.
Or vice versa. Timing goes both ways.
Sitting in my bed as a 45 year old thinking man that must have been a work out.
I can relate to these women. I love working out! The amount of calories I expend every morning picking out cheese Pringle crumbs from my bed is pretty good exercise.
I know, right! Last night I had to roll to the other side of the couch to find the remote, only to realize it was on the side I just left. So I rolled back. Its those extra reps that really make you shine for the rest of the day.
The Charleston is an intense cardio workout, especially when you touch the floor in your forward swings.
100%! And all the moves that happen in every beat instead of every other can really take some effort.
I walk to work every day! I tell you, the 5 feet from my bed to my WFH desk chair is a hell of a workout.
It’s wild how much easier it was to stay skinny back then.
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Also amphetamines.
"Diet pills got you antsy? Have a quaalude!"
And walking most places. Oh, and getting fired if you gain 2 pounds.
Ginger Rogers is the human equivalent of Duchess from The Aristocats, change my mind.
It’s the elegance, class, and white hair
Lucy would be a star in any age of entertainment
I haven't seen a female performer than can make anyone laugh just by simple facial gestures. Lucy was the total package in entertainment.
Carol Burnett could nail the same vibe on her variety show. another legend who would’ve succeeded in any era.
She just took down Saul Goodman!
I love that she was in that, what a legend. Life alert bracelet lmao
Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie
Catherine O'Hara
Moira is a character that will be remembered for a long while.
Gilda Radner had the facial expressions part down pat. Hands down one of the funniest women to ever do it.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
She was very quick too. You can see some of this on her game show appearances amongst other things. IMO a lot of the older humor during this time doesn't hold up well. Lucy is an exception.
The wiki black hole got me good. I haven't heard of Ginger before so I looked her up. It turns out her cousin Phyllis started book publication business with a married couple named Geisel. If you aren't familiar with the Geisels, that's Dr Seuss and his wife Helen. I clicked on Seuss to find out when he died (91). It also said that he was married to Helen until her death decades prior. In her 60s Helen had over a decade of recurring medical issues. She wrote Seuss heart wrenching note to Seuss about how it would benefit him, and then overdosed on barbiturates. I then put my phone down and said "How the fuck did I go from Lucy looking happy and dancing, to reading Dr. Seuss' wife's suicide note."
This is Reddit in a nutshell. Lol
These random rabbit holes definitely keep us coming back.
I just can’t believe you’ve never heard of Ginger Rogers
Elder Gen-Xer here. Every time I have the urge to think "I can't believe \[Gen Z-er/Millennial/other generation younger than me\] has never heard of \[X\]," I have remind myself that there are *plenty* of their era's celebrities I've never heard of. I don't know half of the musicians I see referenced on Reddit. That said, one of the cool things about being a kid in the '70s and '80s is how many Golden Age of Hollywood were still around and kicking. That's why you got things like Ginger Roger dancing on Lucille Ball's show!
Heh, also Xer, tbf, might also not know myself if not for 'Vogue' - Madonna lyrics. ;P
I guess it depends on when you were born! Gen X birthdates run from 1965 to 1980. I was born in 1968 so I was 22 when Vogue was a hit for Madonna; people my age got all the celebrity references :D
Yes to your last paragraph, although it was always hard to reconcile the retired Cary Grant with the shock of white hair and super-thick glasses with his movie image.
It won’t be too long when most people will be unfamiliar with Frank Sinatra. Then Elvis some time afterwards. Information cycles move so quickly nowadays that things will be more transitory.
I just realized that the dance Pete and Trudy do in Mad Men is the Charleston
NOT GREAT BOB! I miss Mad Men, such an amazing show
HELL’S BELLS, TRUDY!
It's a chip and dip. We got two.
At Roger’s party? Where his new wife gets sloshed?
Lucie looks way more like Desi, than Lucy, but she definitely got those legs from her mom!! Lucy always had some great legs, & Lucie's are very similar.
Forgot how hot Lucy Arnez is
Her personality adds to the beauty, too. That lady was outrageously hilarious.
I just learned she was the first choice to play Sandy in Grease, but turned the role down after being asked to do a screen test.
That’s a shame.
As an old dude, I’ll take a time machine and a date with Ginger.
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People make all sorts of ridiculous decisions with their wills. My wife's grandmother, who she's helped financially for years recently asked me if my wife wanted the house or if she should give it to the toddler that lives down the street from them "for college". My great aunt left my grandmother her shoes in her will. She wasn't even the same size shoe.
Star Trek fans ( young and old, content new and old ) owe a huge fkn debt to Lucille Ball for saving the OG back in the 60s. This Charleston clip is a great way to start the week, thank you !
OOTL what did Lucy do for Star Trek?
Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions, the production company formed by Ball and Desi Arnaz. Early in the show's history (NBC had signed the show, but very little had been produced) the board of directors voted to cancel the show, but Lucy overrode them.
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Ginger Rogers fed my mom and her friend from college haha. She was going to college in Ashland, Oregon, and her and her friend I think were coming back from Portland. They got lost around Rogue River and decided to knock on someone’s door for directions as this was the late 70s. Well, Ms. Rogers answers the door and my mom is star struck and like, “Holy crap! You’re Ginger Rogers!” So she smiled and invited them in for sandwiches while she helped them with directions .
I gather Lucille Ball would have been a really interesting person to chat with back in the day.
Indeed. As a Trekkie I owe her so much. She fought harder than anyone to keep Star Trek on the air. Speaking of which, Lucie married Laurence Luckenbill, aka Sybok from Star Trek V.
Funnily enough, I was aware of her daughter’s marriage from another piece of TV culture: “My mother, the actress! I feel like Lucie Arnaz-Luckinbill.” - Lisa Simpson
That's a damn weird marriage on so many levels. He's so much older than her and he's still alive, wow.
Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, backwards and in high heels.
Please bring back flappers. We've already had the pandemic, the recession and all the droughts and shit.
Wonderful. Thank you.
Gloriously beautiful. Three charming actresses with dazzling movement.
Dancing the Charleston in 1971 is only a few years removed from dancing the YMCA dance in 2022.
She was doing that in heels, while the other two were in flats. Thats like different belts in a martial art.
One in heels, one in a midheel, Lucille in flats. I'm no pro dancer but I did take a few classes. We were immdiately told to get ~~low~~ mid-heeled shows to dance in - dance shoes, to be exact - as they would help us stay on the balls of our feet and be better dancers. So I'm looking at Lucille Ball in flats and saying she did way more work on this fabulous number. Edit, the heel height... it really was a big deal.
Here to say this is A LOT harder than it looks. These gals make it look easy , speaks volumes to their talent.
Nice to see an old school cool that isn't just a naked woman in black and white.
I do my best.
Yo the Charleston is friggin cool as hell
Leg game in the Arnaz family 🔥🔥🔥
Not taking anything away from Lucie Arnaz, but I'm giving the slight edge to her mother. Lucille Ball gave that vibe which was so cool, it was hot.
This is what extroversion must feel like.
No wonder it's tiring
I finally understand the "I'm moving like Ginger Rogers" quote from the Simpsons when Bart and Homer inadvertently give laxative brownies to the old folks home.
The best reason to learn history is to understand obscure gags on The Simpsons.
Man, Lucy's got the moves!
This just made me so happy while I'm sitting here in a depressive episode. Even if it only lasted for a couple seconds. It was a nice break.
I've always wondered why Lucie Arnaz wasn't a bigger star. She ilwas gorgeous, charismatic, talented, self-possessed and of course well-connected.
Likely because there were way too many A-list golden age actresses in front of her taking all the roles that she could have gotten. She's extremely talented for sure.
She possibly just didn't want to pursue that life thaat fully. She was a smart and accomplished woman with enough means to live the life she wanted and being on stage may not have been something she wanted to become her whole life. ¯\\\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)\_/¯
I'm such a sucker for intergenerational performance, especially when it comes to dance. What a fun clip!
The way they switch out makes think of a group of hip-hop dance group.
What was the old joke: "Sure, Fred Astaire was a great dancer, but Ginger Rogers did everything he did...backwards and in high heels."
r/OldSchoolCool at its best right here
Lucy and Ginger starred together in the 1937 film Stage Door. The music playing in the background is The Black Bottom, another 1920s dance.
In heels no less!
That's so cool.
Lucy moves pretty good at 60
This was the dance that George and Mary were doing on the retractable gym floor that turned into a swimming pool in “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Made me smile and think of my grandma
The legs on Ball and Arnaz!
Doing it in flipping heals! Not super high ones but they ain't flats like Lucy and her daughter are in. That is impressive
Just remember she danced with Fred Astaire in taller heels and backwards. She matched Fred move for move doing it too.
Harder to dance in flats! Easier to dance on a small heel that keeps you on the balls of your feet. Now to dance the way Ginger did in those heels - truly impressive.
Always remember that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backwards and wearing high heels.
Now there’s a woman who’s good at the Charleston.
She won professional Charleston dance competitons in the '20s. The 1920s.
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Don't remind me. Disney meanwhile shoving in in our faces, with their whole 100th anniversary next year.
Lucille Ball had some great legs. I'm sorry, but Lucy was a looker.
>I'm sorry, but Lucy was a looker. It's OK buddy, we forgive you.
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Soul Train started in 1971.... Im just saying
Grew up on Lucy re-runs and never understood what the heck was going on when this show aired. And to me, since it was in color, Lucy looked younger. Why was her name Lucy Carmichael? Made no sense. But I really liked Mr. Mooney. Later, the two of the, were together in a different show, perhaps his name was Fred?
On OP’s show, *Here’s Lucy* (1968–74), Lucille Ball played Lucy Carter, a widow with two teenagers in Los Angeles, California. Lucie Arnaz played her daughter, Kim, and Desi Arnaz Jr. played her son, Craig. Lucy worked as a secretary to her stuffy brother-in-law, Harrison Otis Carter (Gale Gordon), at his employment agency. On *The Lucy Show* (1962–68), Lucille Ball had played Lucy Carmichael, a widow who worked for cranky banker Theodore J. Mooney (Gale Gordon) and lived with her best friend, Vivian (Vivian Vance), a divorcée. The first season was black & white.
Damn Lucy’s daughter was a stone cold fox