Blind Items Revealed #2 - Old Hollywood
October 9, 2015
This actor was on an all-time hit show. He was not the lead, but was second fiddle. This was an iconic show with an iconic actress. Our actor was a drunk and only got hired because he was best friends with the lead actor of the show who was married to the actress,. Our actor would generally be drunk while shooting and was hated by the woman who played his wife.
I Love Lucy/William Frawley/Desi Arnaz/Lucille Ball/Vivian Vance
Fred Mertz was also hated by me. Seems drunk & belligerent, wears a wife-beater, treats Ethel like shit.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the source for the Frawley/Arnaz friendship? I don't recall gearing that before.
Everything I've read repeats the Vance/Frawley mutual animosity, but nothing on the Frawley/Arnaz friendship backstory.
ReplyDeleteFrawley was pissed off that Vance thought he was too old to play her husband (she was right) and set about snarking at and about her for the duration of their association. Farwley & Desi became friends during the show, but it's been widely reported that Frawley initially bristled at working for a Cuban - because Frawley was very close to the Fred Mertz character, which is why he was hired. He didn't really have to act at all.
I wasn't there, so maybe there was a secret pre-show friendship between drunken neanderthal buffoon Bill Frawley and extremely intelligent, educated, elegant Desi Arnaz. Stranger things have happened.
hahahahaha, elegant & educated!!!! More likely they were both drunk womanizers.
ReplyDeleteIf you look close during some of the eps, you can see his hand(s) seriously shake--I always wondered about that. Now I know why!
ReplyDeleteUmmm, well documented that Frawley had a clause in his contract that said if he ever showed up drunk, he would be fired. CBS didn't want him in the show cause he was a known alcoholic. The clause was only way they would hire him, so seems unlikely he was drunk all the time. Arnaz, on the other hand..
ReplyDeleteLate in her life Lucy talked about frawley's drinking, and said day one they told him it better not screw with their schedule-- he never ever came to work drunk..she was a tough cookie and would've fired his ass. She wanted Gale Gordon for the part, but desi promised her frawley would clean up his act and pull it off.
ReplyDeleteNothing like money to make you act like you got some sense about youself.
ReplyDeleteI always hated Frawley AND Fred Mertz. I was always glad he died first.
ReplyDelete