LUCY & THE JOANS!

Lucille Ball’s Collabs with Women Named Joan

A remarkable number of talented women named Joan – and even a few memorable characters – were part of the Lucyverse. In alphabetical order…

JOAN BANKS (1918-1989) 

Joan Banks’ only credit with Lucille Ball was in “Fan Magazine Interview” (1954) in which she played reporter Eleanor Harris, assigned to do a story on Ricky Ricardo’s wife aka Lucy Ricardo. Her character name was a tribute to real-life writer Eleanor Harris, who published a biography of Ball titled “The Real Story of Lucille Ball.”

JOAN BLONDELL (1906-1979)

Joan Blondell (sister of Gloria Blondell) was active as a performer concurrently with Lucille Ball. On “The Lucy Show,” she played Joan Brenner, a character intended to fill the gap after the departure of Vivian Vance. But she did not get along with Lucille Ball, and after a shouting match in front of the studio audience, Blondell was dismissed after just two episodes.  They never spoke again.

JOAN CAREY (1921-2015) 

Joan Carey was born as Joan Somerville Norbury in Yorkshire, England. As a background performer and stand-in, she appeared on many episodes of “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show,” generally uncredited.  She is seen above with Paul Douglas in “Lucy Wants a Career” (1959), an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

JOAN CAULFIELD (1922-1991)

Joan Caulfield played the role of Liz Cooper on the television adaptation of “My Favorite Husband” (1953-55). Lucille Ball played the role on radio, but chose instead to play Lucy Ricardo so that she could work with Desi Arnaz. Caulfield and Ball were later both guest stars on “Bob Hope’s Leading Ladies” in 1966.  

JOAN CRAWFORD (1905-1977)

Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur. The Oscar-winning actress was mentioned on several episodes of “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show” before making a guest appearance in “Lucy and the Lost Star” in 1968. The episode was originally intended for Gloria Swanson, hence the non-specific title. The title “Lucy and Joan” had already been used when Joan Bennet guest-starred.  As with Bennett there was off-stage friction between Crawford and Ball.  Interestingly, in movies Lucy played a character named Joan (The Marines Fly High) and Joan played a character named Lucy (Strait-Jacket)!

JOAN COLLINS (1933)

English-born actress Joan Collins hosted the “All Star Party for Lucille Ball” in 1984. She was also seen with Ball on “Bob Hope’s Leading Ladies” (1966), “Women I Love: Beautiful But Funny” (1982), “Night of 100 Stars II” (1985), and “Friar’s Club Tribute to Gene Kelly” (1985). 

JOAN CROSBY (1924-1992)

Joan Crosby was a journalist who wrote about Lucille Ball and was the one-time president of the Hollywood Women’s Press Club. As such, she played herself (above far right) in “Lucy Meets the Burtons” (1970).  She is no relation to Bing or David.

JOAN FONTAINE (1917-2013)

Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland in Tokyo, she was the sister of Olivia de Havilland. She appeared with Lucy (and two other Joans) in “Bob Hope’s Leading Ladies” (1966). In 1959 she appeared on an episode of “Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” hosted by Desi Arnaz. 

JOAN GRANT

Joan Grant is the character played by Lucille Ball in The Marines Fly High (1940). Grant runs a cocoa plantation in the South American jungle and allows a platoon of Marines to stay there. Two of the Marines (Richard Dix and Chester Morris) tussle over her affections. When she is kidnapped, they unite to save her. This was Ball’s 48th motion picture.

JOAN RIVERS (1933-2014)

Joan Alexandra Molinsky was born in New York City and became one of the top female comedians of all time. She co-starred with Lucille Ball on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty” (1973) where Rivers played Joan Reynolds. She was the first female guest-host of “The Tonight Show”  interviewing Lucille Ball three times.

JOAN SWIFT (1933-2016) 

Joan Swift was a frequent background player who generally had a few lines on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”  Three of her characters were also named Joan. Her final screen appearance before retiring was in “Lucy Gets Lucky” (1975). 

During her long career in Hollywood, Lucille Ball also worked with or employed Joan Benny (Jack’s daughter), Joan Marshall (”Star Trek”), Joan O’Brien (”Shower of Stars”), Joan Fairfax (”Tonight Show with Jack Paar”), Joan Staley (”The Untouchables”), and Joan Woodbury (”There Goes My Girl”). 

BONUS JOANS

JOAN OF ARC (1412-1431)

In “Lucy the Skydiver” (1970), Lucy Carter hears the voices of strong women like Florence Nightingale and Joan of Arc, the Americanized name of the French saint and warrior Jeanne d’Arc.

“I MARRIED JOAN” starring JOAN DAVIS

From 1952 to 1955 Joan Davis (1912-1961) starred in the sitcom “I Married Joan,” which was NBC’s answer to the popularity of “I Love Lucy.”  Comic actress Davis had appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1933 film Bunker Bean. Like Lucy, Davis used her own first name and played a scatterbrained housewife. Her husband (Jim Backus) was a judge. Both shows featured Mary Jane Croft, Bobby Jellison, Shirley Mitchell, Sandra Gould, Margie Liszt, Jerry Hausner, Elvia Allman, Myra Marsh, Phil Arnold, Dick Elliott, Robert Foulk, Joseph Kearns, Maxine Semon, Don Brodie, Hal March, Richard Reeves, Herb Vigran, Norma Varden, Harry Bartell, Kay Wiley, Charlotte Lawrence, Frank Nelson, Frank Gerstle, Vivvi Janis, George Neise, Ross Elliott, Verna Felton, Fritz Feld, Mabel Paige, Rolfe Sedan, Paul Dubov, Maurice Marsac, Peter Leeds, Shepard Menken, Strother Martin, Junie Ellis, Florence Bates, Sam Hearn, Mary Treen, and Hans Moebus. Like Lucille Ball, Joan Davis also served as Executive Producer of her own series, which, like “I Love Lucy,” was filmed at General Service Studios.