CREATIVE CASTING!

After two series, Lucille Ball’s sitcoms were literally a family affair.  On “Here’s Lucy” she employed her husband, her children, her cousins, and many others!  Here’s a look at some of the other unusual casting choices on the show!

The ultimate celebrity guest star was none other than Lucille Ball herself!  Lucy Carter met the movie and TV star when Kim entered a celebrity look-alike contest. Uniquely, Ball got two credit screens – as star and guest star!  

Lucille Ball’s mother, Dede Ball, was supposedly in the audience of every filming.  So when the camera’s turned on the audience (actually extras) of “The Tonight Show”, Dede was on the aisle. Johnny shared a smile and a laugh with Lucy’s mom.   

Before Gary Morton married Lucille Ball in 1961, he was a stand-up comic. So naturally when small roles needed to be cast (usually emcees or announcers) he stepped in. 

In 1971, Lucie Arnaz married Phil Vandervort.  He was featured in several episodes in small roles, often as Kim’s boyfriend. The couple divorced in 1977.

Wanda Clark was Lucille Ball’s real-life personal secretary so when Ball was dissatisfied with the actor cast as a secretarial candidate, she called on Clark. She says that she got the role because Lucy admired how fast she could type. But the typewriter on the set was a manual and Clark had been using an electric for many years – so she had to fake it!  

Jack Donohue started his career as a dancer with Ziegfeld on Broadway. He directed 35 episodes of “Here’s Lucy” and played small roles in three of them.  Here he plays Dirty Jack, a club owner who puts the moves on Lucy and gets slapped by Ball!  

George Marshall directed only six episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”  He was brought in for the show’s outdoor episodes due to his experience with location shooting.  This is his only appearance. It was said that Marshall was quite a drinker, but a very skilled director. 

Coby Ruskin was the director of 68 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He made two screen appearances on the series. In season six, Ruskin and Ball had a disagreement and he was fired. Ball stepped in and finished directing the episode, earning her the only formal directing credit on her series’.  

When Ken Berry withdrew at the last minute, choreographer Jimmy Bates filled in as Billy Joe Jackson, the dancin’ man from Alabam’.  Bates was seen in one other of the show’s musical episodes.  

Anita Mann was assistant to the series’ first choreographer, Jack Baker. She played Craig’s shipboard romance in the two-part episode “Lucy Goes Hawaiian” (S3;E23). She later choreographed for the Solid Gold Dancers and the Muppets!

Marl Young was the first African-American to be musical director of a television series.  He made several on-screen appearance when music was involved in the plot. He even played himself in an episode about integrating Phil Harris’ orchestra.  

When Lucille Ball had a week to learn how to use a potters wheel, she contacted real-life art teacher Roger Twedt. He also played Lucy Carter’s onscreen instructor. Twedt was in the student film “The Potter’s Problem” which won the California Art Educators Award. It was seen by the “Here’s Lucy” writers and was the inspiration for this episode.

The Remnants were a real group of nuns from the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth, Kansas. They made two records but generally only played benefit performances. “Here’s Lucy” writers saw them at a Los Angeles area performance and wrote an episode that featured them.     

When an episode involved a benefit for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, a special appearance was made by current LA Mayor, Sam Yorty. 
During his tenure he earned numerous nicknames from both admirers and detractors. In 1997, a survey of urban historians and political scientists rated Yorty the third worst big-city mayor in the USA since 1960.