LOOK!  LUCY is UNTOUCHABLE!

September 27, 1960

Robert Stack and Lucille Ball appeared on the cover of Look Magazine (volume 24, number 26) on September 27, 1960 in connection with three entertainment articles.

The photo of Lucille Ball is credited to Charlotte Brooks.

Charlotte Finkelstein Brooks was a staff photographer for Look from 1951 to 1971 and the only woman staff photographer in the magazine’s history. 

The photograph of Robert Stack is by Earl Theisen.

LUCY LEAVES TV FOR BROADWAY

In Fall 1960 Lucille Ball moved to New York City to star in a Broadway musical (produced by Desilu) named Wildcat.  Ball had divorced her husband Desi and left Lucy Ricardo behind in April 1960 and was looking for new opportunities. Ball naturally brought her two children, Lucie (age 9), and Desi Jr. (age 7) to New York. 

“I will never do another TV series, however. It could never top ‘I Love Lucy’ and I’d be foolish to try.” 

As we now know, Lucille Ball reversed this decision in mid-1962, when Desilu needed a financial boost and CBS was eager to have their queen back on the throne. Wildcat proved a bigger challenge than the 49 year-old Ball had bargained for.  Eight performances a week took its toll on her health, and she had to close the show prematurely after a short run.  The article also mentions Desilu’s plans to do a TV special based on her experiences on Broadway. The special was scripted, but never produced. 

HOW ‘THE UNTOUCHABLES’ HYPOED TV’S CRIME WAVE

“The Untouchables” originally aired as a segment of the anthology series “Desilu Playhouse” in April 1959. Desi Arnaz was the executive producer and introduced the two-part story. It was picked up as a regular series by ABC for the 1959 season. Season 2 would begin on October 13, 1960. This article credits (for better or worse) the show with the increased popularity of crime drama on television.  The show was not without its critics, including from singer Frank Sinatra, who saw it as anti-Italian-American. Despite this, the series ran three more years and spawned TV and movie remakes. 

Six years after this article was written, Lucille Ball invited the “Untouchables” cast to perform a satire of the series on “The Lucy Show”.  Because star Robert Stack had vowed not to do comic incarnations of his character on other shows, the character names were changed, but the comparison was unmistakable. 

TEN YEARS OF TV: How It’s Better, How It’s Worse, What’s Ahead

Although television existed before 1950, mainstream programming and television set sales didn’t really kick in until the ‘50s. The success of “I Love Lucy” furthered both the art of television and its popularity with the public.

This was Lucille Ball’s third of nine LOOK covers from 1953 to 1971, its final year of publication.  

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The same date this issue of LOOK hit the stands, Garry Moore returned to television with a third season of his hit show. This episode features Lucille Ball commenting on bloopers of her kissing Bob Hope during filming of The Facts of Life.  Ball was then doing pre-publicity for the film, which would premiere on November 14, 1960.