Joan Blondell

[IdolFan]

I read a little bit of "Ball Of Fire" in the book store and it said that Joan Blondell got so mad at Lucille Ball on the set of "The Lucy Show" that she cursed at her in front of the audience. Can someone explain to me why Joan did that? I really don't remember what it said too well. That doesn't seem like professional behavior. If someone can let me know, that would be great. Thanks.

[Coffeecup]

Joan's sister Gloria Blondell Was Grace Foster in the show.

[JaneTVFan]

Originally Posted by IdolFan

I read a little bit of "Ball Of Fire" in the book store and it said that Joan Blondell got so mad at Lucille Ball on the set of "The Lucy Show" that she cursed at her in front of the audience. Can someone explain to me why Joan did that? I really don't remember what it said too well. That doesn't seem like professional behavior. If someone can let me know, that would be great. Thanks.

What she said was "F*** you, Lucille Ball!" in front of a stunned studio audience. She was never on the show again after that. There were surely others who worked with Lucille Ball and felt like saying that to her but were able to restrain themselves.

[Coffeecup]

My my. I wonder how Gloria got along with Lucy.

[KristaLovesLucyJAtoo]

Lucy was a VERY hard person to work with. Everything had to be just right. She was a perfectionist in the strongest sense of the word and she was often VERY critical of the people who worked with/for her. Now, in a business that was dominated by often sexist men, this could be viewed as one of Lucy's best traits, let's face it, the woman had staying power!!!! Here we are 53 years later, still Loving Lucy! However, it was also one of her worst in that she sometimes came off sounding like nothing but a, for lack of a better word, Bit**. However, Lucy was also known for her great generosity and absolute Loyalty towards those who took the time to look beneath her rough exterior. Obviously, Joan Blondell didn't take this time and she ended up telling her off.... which I'm sure many people had felt like doing at one time or another but, as someone else said, they had had enough strength to refrain from doing so and in the end, they probably became great friends with Lucy and were glad they never spoke their minds at the time.

[pilotguy]

I remember reading something where Joan was getting ready to film a scene of "The Lucy Show" and came out wearing a dress that she had personally selected. Apparently the dress was kind of tight and revealing, and Lucy told Joan (loudly and in front of the entire studio audience) that she looked like a hooker! I think that Joan yelled "F**K YOU!" as sort of a knee-jerk reaction because she had been publically humiliated by Lucy. Of course, yelling that in front of a studio audience was a wrong and crude thing to do, but I can understand how Joan was driven to it.

[JaneTVFan]

Originally Posted by pilotguy

I remember reading something where Joan was getting ready to film a scene of "The Lucy Show" and came out wearing a dress that she had personally selected. Apparently the dress was kind of tight and revealing, and Lucy told Joan (loudly and in front of the entire studio audience) that she looked like a hooker! I think that Joan yelled "F**K YOU!" as sort of a knee-jerk reaction because she had been publically humiliated by Lucy. Of course, yelling that in front of a studio audience was a wrong and crude thing to do, but I can understand how Joan was driven to it.

Well a comment like that, in front of 300 people, is likely to anger anyone just a bit. Tactfulness was not one of Lucille Ball's attributes, but there is probably more to this story than meets the eye. Lucy had a tendency to not to confront people if they were doing something to annoy her. Instead, she'd let things fester and compound until she'd reach a boiling point. Then she'd explode or say something very thoughtless. She acknowledged having this bad tendency. I suspect there was more going on between Lucy and Joan than Joan's dress when she finally made that remark. Remember, Joan was a well-known movie star since before anyone had ever heard of Lucille Ball. But Joan never reached the level of superstardom. In all those years in movies, she never became more than a second-string movie star. And now here she was at this late stage in her career playing third banana to this Johnny-come-lately, Lucille Ball, on her TV show. It had to be demoralizing knowing that her best days were behind her and this was the best she was going to do. It had been years since she had had a leading role in a movie. Now here she was auditioning for the part of Vivian Vance's replacement, a part which was being downgraded to third lead after Gale Gordon. To make matters worse, the star of the show also owned and controlled the show and the company that produced it. There had to have been a clash of egos going on.

[pilotguy]

Originally Posted by JaneTVFan

Well a comment like that, in front of 300 people, is likely to anger anyone just a bit. Tactfulness was not one of Lucille Ball's attributes, but there is probably more to this story than meets the eye. Lucy had a tendency to not to confront people if they were doing something to annoy her. Instead, she'd let things fester and compound until she'd reach a boiling point. Then she'd explode or say something very thoughtless. She acknowledged having this bad tendency. I suspect there was more going on between Lucy and Joan than Joan's dress when she finally made that remark. Remember, Joan was a well-known movie star since before anyone had ever heard of Lucille Ball. But Joan never reached the level of superstardom. In all those years in movies, she never became more than a second-string movie star. And now here she was at this late stage in her career playing third banana to this Johnny-come-lately, Lucille Ball, on her TV show. It had to be demoralizing knowing that her best days were behind her and this was the best she was going to do. It had been years since she had had a leading role in a movie. Now here she was auditioning for the part of Vivian Vance's replacement, a part which was being downgraded to third lead after Gale Gordon. To make matters worse, the star of the show also owned and controlled the show and the company that produced it. There had to have been a clash of egos going on.

Excellent points! That Lucy-Joan teaming was doomed from the outset!

[JaneTVFan]

Originally Posted by pilotguy

Excellent points! That Lucy-Joan teaming was doomed from the outset!

Thanks. And by the way -- and I don't mean to sound like I'm defending Lucille Ball at all -- but that dress Joan had on! Hooker may be a little extreme (just a little), but if you were a sensitive teenager and your mother were wearing something like that, you'd probably want to run and hide and pretend she wasn't your mother.

[pilotguy]

Just a side note.....When it was definite that Vivian Vance wouldn't be returning to "THE LUCY SHOW", there had been some thought and talk of Ann Sothern becoming a series regular as "The Countess" and being Lucy's weekly sidekick instead of an occassional guest-star. However, both Lucy and Ann said "No" to that idea....the two ladies were very close friends (and had been for many years), and just KNEW that they both had big egos that would clash if they were working together on a permanent basis. I think that both ladies deserve credit for knowing themselves that well, and for also knowing the bad effect that a permanent working relationship would have on their close friendship.

[JaneTVFan]

Originally Posted by pilotguy

Just a side note.....When it was definite that Vivian Vance wouldn't be returning to "THE LUCY SHOW", there had been some thought and talk of Ann Sothern becoming a series regular as "The Countess" and being Lucy's weekly sidekick instead of an occassional guest-star. However, both Lucy and Ann said "No" to that idea....the two ladies were very close friends (and had been for many years), and just KNEW that they both had big egos that would clash if they were working together on a permanent basis. I think that both ladies deserve credit for knowing themselves that well, and for also knowing the bad effect that a permanent working relationship would have on their close friendship.

And besides that, in 1965, Ann had already signed on to star as the car in "My Mother, the Car." I guess she thought this series was going to take off like a rocket and she wouldn't have time for "The Lucy Show." Instead, it was Chitty Chitty Bomb Bomb.

[AB]

Was Joan Blondell actually on an episode or did she bow out? I don't remember seeing her.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by annball1957

Was Joan Blondell actually on an episode or did she bow out? I don't remember seeing her.

Joan's sister, Gloria Blondell, played Grace Foster in the episode "The Anniversary Present." Joan, on the other hand, never did appear on "I Love Lucy." She did, however, appear in a couple episodes of "The Lucy Show" during the fourth season. She was being considered as a regular on the show, to replace Vivian Vance who had already left, but that possibility abruptly ended upon her second appearance when, in front of the entire studio audience, she told the show's star: "F*** you, Lucille Ball!" This was in response to Lucy's comment to Joan about her displeasure with what Joan had chosen to wear for the filming of that episode, saying it made her look like a prostitute. Granted, if you've seen that episode, Lucy did have a point: Joan's attire does look a bit odd for the character she's supposed to be playing. Nevertheless, Lucy's remark was pretty tactless as, of course, was Joan's response back to her. Couldn't they have kept this conversation private, rather than carrying on a cat fight in front of an unsuspecting studio audience?