Table Of ContentThe one and only autobiography by Lucille
Ball . . . “The #1 Greatest TV Star of All Time”
—TV Guide
Love, Lucy is the valentine Lucille Ball left for her fans—a warm,
wise, and witty memoir written by Lucy herself. The legendary star of
the classic sitcom I Love Lucy was at the pinnacle of her success
when she sat down to record the story of her life. No comedienne
had made America laugh so hard, no television actress had made
the leap from radio and B movies to become one of the world’s best-
loved performers. This is her story—in her own words. The story of
the ingenue from Jamestown, New York, determined to go to
Broadway, destined to make a big splash, bound to marry her
Valentino, Desi Arnaz. In her own inimitable style, she tells of their
life together—both storybook and turbulent; intimate memories of
their children and friends; wonderful backstage anecdotes; the
empire they founded; the dissolution of their marriage. And, with a
heartfelt happy ending, her enduring marriage to Gary Morton. Here
is the lost manuscript that her fans and loved ones will treasure.
Here is the laughter. Here is the life. Here’s Lucy . . .
Love, Lucy
L B
BY UCILLE ALL
Foreword by Lucie Arnaz
“We watched her, we loved her, now her daughter lets us read about
her . . . Lucy fans will find the book fascinating.”
—Detroit News
“Her story is one of triumph . . . a winner.”
—New York Newsday
“An intensely moving autobiography . . . sparkles with Lucy’s wit and
ever present vitality.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Indeed these are, really and truly, Lucille Ball’s memoirs . . . Lucy
treats everything matter-of-factly, which seems to be how, in fact,
she approached life . . . moving.”
—New York Daily News
“A warm, conversational memoir filled with light and laughter . . .
Lucille Ball died in 1989, so it’s a shock to hear the gleeful, guileless
voice of ‘America’s favorite redhead’ ring out with such vitality in an
autobiography.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“It’s like reading a sincere letter from a likeable, ladylike college
chum.”
—USA Today
“Seven and a half years after her death, Lucy finally tells her
story . . . Love, Lucy is an unexpected gift.”
—Rocky Mountain News
“Readers will have a Ball . . . Lucy takes a long, hard look at her past
and tells her story with the insight and dry wit that endeared her to
generations of fans . . . Love, Lucy is a terrific tale, a belated
valentine from a great star of stage and screen. Filled with backstage
stories and lavishly illustrated, one only wishes that, like Lucy’s
immortal sitcoms, it would go on forever.”
—Flint Journal
“Lucy’s voice and inimitable timing come through loud and clear . . .
Love, Lucy is a must-read for anyone enamored of the Lucy legend.”
—The Virginian-Pilot
“We love Lucy—and now her book . . . It is a delightful walk through
Lucy’s memories from her childhood in Jamestown, N.Y., to her early
years in New York, B movies in Hollywood, life with Desi, and finally
life with Gary Morton, her husband for more than 20 years.”
—San Antonio Express-News
“A lively take on a funny star . . . fascinating.”
—Atlanta Journal & Constitution
“Breezy, well-written . . . Love, Lucy is packed with interesting
anecdotes (did you know Vivian Vance saved Ball from drowning
during the filming of a show?), recollections of Hollywood friendships
and intimate stories of Ball’s family life. The writing flows so well you
can almost hear Lucy’s voice confiding it all.”
—The Forum
“Entertaining . . . Lucille Ball’s newly released autobiography, Love,
Lucy, is a happy surprise for her fans . . . The most fascinating
element of this tome is that it is written in present tense in the early
1960’s.”
—The Star-Ledger
“An extremely interesting read . . . It’s a way to discover first hand
what was most important to Lucy—like Desi, her mother, her family
and kids, the career, her mentor Lela Rogers—and what was not.
She was the genuine article. So is this book.”
—ROBERT OSBORNE,
The Hollywood Reporter
BERKLEY
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 1996 by Desilu, Too L.L.C.
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ISBN: 978-1-101-66708-8
G. P. Putnam’s Sons hardcover edition / September 1996 Berkley Boulevard
mass-market edition / October 1997 Berkley mass-market edition / July 2018
Cover art: Portrait of Lucille Ball © CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images; I Love Lucy
episode 74 (BC image) © CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images
Cover design by Vikki Chu
Book design by Casey Hampton
Version_1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Premissions
Photo Insert
Foreword
O
ne of my mother’s favorite things to do, when a small group of
people were involved in some ordinary conversation, was to wait
until one of them left the room and as soon as she returned, blurt
out, convincingly, “Here she is now! Why don’tcha tell her to her
face?!!” This was always followed by frozen silence, and then she’d
howl (with that depth-of-the-sea laugh she had) to see the look on
the poor soul’s face, who for one horrible moment thought someone
had been saying terrible things about her while she was gone.
I’m not sure why, but I keep thinking about that now as I sit down
to introduce you to this treasure.
* * *
I lost my father at five minutes after midnight on December 2, 1986,
and my mother at dawn, on April 26, 1989. For my brother, Desi, and
me, it has been a difficult and complicated mourning period.
Normally, I would think, when an adult child loses her first parent,
there’s a parent’s spouse there to take over; to handle the technical
decisions, to bury and bequeath. My parents were divorced in the
late fifties and both were married to others for more than twenty
years. My father’s wife, Edie, died of cancer the year before he did,
so we were his only heirs. And after my mother’s death, her husband
of twenty-seven years, and our stepfather, Gary Morton, learned
from her executors that he had been very lovingly and carefully
provided for, but that she had placed Desi and me in charge of her
estate.
