20 of the Biggest Guest Stars on I Love Lucy

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I count down my picks for the 20 biggest stars appearing on I Love Lucy and the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Go back in time to the 1950s and relive the amazing moments when I Love Lucy presented some of the biggest guest star names in show business at that time. Some of these stars you may have not heard of, but they were huge in their time. Other guest stars that acted alongside Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, William Frawley, and Vivian Vance have become permanently engrained into the history of television and movies never to be forgotten.

Along the way as we count 20 celebrity guest stars find out fascinating information and trivia facts that were a part of these great classic TV episodes. Find out how much John Wayne got paid for his appearance, and what the deal was with the man from mars joke on the Orson Welles episode.

Other stars include Bob Hope, Ellen Corby from the Waltons, Fred MacMurray from My Three Sons, Claude Akins, Barbara Eden, Richard Widmark, Danny Thomas, George Reeves from Superman, Red Skelton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Gale, Harpo Marx, and more.

Find out which guest star appearance connected the I Love Lucy and the Andy Griffith Show's world together in the same universe and which guest star played a major character on that series. Find out which guest star had some in America convinced of a real Martian invasion which was nothing more than a radio play of War of the Worlds. Find out at least part of the reason Milton Berle was named Mr. Television.

Take a look back at the stars the Ricardos met on their famous Hollywood trip, and relive Little Ricky's big birthday party with Superman George Reeves.

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:13 Tennessee Ernie Ford
• 1:19 Gale Gordon
• 2:06 John Wayne
• 2:37 Bob Hope
• 2:52 William Holden
• 3:13 Hedda Hopper
• 3:36 Van Johnson
• 3:28 Harpo Marx
• 4:21 Richard Widmark
• 4:41 Orson Welles
• 5:24 Ellen Corby
• 5:39 Howard McNear
• 6:00 Barbara Eden
• 6:25 Frank Nelson
• 7:00 Fred MacMurray
• 7:36 Red Skelton
• 8:58 Danny Thomas
• 9:53 Milton Berle
• 11:31 Claude Akins
• 12:09 George Reeves as Superman