The world created by Lucille Ball’s 40 year television career was one dominated by mothers. Owing to the fact that her own father died while she was a young child, mothers are celebrated time and again on Lucycoms! Here’s a comprehensive look at Lucy and Motherhood!
A celebration of motherhood with the Arnaz Family 1951! Lucille had just become a mother for the first time when her mother Desiree (aka Dede) and Desi’s mother Dolores posed for this photo. Baby Lucie would also grow up to become a mother, step-mother, and grandmother herself!
It is said that Dede was in the studio audience for all of her daughter’s shows. Here she got to be on camera as part of the studio audience (of extras) in “Lucy and Johnny Carson” (HL S2;E11) in 1969.
“The Password is Motherhood!” Wherever her daughter was performing or being interviewed, Lucille assured that her mother Dede would be welcomed.
Three mothers having a ball!
Lucie Arnaz emulates her legendary mother’s famous face!
Although Liz Cooper of Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” was not a mother herself, she had a mother and a mother-in-law! Sarah Selby voiced Liz’s mother, Adele Elliott, and Eleanor Audley played Laeticia Cooper, George’s Mother.
In 1953, Lucy Ricardo became a mother. Her son was Ricky Ricardo Jr. (aka Little Ricky). The character would be played by 8 actors over the course of 7 years. His birth was timed to coincide with Lucille Ball becoming a mother for the second time, on January 19, 1953, giving birth to her son, Desi Arnaz IV aka Desi Jr.
Becoming a mother again put Lucille Ball on the cover of the very first National Edition of TV Guide! Twenty years later, Lucy and her son once again celebrated motherhood with a cover story!
Lucy Ricardo’s onscreen infant son was played by The Simmons Twins, who are shown here with their mother (extreme right) and their grandmother (standing). The other two women are a nurse and social worker.
Eva Jean Mayer, the real life mother of The Mayer Twins, the second set of twins to play Little Ricky, was one of the neighbors in “Homecoming” (ILL S5;E26). This allowed Lucy to hand off the child to someone who would soothe him in the large and chaotic crowd scene. A crying or distracted child would cause costly and time-consuming re-takes!
In 1954 the series introduced “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (ILL S4;E8), Mrs. Ricardo, played by Mary Emery. The language barrier proved the source for the comedy in this rare mother-in-law comedy not based on the usual tropes.
Mary Emery would reprise the role of Mother Ricardo in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (ILL S6;E9), which would be her last appearance before retiring from show business.
Little Ricky politely calls her Abuela, Spanish for Grandmother.
During Season 1, long before we meet Mother Ricardo, Lucy assumes Ricky misses his mother in Cuba Lucy and lip syncs to “Mamãe Eu Quero” (“I Want My Mama”), a song composed by Vicente Paiva in 1937. Lucy says that she knows his mother was a great singer and dancer and that he had five brothers: Pedro, Pablo, Chu-Chu, Josinte, and Jose. Mother Ricardo was busy!
Later in 1954, Kathryn Card joined the cast to play the role of Lucy’s mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy. She played the role 9 times including one episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1959, her last time playing the scatterbrained but loveable mother. As far as we know, Lucy was her only child. Unusually, in all those appearances, the writers never gave her a first name!
Mrs. McGillicuddy (Kathryn Card) also became a doting grandmother and (along with Mrs. Trumbull) watched over Little Ricky while the gang was off on their adventures. Here they say goodbye as his parents and godparents (the Mertzes) say “California Here We Come” (ILL S4;E13).
And as soon she returns home from Hollywood, Lucy leaves for Europe, where she hates to say “Bon Voyage” (ILL S5;E13) to her only child telling her mother
“You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother, mother!”
Ethel Mertz never became a mother, but she is Godmother to Little Ricky. To explain Vivian Vance’s absence when “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (ILL S1;E30), Fred says that she went to see her mother. Ethel tells Fred that she’ll be visiting her mother during “The Camping Trip” (S2;E29) so she can sneak away and help Lucy. Since we never meet Ethel’s mother when we visit “Ethel’s Hometown” (ILL S4;E15) and she is never mentioned in the episode, we can only speculate that in Ethel’s mother is living in another city, probably close to New York, within visiting range!
Similarly, Fred’s mother is never seen, but in “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (ILL S4;E8),
Ethel tells Lucy that her mother-in-law comes all the way from Indiana once a year just to look under her rug for dirt! William Frawley was 67 years old at the time, so it is not inconceivable that his mother might still be alive. Or Ethel could be just joking!
Before she became Mrs. Trumbull, Elizabeth Patterson played Mrs. Willoughby, who her husband Bert (Irving Bacon) always called ‘Mother’ in “The Marriage License” (ILL S1;E26). Mother was also the Mayor!
Lucy and Georgia Holt, mother of one of the biggest superstars in entertainment history – Cher – appeared in “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (ILL S5;E20).
This superstar’s mama turned up again (as a fur model) on a 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show”. Coincidentally, in the Broadway musical Cher, moms Holt and Lucille Ball were played by the same performer!
The rivalry between mothers Lucy and Caroline Appleby (Doris Singleton) was the subject of several episodes. Little Ricky and Little Stevie (uncredited) appear bored stiff by their mothers’ antics!
Little Stevie was later played by Steven Kaye [don’t look at the camera, Steven!] in “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13) where the mothers vie for who will have the better birthday party! Lucy goes out on a ledge (literally) and books Superman!
Connecticut neighbor Betty Ramsey (Mary Jane Croft) is mother of little Bruce (Ray Ferrell). Husband and father Ralph is played by Frank Nelson in “Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors” (ILL S6;E18).
Mrs. Benson (Norman Varden), was the tearful mother of a daughter who has left the nest to get married (to a nincompoop), and finds no comfort in her husband (meh), in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26).
Actors Verna Felton and Lee Millar never played mother and son on their six combined appearances on “I Love Lucy”, although that was their relationship in real life. He did, however, get to act opposite his mom on Desilu’s “December Bride” where she was a series regular.
Little Diana’s mother, Mrs. Van Fossen, is is beaming with pride after hearing her daughter play “Swanee River” on the violin at a music recital, the same one where “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4) in 1956.
Ida Moore played the kindly old mother-in-law of Ruth Knickerbocker, swing vote in “The Club Election” (ILL S2;E19) in 1953.
Mothers on a plane! Lucy Ricardo, mother of baby Cheddar Chester, and Evelyn Bigsby (Mary Jane Croft), mother of baby Caroline, in “Return Home From Europe” (ILL S5;E26). Before landing in New York, Lucy commits matriphagy (when mothers eat their young) by devouring baby Chester!
In a dream sequence in “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend” (ILL S3;E12), Lucy is mother two two different Little Ricky’s – both of whom were uncredited. Despite an eerie resemblance the first dream Little Ricky is NOT the Beaver!
When “Lucy Writes a Play” (ILL S1;E17), Ethel takes the role of Lucita’s Mamacita in ‘A Tree Grows in Havana’. When the play undergoes a rewrite…
Ethel switches to the role of Pamela’s Mater in ‘The Perils of Pamela’.
Ethel played Lucy’s dowdy ‘Ma’ in the very first episode aired “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1). “All the single ladies!”
Lucy pretends to be Fred and Ethel’s Ma to win a trip to Hawaii in “Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” (ILL S3;E22). Things get complicated when radio host Freddy Fillmore wants to meet Lucy AND Ma at the same time!
Mother and step-mom Kathy Williams (Marjorie Lord) rented the Ricardo home for the summer with her husband Danny (Danny Thomas) in “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (LDCH S2;E2) in 1958. When the Ricky’s summer gig is cancelled, the two families must learn to co-exist! Kathy Williams was Danny’s second wife, and became mother to his son Rusty (Rusty Hamer) and Danny adopted her daughter Linda (Angela Cartwright) making it one of TV’s first blended families!
In Critic’s Choice (1960) Angela Ballantine (Lucille Ball) showed motherly affection for her son John (Rickey Kelman) even when arguing with his father (Bob Hope).
The premise of “The Lucy Show” (1962-68), was initially about two single mothers, Vivian Bagley (a divorcee) and Lucy Carmichael (a widow), raising their children on their own under one roof. Chris and Jerry (Candy Moore and Jimmy Garrett) were Lucy’s kids and Sherman (Ralph Moore) was Viv’s only child. In real life, Lucille Ball was also the mother of a son and daughter. Vivian was never a mother, but she was a godmother to her friend Jane’s son, John Sebastian.
In “Lucy the Chaperone” (TLS S1;E27) Lucille Ball shared the sound stage with her TV daughter (Candy Moore) and her real-life daughter (Lucie Arnaz).
Being mothers of rowdy young boys was the subject of many season one episodes of “The Lucy Show.”
Lucy Carmichael and her son Jerry (Jimmy Garrett).
Lucy Carmichael and her teenage daughter Chris (Candy Moore).
In “Lucy is a Soda Jerk” (TLS S1;E23), both of Lucille Ball’s real children were in the cast. This is an on-set publicity photo from that shoot. Lucie Arnaz played Cynthia, and Desi Jr. played Billy Simmons.
In later years, supportive mama Lucille often cast her own daughter in one-off supporting roles, as in this “The Lucy Show” episode in 1967. Look who grew up before our eyes!
Lucy Carmichael loved her son – but after he went away to military school, she had trouble remembering his name! Here, Lucy calls him Jimmy, despite everyone off screen telling Lucille Ball that it was actually Jerry! Lucille is probably remembering the actor’s real name, Jimmy Garrett.
Three sports moms: Viv, Lucy, and Audrey Simmons (Mary Jane Croft), watch their sons play Little League baseball – until they get ejected from the park for un-sportsmanlike conduct! Billy Simmons was played by Lucy’s real-life son, Desi Arnaz Jr. This is the only episode of “The Lucy Show” where the Simmons mother and son share the screen.
Over-protective mother Elizabeth Westcott (Charlotte Lawrence) showed up unexpectedly at her daughter Debbie’s (Patti Garrity) spring break bungalow in “Lucy the Chaperone” (TLS S1;E27). Coincidentally, Garrity also played Lucille Ball’s daughter in Yours, Mine and Ours.
The mother of Mr. Mooney’s children was never seen! Irma Mooney was mother to Ted (Michael J. Pollard), Arnold (Barry Livingston & Ted Eccles), Bob (Eddie Applegate), and an unseen / un-named daughter, who we learn lives in Trenton NJ and is a mother herself. The name ‘Irma’ was doubtless chosen for its association with the film, radio and television series “My Friend Irma” which starred Gale Gordon’s mother, Gloria Gordon, who died in 1962, the same year “The Lucy Show” began.
Mrs. White (Mabel Albertson), mother of Junior White in “Lucy and the Lost Stamp” (TLS S3;E14). Mabel Albertson shared a mom with another Lucy character actor, Jack Albertson! She was also one-time mother-in-law to TV icon Cloris Leachman.
Mrs. Collins (Queenie Smith) was doting momma to Lucy’s new beau Brad (Keith Andes) in “Lucy and Joan” (TLS S4;E4).
Single mother and torch songstress Roberta Sherwood (Roberta Schaeffer), moved into the Carmichael home with her drummer Bob (Robert Lanning) – who also happened to be her teenage son. As on the show – they were mother and son in real life as well!
On a sketch in “Carol + 2” (1966) obsessed new mother Alice (Carol Burnett) refuses to allow her sister Rita (Lucille Ball) to go on vacation without first hearing her baby say bye-bye!
During the 1960s, a television commercial for Anacin featured an overwrought housewife snapping at her mother, who is attempting to help her in the kitchen. The commercial was widely parodied, including on “The Lucy Show”…
…and on “Here’s Lucy.”
Reformatting “The Lucy Show” into “Here’s Lucy” served many purposes, but most noticeably it allowed proud mother Lucille Ball to star her own two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. as her TV kids.
Helicopter mother Lucy Carter hides in the chimney flue while her daughter croons “Ma, He’s Makin’ Eyes at Me” with her Uncle Harry in “Kim Moves Out” (HL S4;E20).
Mrs. Caldwell (Nancy Howard), mother of Laurie (Nancy Howard) in “Mod, Mod Lucy” (HL S2;E1). Mr. Caldwell is played by Lew Parker.
“Lucy, the American Mother” (HL S3;E7), is both the name of the episode and her son’s documentary film about Mrs. Lucille Carter. Needless to say, Craig’s candid camera disrupts his mother’s routine!
Mumsie Westcott (Elsa Lanchester) in “Lucy Goes to Prison” (HL S5;E18), mother to her unseen son Cecil and Cynthia and Heathcliff, the plants on the window sill behind her! In Great Britain, ‘Mum’ can mean mother, or it can mean to keep something quiet. For criminal Westcott, it is both! In this episode, Lucy goes undercover as Dede Peterson, which was also the name of her mother after her remarriage.
In “The Amateur Hour” (ILL S1;E14), Mrs. Hudson (Gail Bonney) didn’t seem to especially enjoy being a mother – especially of rambunctious twin sons Timmy and Jimmy (David Stollery and Sammy Ogg – not real life twins at all).
She tricks Lucy into thinking she’s babysitting for one child, not two – then goes off to get her hair done! A mother’s hair is never done!
In “Lucy the Babysitter” (TLS S5;E16), Mary Wickes (who was not a mother in real life) played Mrs. Winslow, mother of Danny, Charlie, and Bobbie (aka Roberta). When she is in need of a babysitter, Lucy answers the call.
What Lucy doesn’t realize is that Mrs. Winslow’s three children are actually baby chimps! The famous Marquis Chimps played the trio that Lucy must mind.
Lucy Carter, Mother Penguin in “Lucy and the Franchise Fiasco” (HL S5;E20) and Lucy Ricardo, Mother Chicken in “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20).
Lucille Ball played carny mom Agnes Kubelsky, mother of Jackie (Johnny Carson) in “Jack Benny’s Carnival Nights” (1968). In reality, Jack Benny’s mother was named Emma Sachs Kubelsky.
A few years later, Lucy Carter played Jack Benny’s Mother in “Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11).
“Lucy, the Helpful Mother” (HL S2;E15) proved mama Carter would do anything for her children, including turning her home into a pet store!
Lucy Carter plays a modern mother of this low-brow bickering family, a commercial for ‘Uncle Ernie’s Fun Farm’ on season one of “Here’s Lucy”.
In “Lucy, The Part-Time Wife” (HL S3;E14) she also pretends to be Lucy, the new mother in order to save Harry from the clutches of an over-bearing old flame (Jean Willes).
Lucy’s daughter Kim pretends to be an expectant mother for a Gone With The Wind sketch in “Lucy and Flip Go Legit” (HL S4;E1). “I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ babies!”
Ma Parker (Carole Cook) is mother in name only to Herman (Billy Curtis) and Little Mildred aka Milton (Jerry Maren) in “Lucy and Ma Parker” (HL S3;E15). Any resemblance to the real outlaw Ma Barker is purely intentional.
When “Lucy Goes Hawaiian – Part 2″ (HL S3;E24), Lucy and Kim perform the 1957 novelty song “Mama’s Mumu” while Harry makes a special appearances as ‘Mama’!
“Where is My Wandering Mother Tonight?” (HL S6;E23), wonders her worried daughter Kim.
Norma Michaels learns from her only daughter Linda (Doria Cook) that she is going to be a grandmother – only a few months after becoming a mother-in-law!
In Three For Two (1975) Lucy played a domineering mother named Pauline forced to recognize her college-aged children’s need for independence. Paul Linke played her son Alfred and Tammi Bula was her daughter Maureen. Jackie Gleason was Mike, their father.
In “What Now Catherine Curtis?” (1976), a voice-over by Lucille Ball introduces Catherine Curtis, who is mother to two daughters, Melinda and Elizabeth, facing life as a single woman again. Catherine is also a grandmother (or, as she calls herself “Nana”).
Carol Coogan (Gloria DeHaven) tries to be supportive when her teenage son Scotty (Scotty Plummer) wants a motorcycle for his birthday in the ‘Music Mart’ portion of “Lucy Moves to NBC” (1980).
Late in “Stone Pillow” (1985), Florabelle (Lucille Ball) says she lived on a farm with her husband and son (‘Sonny’). Ball named her homeless woman after her real-life grandmother Florabelle Emmaline Hunt, who was also mentioned in two episodes of “Here’s Lucy” – “Lucy Takes Over” (HL S2;E23) in 1970, and “Lucy, The Sheriff” (HL S6;E18) in 1974.
Two mothers in “Mother of the Bride” (LWL S1;E8): Lucy Barker (Lucille Ball), mother of Margo McGibbon (Ann Dusenberry), who is mother of Becky (Jenny Lewis) and Kevin (Philip Amelio, not pictured).
In “World’s Greatest Grandma” (LWL S1;E13), an un-aired episode of “Life With Lucy”, Lucy Barker competes to win a Grandma Talent Contest.
MEGA MOMS!
In “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15), knowing overly-amorous Mr. Ritter doesn’t like children, ‘Mother’ Lucy Ricardo trots out a stream of youngsters as her offspring. Mr. Ritter (Edward Everett Horton) counts 25, although Lucy says six are missing. In reality, ten uncredited child performers were featured in the episode, one even dressed as a “little” Ricky playing a conga drum, a full year before Lucy Ricardo became a mother for real!
Donna Colucci (Kaye Ballard) is mother of Ricardo, Anna Maria, Louisa, Luigi, Vincenzo, Dino, Lucrezia, Alfredo Jr., Margarito, Bruno, Rosa, and Frederico (all uncredited) in “Lucy and Harry’s Italian Bombshell” (HL S4;E3). Their father is played by Emile Autuori.
Helen North Beardsley (Lucille Ball), mother of 19 in 1968′s Yours, Mine and Ours. Lucy’s partner in bringing up this blended family is played by Henry Fonda.
Other Mothers!
Mother Goose helps Lucy increase her dictation speed in “Lucy is a Process Server” (TLS S2;E27).
Lucy plays Mother Hubbard and shows her border Ernie that the cupboards are bare – hoping his hunger will drive him away when “Tennessee Ernie Hangs On” (ILL S3;E29).
Lucy and Viv were introduced as Cub Scout Den Mothers when “Lucy Goes to the White House” (TLS S1;E25).
Fairy Godmother in “Like Hep” (1969).
Mommie Dearest was what Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter Tina later titled her book about her domineering mother. The book later became a blockbuster film starring Faye Dunaway (right) as Mommie Dearest.
“It’s not nice to sue Mother Nature!” But “Lucy, Legal Eagle”, takes Hilda Loomis (Dina Dietrich) to court anyway – over a teddy bear! Dietrich was known for playing Mother Nature on a series of Chiffon Margarine commercials.
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