LYDIA LANE on LOVELY LUCY

June 14, 1953

By LYDIA LANE 

Five years ago Lucille Ball was one of the unhappiest girls in Hollywood. 

Her career was sick and her marriage was shaky. I remember we were on our way to visit wounded soldiers when Lucille expressed a wish: To see so little of Desi, but I can’t sing, and he doesn’t act – if only we could work together!“ 

How beautifully this dream has materialized. I mentioned this to Lucille on the set where she was rehearsing her famed TV series, "I Love Lucy.” Her voice was ripe with emotion as she murmured, “I’m so grateful!" 

Lucille is not glamorous in the conventional sense, but as I sat chatting with her in her dressing room there was a beautiful glow about her. 

"What’s your top beauty secret?” I asked.  

“Happiness,” she answered. “I love working with Desi and being myself instead of feeling silly in a glamour-gal part. When I was making pictures I used to tell them I didn’t want to compete with professional beauties.”

“But you’re going to make a picture soon, aren’t you?" 

Lucille smiled. "Yes, and it’s so wonderful This time it will be just what you want." 

At this point Desi came in and asked what we were up to and suggested with a mischievous grin, "Would you like to know my beauty secrets?" 

"You can tell me what you dislike in a woman,” I said. 

After a thoughtful pause he said with his cute accent: “I dislike women to wear too much perfume. Lucy uses perfume but I never know it she blends it with herself. Perfume is like background music for a picture. The moment you become aware of it, it is in bad taste." 

Desi left as suddenly as he had come, and I asked Lucille how she perfumed herself. 

"I am a great sachet user. I like everything I have like undies, hose, and gloves, to be scented. I even have sachet covers for my hangers. 

"After my bath I spray my whole body with cologne, and when I am dressed, I use perfume as a finishing touch." 

"This way you’ve built an aura of fragrance,” I remarked, “instead of having perfume concentrated here and there." 

I wanted to know what was the biggest thing Lucille had had to overcome. "What we were talking about – not being beautiful. It was very difficult to be working at a studio where the accent was on appearance more than ability. 

"This conditioned my personality, and the way you feel about yourself has a lot to do with the impression you create,” she added. 

“How did you overcome this? 

“I had to learn to have an individual approach to myself,” Lucille explained, “not to compete on glamour standards. As soon as I felt differently about myself I changed the color of my hair. My hair was a nothing-brown, and I decided to dye it a gay red. It was the lift I needed at the time, and this was the turning point in my career – in fact my life." 

"Then you advocate changing the color of one’s hair?" 

"If it has a psychological impact, yes,” Lucille agreed, “but the color of hair is not everything. It has to be healthy to be attractive. I take very good care of my hair. I never sit under a hot air dryer nor have permanent waves." 

"What is the top glamour trick you’ve learned in Hollywood?” I asked. 

Lucille laughed, “How much hair can contribute to the impression you make. My forehead is low but with bangs I’m able to give a necessary height to balance my face." 

Lucille was wearing slacks which revealed how successfully she had gotten her figure back after Desi Jr., was born. 

"What is your secret for regaining your girlish figure?” I asked. 

“I went down from a size 16 to a size 12 by dieting,” she explained. “As I had had a Caesarean I couldn’t exercise. The diet is an old favorite of mine it really works, and it doesn’t starve you." 

#   #   #

Syndicated columnists like Lydia Lane did not write their own headlines. Newspapers made up their own headlines, added (or not) photographs, published on various dates, and had the ability (depending on contractual agreements) to edit the text for space or content.  Here are some of the different headlines that various papers used for the same article.  Which one would get your attention? 

Although Season Two of “I Love Lucy” still had two episodes to air, it would not be seen on June 15, 1953, the day after this article’s publication.  The Ford Motor Company bought two hours of time on both CBS and NBC to celebrate the past 50 years of progress thanks to the automobile.  It would be a musical and dramatic celebration of progress – courtesy of Ford.  

That Monday, America would have to be satisfied with their dose of “I Love Lucy” in comic strip form. In real life, “I Love Lucy” was already on hiatus for the summer.  They returned to work on September 11, 1953. 

Lydia Lane was born Audrey Young in 1904. She was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Mirror from 1938 to 1980. Miss Lane interviewed Hollywood film stars and wrote about their secrets for controlling weight or enhancing their hair, skin or makeup. In her column, titled simply “Beauty.” Miss Lane’s column (titled simply “Beauty”) was syndicated by The Times to 387 newspapers, and was the leading feature in 1951. She died in 1994. 

Lane returned to interview Ball in October 1960 and November 1962.