Does anyone know the back story behind the credits being changed from 'Vicki Lawrence' to 'Vicki Lawrence Schultz'?

I thought it was because she was married during the show's run; Wikipedia, however, lists her marriage to Mr. Schulz as 1974 or '75. IIRC, in subsequent productions such as "Yes, Dear," she's credited the old way.

Interestingly, IMDb doesn't note the change (they customarily list an actor's alternate credits if they go by a different name in a production).

Does anyone know the back story behind the credits being changed from 'Vicki Lawrence' to 'Vicki Lawrence Schultz'?

I thought it was because she was married during the show's run; Wikipedia, however, lists her marriage to Mr. Schulz as 1974 or '75. IIRC, in subsequent productions such as "Yes, Dear," she's credited the old way.

Interestingly, IMDb doesn't note the change (they customarily list an actor's alternate credits if they go by a different name in a production).

I believe the story goes that Vicki wanted to surprise her husband by changing to her married name for career purposes, but as it turned out, they discovered that there would be enormous legal complications in doing so, so after "Mama's Family", she reverted back to just using her own name again.

I believe the story goes that Vicki wanted to surprise her husband by changing to her married name for career purposes, but as it turned out, they discovered that there would be enormous legal complications in doing so, so after "Mama's Family", she reverted back to just using her own name again.

Yes, she details this in her book. She heard of how some actress surprised her husband by taking his name, and Vicki thought that was incredibly romantic and wanted to do the same for Al. But all the legal things from doing that and the mounds of paperwork you had to sign just weren't worth it, so Al said "Why don't you just change it back?" lol