Hey, I just got to wondering. Do you think the Ricardo's and Mertz's would still be alive today or would the be dead? I'm not talking about Lucille Ball or Desi Arnaz I'm talking about their characters as well as the Mertz's.

I figured they would be dead now based on the people who played them.

Fred Mertz Died: 1966
Ethel Mertz Died: 1979
Ricky Ricardo Died: 1986
Lucy Ricardo Died: 1989

I imagion that Ricky died of Lung Cancer and Lucy died of a ruptured arorta. Little Ricky would still be alive of course.

I was just wondering what your ideas would be weather the characters of the Ricardo's and the Mertz's would still be alive today if they where real.

Since the Mertz's were older than the Ricardo's I think we can assume that not only would they have passed away already but that they passed away quite some time ago. I suspect that both Lucy and Ricky, being smokers, are no longer with us either.

I agree with you that I think they would all have passed on. With the Mertzes being older and the Ricardo's both being smokers, it's a sure bet. It makes me sad to think of Lucy being left alone though if the Mertzes died first and then Ricky, Lucy would only have little Ricky left and if she and his wife didn't get along....not a good mix!

Well let's see with a bit of figuring. Lucy Richardo was age 33 in 1953. I am going by Lucy tells the truth episode and wasn't that aired in 1953? So she was born in 1920. She would be 89 this year. Yeah she could be alive looking like she did in the last few frames of Richard Crenna/Peggy episode Teenage Fans. If Ricky is younger, he most likely has passed away. . Did we ever know how old he was in any episode? Ethel I remembered married Fred when she was 24, the Swiss Alps episode and she was between age 40 and 50 in Ethel's birthday. Also in Ethel's birthday fred said he has been giving Ethel birthday presents for 26 years. In that case she died in the 1970's. FRed spent time in world war 1 so he may have died in the 1970's too. I am figuring if each one lived to 80. But as one posters pointed out, they did smoke and that may have shortened their lives. Just something to think about.

Yep, you're right. Good calculations. Sadly, they would no longer be with us.

In my little fan-fiction version of "I Love Lucy," I have the characters die off as they died in real life - Fred dies of a heart attack in 1966, Ethel dies of breast cancer in 1979, Ricky dies of lung cancer in 1986 .. but I have Lucy Ricardo (although I make her call herself Lucy McGillicuddy as she and Ricky divorced in 1960) survive 1989 and die in 1998 of natural causes - not having a ruptured aorta as in real life.

Yes, I'm a little bit too obsessed. Hehe.

This may be an old thread, but I never noticed that the differences of the actors' death dates are quite parallel, and with round figures, to how the characters are presented.

Desi died 20 years after Frawley, and Ricky was approximately 20 years younger than Fred-- about 55 and 35 ["The Young Fans"] at the beginning. Lucille died 10 years after Vivian, and Lucy was about 10 years younger than Ethel-- Ethel admitted to being in her 40's in her birthday episode, and Lucy was 33 in "Lucy Tells the Truth" and 35 in the passport ep.

Trivial, I know. But it is interesting IMO that Desi and Vivian probably died about when would be expected, considering their health and habits, while Bill and Lucille likely outlived their expectations considering the same; and yet it still comes out this way in relation to thier characters.

Interesting

As long as there are reruns, the Ricardos and the Mertzes will always be alive.

As long as there are reruns, the Ricardos and the Mertzes will always be alive.
i agree.