Watching the series on Peacock just had me wondering about this. Wally had a lot of dates. What if a there was a new girl attended Mayfield High and Wally befriends her. The 50s/60s were tumultuous times for black people of course. And Ohio started to desegregate some schools in the early 60s.

Just thought it would have been cool to see this.

Was the EVER a Black Person even on the show ONCE ?

Yea Kim Hamilton played a maid in “The Parking Attendants”. She even spoke to Eddie and Wally.

What would be the purpose of his dating?

Idk that Wally was an equal and opportunity dater lol ��

Interracial romances were uncommon back in the day but they still existed. And I think film and TV shows were start to show (subtle at 1st).

I think it was pretty difficult for TV Networks so that kind dating relationship in the 1950s & 1960s because they trying both to keep sponsorships and not anger the some areas of country mainly the south.

LITB seemed to avoid using identifiable ethnic names. Rarely any Polish, Italian. Russian, Jewish and so on. Most given or surnames LITB used would take most people a lot of thought or effort to identify their ethnicity.

It'd be interesting to know what the first sitcom was, to have an inter-racial relationship. I doubt it would be in the 1960s.

It could have been the Willises on The Jeffersons.

It'd be interesting to know what the first sitcom was, to have an inter-racial relationship. I doubt it would be in the 1960s.

It could have been the Willises on The Jeffersons.
Desi & Lucy?

Well, 1951! Guess it didn't set much of a precedent--probably nothing for 20+ more years.

(Now, I probably forgot another one!)

That would have been almost unheard of in the suburbs which were segregated by race defacto at the time.

Interracial dating was frowned upon even by the most liberal back then. Approval of interracial marriage was at just 4% in 1958, when Gallup first polled on the question

and when it occurred, it was almost always in urban areas. If there were any black people in their town, it would have been maids.

Im not sure Desi would have been considered interracial. Most wealthy Cubans were mostly of Spanish descent i.e. people from Spain and not intermixed then. Today, the Federal government considers latinos/hispanics to be an ethnicity and many choose white if they pick a race on the census.


Desi Arnaz, who played Ricky on I Love Lucy, came from a white Cuban family. His whiteness wasn’t enough for him to go unnoticed, but it did allow him to get as far as he did in show business in 1950s America. A CBS creative consultant on the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special, Alex Abella, who is Cuban-born himself, said to Hispanic magazine in 2001, “If Desi were black or had black blood, he wouldn’t have had any success or been allowed on the air. Americans could accept him because—like it or not—he was white.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/07/paula-deens-racist-brownface-stunt-isnt-even-accurate.html Latin Lover was a thing going back decades.

Meanwhile, Kirk kissing Uhura 15 years after I Love Lucy started was a big thing.

The earliest example of a true interracial couple I know of is Tom and Helen Willis on “The Jeffersons,” a sitcom that aired from 1975 to 1985. Tom was white and Helen was black.

There may be something that predates it but if so, I can't think of it. If it does, it might be more smaller or one off characters.

LITB seemed to avoid using identifiable ethnic names. Rarely any Polish, Italian. Russian, Jewish and so on. Most given or surnames LITB used would take most people a lot of thought or effort to identify their ethnicity.

What about Larry Mondello? That certainly is an Italian-American surname.

If there had been interracial relationships on LITB, perhaps that particular episode might have been entitled:

“Miscegenation Comes to Mayfield”?

PS While a free-spirit like Uncle Billy would probably be cool about interracial dating, I think the hidebound Aunt Martha would not be as tolerant and understanding as Billy Cleaver.

...While a free-spirit like Uncle Billy would probably be cool about interracial dating, I think the hidebound Aunt Martha would not be as tolerant and understanding as Billy Cleaver.

Aunt Martha wouldn't even talk about a relative who dated or married (I forget which) a French girl.

Desi Arnaz, who played Ricky on I Love Lucy, came from a white Cuban family. His whiteness wasn’t enough for him to go unnoticed, but it did allow him to get as far as he did in show business in 1950s America. A CBS creative consultant on the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special, Alex Abella, who is Cuban-born himself, said to Hispanic magazine in 2001, “If Desi were black or had black blood, he wouldn’t have had any success or been allowed on the air. Americans could accept him because—like it or not—he was white.” [/I] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/07/paula-deens-racist-brownface-stunt-isnt-even-accurate.html Latin Lover was a thing going back decades.

How do they know what Desi's racial composition was? To me he looked as if he may have had native ancestry in addition to European.

Betty & Barney Hill of UFO Abducted fame were bi-racial in the 50's & 60's which was SO RARE ! even illegal in some states !
Sammy Davis Jr married the Swedish Blond May Brit -- She was married to him from 1960 to 1968.

Britt married Edwin Gregson, a college student, in 1958. In 1959 she filed for divorce.[1]

She met Sammy Davis Jr. in 1959. They began dating, and, after a brief engagement, were married on 13 November 1960. Their wedding caused controversy. A rumor or myth was that John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy told Frank Sinatra to tell Davis not to marry May until after the 1960 Presidential Election. At that time interracial marriage was forbidden by law in 31 U.S. states, and only in 1967 were those laws (by then down to 17 states) ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.[2] Prior to the wedding, Britt converted to Judaism.[3] The couple was married by Reform Rabbi William M. Kramer.[4] It has been confirmed, however, by Sammy and Britt's daughter Tracey, Nancy Sinatra, and documentarian Sam Pollard that this marriage resulted in President Kennedy rejecting an invitation for Davis to perform at his Inauguration. Yet, Harry Belafonte who was married to a white woman at the time, was invited to perform.[5][6][7]

Once married, Britt left the movies. She and Davis had a daughter, Tracey (b. 5 July 1961 - d. 2 November 2020),[8] and adopted two sons: Mark Sidney Davis (born 1960, adopted 4 June 1963) and Jeff (born 1963). They divorced in 1968 after Davis reportedly had an affair with dancer Lola Falana.

May Brit

Brit did one last film, the low budget 1976 horror movie Haunts with Cameron Mitchell.

The late singer and actress Lena Horne was married to a white man and musician and composer Duke Ellington was married to a white woman.

Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella was the son of a white father and a black mother. Former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Franco Harris is the son of a black father and a white mother.

The late US Four Star Army General and US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s late sister was married to a white man and General Powel’s son, Michael, is married to a white woman.