Elinor Donahue's son shares the heartwarming reason she retired happy

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/el...cab8fa7d&ei=61

Story by Ed Gross

PETER K. ACKERMAN: "In my book, I talked about one of my first memories. I was three years old, sitting on my mom's lap, the TV is on and she's saying, ‘Look honey, look,' and I heard the voice of the woman whose lap I was sitting on and suddenly I realized, ‘Oh, my mom's on this thing called TV.' And I still didn't conceptualize it. I thought everybody's mom was on TV at some point. But it got to the point where famous names became more routine. Billy Gray from Father Knows Best called a lot. He and mom were close. By the time I was old enough to know who the actors were, the phone would ring and it would be Billy. Orson Welles called the house, too. Another time, we rented a beach house in Santa Barbara and the phone rang. It was Desi Arnaz. I went out to get dad, who he was calling for, and he was in the ocean, so he told me he'd be there in a minute. I got back on the phone with Desi and he kept me on the line. He was delightful. He said, ‘Oh, do you like the horse races? How old are you?' and that sort of thing. Just a lovely conversation."



Elinor Donahue and Billy Gray, two-fifths of the Father Knows Best cast.

What Peter didn't realize at the time was that the call involved one of the most debated stories in television history. Harry Ackerman had long been associated with the development of the multi-camera filming technique that helped revolutionize television sitcoms. He only learned the significance of it gradually, hearing pieces of the story over the years.

PETER K. ACKERMAN: "Nobody took sole credit for it. My dad always said it was a conglomeration. It was [producer] Jess Oppenheimer, Desi Arnaz, my dad and a technical guy whose name I'm forgetting. They collectively figured out this was the way to do it. Lucille Ball needed a live audience. The technical people had already experimented with multiple cameras, Desi knew Lucy wasn't doing well on film alone, and together they came up with the system. It wasn't one person. It was a group effort."

"But that day, I remember my dad coming out to the little sandbox we had there in the house afterward and telling my mom that Desi was writing a book and was going to say that he invented the three-camera technique. Which shows Desi is a good man and respectful. Desi explained to my dad that the publishers needed something. There were probably things he didn't want to tell or reveal and things he was willing to change a little bit. Basically, he was telling my dad, ‘Listen, it's not personal. We know you were a part of it. But my publishers really want me to have something that helps sell the book.'"

[stevea]

Interesting article--the whole linked story. Never knew she married Harry Ackerman, until this story, as told by her son, Peter.