This handsome devil is Fred Mertz otherwise known as William Frawley. Of course he was much more complex and interesting than the character for which he was known.
I think we forget even our favorite actors are human. At the very least it seems we often think we have a grasp of who they are based on the character(s) they played.
As a young man he worked on the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha NA
He was also a court reporter in Chicago
By the time he came onboard for I Love Lucy he had been a Vaudeville Performer and had acted in over 100 films.
My favorite? The Fighting Seabees-hands down.
He was 64 when filming for ILL started. He lobbied personally for the role initially by phone directly to Lucille Ball. Desi Arnaz had been warned that he was an alcoholic and this would be bound to cause problems. When they met to discuss the role personally Arnaz basically let him know if he showed up drunk or failed to show because of drinking not only would he fire him he'd be blacklisted and never work in Hollywood again.
If you watch carefully you'll see Frawleys hands trembling in Lucy episodes. That is when visible- they were often in his pockets or folded under his own arms. A familial type fine palsy? A symptom of his alcoholism? Did he attempt to mask this on his own or under direction?
I thought Ethel was prettier than Lucy as a kid.
Frawley and Vivian Vance who played Ethel hated each other
He died on Hollywood Blvd after seeing a movie. After he collapsed on the street he was carried to the Knickerbocker Hotel where had lived for many years.
My niece is in her early 20s and loves I Love Lucy. I love her for this.
As a kid as much as I loved the show there were elements that I found disturbing. I really thought it wrong how Ricky treated Lucy sometimes. It bothered me how abusively he would
talk to her and the way he would threaten her with physical violence. I guess I was a "womens libber" of sorts without knowing what that even meant.
He was born in 1887 and died in 1966
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