Desi’s TOPS Picks!

July 9, 1955

For the July 9, 1955 issue of TV Guide, Desi Arnaz was tasked with picking TOPS – Television’s Own Promising Starlets!  Arnaz picked six young women he believed would be popular and successful on television in the years to come. This was a rare time that Lucille Ball was not part of the article, except for her name being dropped as Desi’s original TOPS pick.  There is not even a photo of Lucy!  

The cover features Clara Ann Fowler (1927-2013), known by her stage name Patti Page, a singer of pop and country music and occasional actress. She was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, selling over 100 million records during a six-decade long career.

Page’s signature song, “Tennessee Waltz”, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century. Page had three additional #1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, “All My Love (Bolero)”, “I Went to Your Wedding”, and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window”.  In 1955, Page was seen in “The Patti Page Show,” her own 15-minute television show and was a frequent musical guest on variety programs. 

Here’s a closer look at Desi’s TOPS, along with notes about their career since 1955: 

MARJIE MILLAR was born on August 10, 1930 in Tacoma, Washington, as Marjorie Joy Miller.

In 1935, she won a Shirley Temple look-alike contest at Tacoma’s Roxy Theater over 200 other local contestants.

Mogul Hal Wallis took an immediate interest in her.

In March 1952 she was named “Miss Hollywood Star of 1952." 

She was crowned one of Hollywood’s new deb stars by Hollywood hair stylists in 1953.

She was known for Money from Home (1953) and About Mrs. Leslie (1954). In July 1955 she had just finished two seasons on ABC TV’s Emmy-nominated series “Where’s Raymond?” starring Ray Bolger. After Desi’s recognition, she did the film When Gangland Strikes (1956). She was married to Charles Candoo, John Dennis McCallum, John Florea, and James Sidney Rollins Jr. She died on April 16, 1966 in Coronado, California.

Desilu Connection: On “Where’s Raymond” she acted opposite “I Love Lucy” character actors Elvia Allman, Bobby Jellison, Shirley Mitchell, Verna Felton, Jay Novello, Joi Lansing, and Wil Wright, as well as creative staff Argyle Nelson, Claudio Guzman, and Dann Cahn. The series filmed at General Service Studios, just like “I Love Lucy”. 

FRANCES RAFFERTY

was born on June 16, 1922 in Sioux City, Iowa. During the Depression her family moved to Los Angeles in search of work. Frances was signed by MGM at the age of 19 and began with a dancing bit in Presenting Lily Mars (1943) starring Judy Garland.

She was a war-era cover girl for Yank, the Army weekly.

Unable to secure starring parts, Frances remained a B-level co-star. She died in 2004 at age 81. 

Desilu Connection: Lucille Ball was instrumental in casting Rafferty in Desilu’s hit sitcom “December Bride” (1954-59), where she played Ruth Henshaw in 156 episodes, including one that starred Desi Arnaz as himself!  At MGM, she was in the films Thousands Cheer (1943) and Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) with Lucille Ball. 

VERA MILES (nee Ralston) was born in Boise City, Oklahoma on August 23, 1929. Miles won the title of "Miss Kansas” in 1948, leading soon to small roles in Hollywood films and television. series. The same week this TV Guide hit the stands, she appeared in the film Wichita, starring Joel McRae as Wyatt Earp. Coincidentally, Miles went to high school in Wichita, Kansas. Her main claim to fame was as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘blondes’ appearing in Psycho (1960) as Lila Crane, Marion’s sister. Miles also did the 1983 sequel playing the same role. 

Desilu Connection: In 1958, Miles did “Mr. Tutt”, an episode of Desilu’s Colgate Theatre, produced by Desi Arnaz. In 1966, Miles appeared on an episode of “The Bob Hope Show” with Lucille Ball. 

JEANNE BAIRD was born on March 28, 1927 in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. She got her start in TV’s “The Living Christ” as Martha in 1951. 

Desilu Connection: In 1955 she did an episode of “I Married Joan” (NBC’s answer to “I Love Lucy”) which filmed at General Services Studios, same as “Lucy”.  

PEGGY KING was born in 1930 and known as “Pretty Perky Peggy King” when she appeared on “The George Gobel Show” (1954-57) and guest-starred on many other TV shows.

In 1952, MGM signed her to a contract, which led to a cameo in Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful and a series of commercial jingles for Hunt’s tomato sauce. These last brought her to the attention of Mitch Miller, who signed her to a long-term contract, under which she made two best-selling albums. She sang the Oscar-nominated song “Count Your Blessings” on the 1955 Academy Awards telecast, and both Billboard and Down Beat magazine named her Best New Singer of 1955–56. She was nominated for an Emmy in 1955, the same year this TV Guide was published. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010, which led to her resuming her singing career in 2013.

Desilu Connection: There is no known direct connection between King and  Lucy and Desi, although both were associated with MGM and Vincente Minnelli. It is likely that Desi is just listening to the Hollywood critics, who praised King highly and predicted she would rival the greats.  While she had a moderate success, she never achieved the legendary status of Garland, Shore, Whiting, or Stafford. 

VIRGINIA GIBSON was born on April 9, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, as Virginia Gorski.

In the fall of 1943, she was a dancer in Roll Up Your Sleeves on Broadway. Gibson was signed by Warner Brothers in 1950 and made her film debut in Tea for Two (1950).

On television, Gibson was a regular on “Captain Billy’s Showboat” (1948). She also starred in “So This Is Hollywood” (1955) and was a regular performer on “The Johnny Carson Show (1955–56). In 1956 she returned to Broadway to play Ethel Merman’s daughter in the musical Happy Hunting, earning a Tony nomination for her work. She died in 2013 at age 88. 

Desilu Connection: Gibson is perhaps best known for playing Liza, one of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in MGM’s 1955 musical.  Lucy and Desi were also at MGM during this time, and even mentioned Seven Brides on an episode of “I Love Lucy.”

If the idea of Desi Arnaz and young female talent rings a bell, it should!  Ricky Ricardo was often faced with a green-eyed Lucy when surrounded by beautiful Hollywood starlets. It happened in “Don Juan and the Starlets” (ILL S4;E17), which coincidentally (or not) was aired around the same time as this article was being written for TV Guide! 

Lucy again got jealous of Ricky fraternizing with up-and-coming young talent in “Desert Island” (ILL S6;E8) just a year later. 

Editor’s Notes: Considering the well-known circumstances of the Arnaz divorce, and Desi’s reputation as a womanizer, it might be easy to conclude that producer Desi had some sort of personal interest in promoting these attractive young ladies in TV Guide. However, I’m not so sure that is a reasonable assumption to make. First, articles of this sort were rarely written by the ‘author’ (Desi) but by press agents, with approval of the person with the byline. The extent of Desi’s control of the list or the text that accompanies them is up for debate. In fact, some of these talented women are only tangentially related to Arnaz publicly, and some – not at all. 

When all is said and done, the only one on the list that has approached icon status is Vera Miles, due mainly to her participation in Hitchcock’s Psycho. While Frances Rafferty was on a weekly TV series (”December Bride”) the show has not fared well in syndication and is largely forgotten by today’s viewers. However, Rafferty is the most likely to have been ‘Desi’s pick’ due to her working on the Desilu lot and appearing with him in an episode of the show. At the time, Peggy King was certainly the odds-on favorite for stardom, so her inclusion was a no-brainer.  Virginia Gibson took a left turn back to Broadway and earned a Tony nod, so that interrupted her trajectory toward Hollywood fame. Sadly Millar and Baird’s careers fizzled and are only remembered today by die-hard fans.