Quotes from Rob Edelman

As she won fame playing Ethel Mertz, she perceived all of her theater work not as an end in itself, let alone the fulfillment of a childhood dream, but solely as preparation for I Love Lucy. She never really could savor the fact that, while no Broadway legend, she had become a respected and regularly employed working actress.

It is no secret that Desi was cheating on Lucy, and that he shared with Bill Frawley a fondness for alcohol.

Had he been a few years younger and lived a decade or two longer, Frawley would have been perfectly cast as lovable bigot Archie Bunker on All in the Family, the classic CBS sitcom that came to television in 1971.

Television is fine," he continues, "but it can't give you the thrills and the fun ya have at the game, getting the sunshine and fresh air and being a real part of our national pastime. So let's all forget our worries and have fun at the ball game whenever we can get to one." Frawley concludes his spiel with a robust, "Whaddya say?" followed by an equally hearty, "Let's go!

you cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of." Then she added, "I had passed thirty-five before I realized that one can no more neglect chronic unhappiness than one can neglect an infected tooth. If misery, like a tooth, is left too long to fester the infection spreads and deepens.

to gain attention, wear a lightly but attractively colored chiffon scarf; if you wish to appear as if you weigh less, wear a size larger than your actual one.

Later, in 1962, when Vance agreed to rejoin Ball as her TV second banana on the forthcoming The Lucy Show, she made a strong stipulation: she must never again be paired with Frawley. "I loathed William Frawley and the feeling was mutual," she recalled. "Whenever I received a new [I Love Lucy] script, I raced through it, praying that there wouldn't be a scene where we had to be in bed together.

Before departing Independence, she selected a stage name: Vivian Vance. She borrowed the moniker from Vance Randolph, a member of the local theater crowd.