BACHELOR GIRL

July 17, 1960

When Lucille Ball divorced Desi Arnaz last spring, her friends were convinced that, for all practical purposes, her public life had come to an end. 

Life with Lucy, they whispered, would mean seclusion, or at least partial retirement. 

But Lucy surprised everyone, including herself. 

Partly because she needed to be busy to forget her heartache, partly to show Desi she could get along without his guidance, and mostly because acting is so much a part of her, it took only one clay to talk her into the starring role opposite Bob Hope in United Artists’ “The Facts of Life." 

Soon after she finishes this movie, she’ll head for New York with her children, Lucie Desiree, it, and Desiderio Arnaz IV, who is 7, to star in a Broadway play, "Wildcat.” Being on her own again after 19 years of marriage took a great deal of adjustment on Lucy’s part although during the past two years she had ample preparation for a lonely existence because.

Desi was rarely at home. But as shown in the accompanying pictures, taken exclusively for Family Weekly and captioned by Lucy herself, she has demonstrated a tremendous resilience. In the best theatrical tradition, not only the show but life goes on. 

According to one of Lucy’s closest friends, Desi is trying his best to effect a reconciliation. 

“But,” says this friend, “unless Lucy feels this is best for her children’s sake, there isn’t a chance that it will happen!" 

In fact, Lucy seems to have adjusted so well to her new status that she not only looks better, but clowns around the set again with all the vigor of a teen-ager. 

She even managed a kiss for Desi when he visited the "Welcome Back” party which Bob Hope threw for her on the first day’s shooting of “The Facts of Life.”

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