LUCY THE SPORTS FAN

In both her personal life and her screen roles, Lucy was always a sports fan!

“The Bob Hope Buick Sports Award Show”

February
15, 1961 on NBC

Produced
by: Jack Hope, Bob’s younger brother. He died 18 months after this
special aired.

Directed
by: Jack Shea

Written
by: Mort Lachman, Bill Larkin, Lester White, John Rapp, Charles Lee

Starring

Bob
Hope
(Host) participated
in the sports of golf and boxing and owned a small stake in his
hometown baseball team,
the Cleveland
Indians.
He
also bought a share of the Los Angeles Rams with Bing Crosby in 1947,
but sold it in 1962, a year after this special aired.
His 1956 appearance on “I Love Lucy” was centered around
baseball, took place at Yankee Stadium, and featured the song “Nobody
Loves the Ump.”

Celebrity
Presenters

Lucille Ball
Dana
Andrews
Julie
London
Jayne
Mansfield
Dean
Martin
Ronald
Reagan
Ginger
Rogers
Jane
Russell
Tuesday
Weld
Esther
Williams
Jane
Wyman

Sports
Awardees

Joe
Bellino – College Football
Norman
Van Brocklin – Football
Wilt
Chamberlain – Basketball
Richard
‘Pancho’ Gonzales – Tennis
Rafer
Johnson – Decathalon
Dick
Groat – Baseball
Roger
Maris – Baseball
Jerry
Lucas – College Basketball
Barry
Mackay – Amateur Tennis
Arnold
Palmer – Golf
Floyd
Patterson – Boxing

David
Rose and His Orchestra

Frank
Barton, Announcer

Bob’s
monologue jokes about the failure of Jackie Gleason’s new show,
“You’re In The Picture,” canceled after just one airing. He also
talks about the space program and President Eisenhower’s golf game.
Hope reads a telegram of support from newly elected President John F.
Kennedy.

Basketball
player Wilt
Chamberlain
(7’1”) talks with Bob Hope (5’10”). Footage of Chamberlain
playing is included. Platinum blonde starlet Jayne
Mansfield presents
the award to Chamberlain.

Tennis
champion Richard
‘Pancho’ Gonzales
is introduced and footage of him playing is screened. Singer Julie
London
presents the award to Gonzales.

Hope
introduces Joe
Bellino,
football player for Navy. Footage of Bellino (#27) playing for Navy.
Tuesday
Weld
presents him with his award. Hope mentions her upcoming film Wild
in the Country
with Elvis Presley. Fellow honoree Rafer Johnson was also in the
film.

Bellino:
“If
this is Tuesday, I’d like to meet the rest of the week!”

Actor
Dana
Andrews introduces
Pittsburgh Pirates captain Dick
Groat.
Hope rolls the film.

Hope brings out Yankee’s
slugging star Roger Maris. In October 1960, the Pirates beat the
Yankees in the World Series, 8 to 7. Hope rolls footage of the game.

Jane
Wyman
presents an award to Maris for outstanding player in the American
League. Hope mentions her Oscar-winning role in Johnny
Belinda
(1948).

Hope
introduces college basketball player Jerry
Lucas,
#11 for Ohio State and shows footage of him playing. Swimming
actress Esther
Williams
presents him the award.

Boxer
Floyd
Patterson
could not attend the ceremony on the West Coast, so Hope shows
footage of him presenting him the award on the East Coast. Clips show
Patterson fighting Brian London.

Hope introduces Lucille
Ball as
the star of Broadway’s hit Wildcat. From late 1960 to mid-1961, Ball
lived in New York City while starring in the new musical.

She
compares boxing with making three films with Bob Hope. Bob mentions
that the pair have a movie “now
playing at your local theatre”
but does not mention its name. This would have been The
Facts of Life (1960).
Their fourth and final feature together would not come until 1964:
Critic’s
Choice,
which they both considered their only failure.

Outstanding
Amateur Tennis Player of 1960 Barry
Mackay
enters. Footage shows Mackay on the court. Fellow tennis enthusiast
Ginger
Rogers
presents the trophy to Mackay, who has turned pro.

Hope
talks about track and field star Rafer
Johnson’s
performance at the 1960 Olympics. Footage shows Johnson pole
vaulting at the Olympics. Star of stage, screen, and “General
Electric Theatre,” Ronald
Reagan
presents him the award. Johnson talks about his acting career at 20th Century Fox. His first credited role in a film would open two months
later.

Football
star Norman
Van Brocklin
retired from the gridiron from the sport in 1960. Footage of him
playing for the Rams (#11) and the Eagles (#25) is aired. Jane
Russell
presents the award. Russell was then married to Bob Waterfield, a
former player and then coach of the Rams.

Golf
superstar Arnold
Palmer
is awarded. Footage of him on the links is narrated by Hope. Dean
Martin
presents him with “the prize” which he jokes is a decanter.

Hope
wraps up the show with a verse of “Thanks for the Memory,” a plea
to donate to the Heart Fund, and a pitch for Buick, naturally. The
announcer promotes the next “Bob Hope Buick Show” on April 12
starring Patti Page and Phil Harris and “Peter Loves Mary”
starring Peter Lynde Hayes and Mary Healey.

“Super Comedy Bowl I”

January
10, 1971

Lucille
Ball appears in a sketch with Joe Namath on “The
Super Comedy Bowl,”
a TV special aired the night before the January 1971 Super Bowl game,
although the segment was taped on November 23, 1970. In the sketch,
Lucille Ball played an ER nurse who ‘manhandles’ football player
Joe Namath after an accident. The sketch was written by Arnold Kane,
who wrote about it in his book, My
Meteoric Rise to Obscurity:

“Lucy
was a comedy genius. Namath was naturally frightened and nervous
about doing comedy but the thought of working with Lucy scared the
crap out of him.”

This
appearance led to Namath playing himself on “Here’s Lucy,” in an
episode that brought Desi Arnaz Jr. back to the series.

Other
stars appearing were: Carol Burnett, Charlton Heston, Arte Johnson,
Jack Lemmon, Pat O’Brien, Jill St. John, John Wayne, Judy Carne, Tina
Cole, Norm Crosby, Jack Gilford, Teresa Graves, Rosey Grier, Marty
Ingels, Art Metrano, Charles Nelson Reilly, Alan Seuss, Leslie
Uggams, Dave Willock, and Alex Karras.

The
following year the “Super
Comedy Bowl II”
featured Lucy’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, who appeared with Bubba Smith (of
the Colts), Ben Davidson (of the Oakland Raiders), and Teresa Graves.
It was taped November 22, 1971 and aired on January 12, 1972.