by Lucille Ball
But I had the children to consider. Desi had them for all the summer holidays; they were with me during the school year. I was the one who had to keep after them about their homework and music lessons. So I always tried to plan some special fun for them at Christmas and Easter.
At first I tried to persuade the family to fly to Switzerland for Christmas, but they thought New England was far away enough. So I phoned Bette Davis and said, “If anybody knows New England, you do. Where shall we go for Christmas?” She suggested two places and we chose Franconia, New Hampshire. We made arrangements to stay in a small chalet.
When I travel, I leave very little at home. If the children aren’t with me, I take several of their pictures off the wall to bring along. When they were small, I used to fly their sleds to Sun Valley with us, plus their Samoyed, Blanquito, to pull them uphill. Since the kids were coming along, I didn’t need to pack the photos, but I made sure to bring all the necessary pots and pans; boxes of groceries and favorite food; ice skates and ski equipment; and of course, tree ornaments as well as everyone’s Christmas gifts.
One thing we learned at Franconia was that we were used to lots of living space. At the chalet, the four of us crowded into one tiny cottage with bunk beds under the rafters and one bathroom. The luggage and seven-foot Christmas tree barely left us room to squeeze into our beds. We soon gave up cooking and went out for every meal; this meant bundling up and mushing through the snow and cold. “And to think we have that wonderful place in Palm Springs,” Gary moaned, blowing on the twenty-seventh fire that refused to burn.
The skating pond was a flooded tennis court so bumpy that little Lucie said, “They must have frozen the tennis balls in it.” The ski slopes seemed very narrow and cramped after Sun Valley, where every skier could use the lift and get off wherever he wanted. At Franconia, only the experienced skiers were allowed to use the lift; this relegated us to the lower slopes.
We had planned to stay for two weeks, but after about four days we mushed out and spent the rest of our vacation time at our beautiful place in Palm Springs.
The next month we followed Gary to a Pebble Beach golf tournament. At the Del Monte Lodge we celebrated little Desi’s birthday. Across the room sat big Desi. It had been ten years since little Desi was born. The night of his birthday he played the drums with the lodge orchestra while proud mama and papa clapped from separate tables. And when he blew out the candles on his birthday cake, Desi came over to give him a paternal hug and kiss.
Two months later, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Desi celebrated his forty-sixth birthday by marrying another redhead, Mrs. Edith Mack Hirsch. I’ve known Edie for years. She’s a sweet woman, and good for Desi. She also shares his great interest in fishing and in horses. Desi seems to be much happier and healthier now in retirement. I’m glad for our children’s sake that they now have two happy homes rather than one miserable, unhappy one. Desi and I keep in close touch about the children in a way we never could when we were married.
I’m grateful for the amicable feeling now between Desi and me and Gary and the children. Desi phones me often to discuss the children or the show, and he plays golf with Gary. Since our lives have been straightened out, the children have improved in their schoolwork and they laugh more. Children internalize their parents’ unhappiness. Fortunately, they absorb our contentment just as readily.
Gary has wisely not tried to force himself on them or to buy their favor with presents; he hasn’t refrained from being the firm disciplinarian, either, when that’s indicated. When they hear that deep basso voice of his, they hop to it! And when they want to play, he’s available. He swims with them and takes them golfing. He wrestles with them and lets them chase him through the house shrieking with laughter, the sound I like best.
I’m happiest when I’m working, rising to challenges. With Gary, I’ve become a woman with a capacity for happiness again.
When he first came to visit us in Beverly Hills, before we were married, Gary made the mistake of saying that he had run a movie projector in the Army. Out came my thirty consecutive hours of home movies. Bachelor Gary was too polite to protest; I had him running baby pictures for days. Recently I told him I’ve got another twenty thousand feet or so, including our family holiday in the chalet at Franconia.
“Geez, Lucy, don’t you ever go off the air?”
Hopefully not.
The following photographs are used by permission, Turner Entertainment Co., all rights reserved:
Lucille quickly moved uptown . . .
On the town with her beau . . .
Lucille and Desi met . . .
Although giving Desi a hand . . .
The pool at Chatsworth . . .
Chapter 9 opening photo (p. 135)
The following photograph is used by permission, © 1944, Turner Entertainment Co., all rights reserved:
With good friend Dick Powell . . .
Other photographs used by permission of Desilu, Too L.L.C., all rights reserved.
The Hunt family, “Grandpa” Fred C. Hunt (far left) and “Grandma” Flora Belle Orcutt Hunt (far right, seated), who were Lucille’s surrogate parents while her mother, “DeDe” (far right, standing), was away working. Others in the picture are Lola and Harold Hunt (DeDe’s siblings) and Eveline Bailey Hunt (Lucille’s great-grandmother).
Henry Durrell Ball, Lucille’s father, circa 1910.
At two, Lucille sports a serious hair ribbon and an attitude to match, 1913.
Lucille at age four with Aunt Lola in Jamestown, 1915.
Grandpa Fred C. Hunt, whom Lucille called “Daddy,” circa 1935.
Lucille coupled her beauty and her intelligence and set out “to make some noise,” which echoes still around the world.
Lucille, home from New York, recovering from an unusual form of arthritis.
Lucille and her pal Marion Strong, on their first venture into New York City.
Lucille quickly moved uptown to Hattie Carnegie’s salon, circa 1932.
Under the careful grooming of the studio, Lucille quickly found her place in the Hollywood sun.
Lucille’s younger brother, Fred, had a number of jobs in Hollywood, including the management of Desi’s road tours, and later Desi’s Palm Springs hotel.
On the town with her beau of five years, director Alexander Hall, circa 1939.
Lucille with James Ellison, in You Can’t Fool Your Wife, 1940.
As a burlesque dancer, Lucille spins in the spotlight of Dance, Girl, Dance, 1940. Her facial expression hints that she was also in a spin of another kind—having just met Desi Arnaz!
Studio publicity shots like this were more exciting to the public because of Lucille and Desi’s real-life romance.
Lucille and Desi met on the set of Too Many Girls, the picture that brought them together in 1940.
One of hundreds of telegrams sent coast-to-coast during their brief, but intense, courtship.
At the El Morocco in New York, Lucille and Desi sadly ponder the reasons they must never marry—one week before they elope!
Shortly after their marriage, Lucille and Desi make time for a photo session at the Pierre Hotel, 1940. (Photo by Jimmy Sileo.)
Lucille and Desi disembark from the Super Chief in Hollywood at the end of their honeymoon.
Mr. and Mrs. Arnaz in an unguarded moment at their favorite Palm Springs bungalow.
Lucille and her beloved dogs atop the barbecue that Desi designed and built at Chatsworth, to remind him of Cuba.
Although giving Desi a hand painting the trellis, Lucille’s interests were decorating the house and gardening, while Desi had talent as a builder, 1942.
The pool at Chatsworth, a favorite meeting place for Lucille, Desi, and their friends, circa 1942.
A scene from one of the frequent costume parties given by Lucille and Desi at the Desilu Ranch, 1942. Lucille, second from left, stands behind legendary actor Lionel Barrymore.
Always on the guest list for their many parties were dear friends comedy
film director Ed Sedgwick and his wife, Ebba.
Lucille with Grandpa Hunt and DeDe, followed by Desi and other family members, who were always welcome at Chatsworth.
Magazine photographers were always posing Lucille and Desi in typical domestic situations. Here, they reverse the expected, since in the Arnaz household Desi was the real cook.
Desi’s spaghetti sauce was legendary, and he would never serve it until it was just right.
With good friend Dick Powell in Meet the People. Lucille always admired Dick for his levelheadedness and his ability to maintain a sane and loving family life in show business.
Lucille and Van Johnson rhumba to Desi’s Latin rhythms, as Desi and his orchestra break attendance records at Ciro’s in Hollywood, circa 1947. Since Van was also in the film Too Many Girls, where Lucille and Desi met, he always kidded them by saying, “It could’ve been me, Lucy!”
Under Desi’s expert tutelage Lucille learned to enjoy fishing from their boat.
Lucille and Desi with their proud mothers, Dolores and DeDe, celebrate the couple’s second wedding ceremony at Chatsworth, June 19, 1949.
Lucille, with her favorite leading man, Bob Hope, in a scene from Fancy Pants, also starring Lee Bowman, 1950.
Free for a few minutes, the expectant mother catnaps on a couch on the I Love Lucy set.
Celebrating Lucie Desiree’s first birthday, at Chatsworth, July 17, 1952.
The Arnaz family on the cover of LOOK magazine, April 1953.
On September 12, 1953, the press announces that Lucille has been completely cleared of all communist affiliation.
Lucille and Lucie share a cribside laugh with Desi, Jr., 1953
Lucille and Desi with director Vincente Minnelli and his daughter, Liza, an the set of The Long, Long Trailer, 1954.
Lucille and Desi seem pleased with the progress of their new house in Palm Springs, and pleased with each other as well.
Much of I Love Lucy’s success is widely credited to Desi’s directorial skills and his keen instinct for comedy. Here, he makes the audience laugh, and puts to rest their fears of being unable to see all the action with the three moving cameras in front of them.
A family stroll in front of their new house in Palm Springs.
The “Ricardos” and the “Mertzes” of I Love Lucy.
Lucille and Desi welcome hundreds of Desilu employees and their families to their annual company picnic, 1955.
Lucille and Desi thank the viewing public for making them number one in the ratings, yet again. November 1957.
Jamestown welcomes hometown girl, Lucille, and her husband, Desi, during their national tour to promote their 1956 movie, Forever Darling.
Lucille and Desi with longtime friend actress June Havoc.
I Love Lucy revealed Desi’s multiple talents—producer, director, actor, musician, and inventor of the three-camera method for filming television, which revolutionized the industry.
(Photo by Leonard Nadel.)
Lucille and Lucie, Vivian and Desi, Jr., on a sleigh ride when The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was filmed at Sun Valley, Idaho, April 1958.
During their hiatus from the I Love Lucy show, Lucille, Desi, and the children often escaped to Hawaii.
The two Desis in a conga-drum duet at their summer home in Del Mar, California, in 1958.
Lucille’s burro takes the lead as Lucie and Desi, Jr., follow on the cobblestone streets of Capri, 1959.
Lucille in her Lexington Avenue apartment in New York, where she and the children lived during the Broadway run of Wildcat (1960–61).
Lucille starring on Broadway in Wildcat, 1961.
Lucille with friend Bob Hope and ex-husband Desi Arnaz, sharing a laugh, 1961.
Lucille in front of the family home at 1000 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills.
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