Lucy hurting Desi.. - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crazyredhead · 08-23-2003, 08:54 AM

I've read in a couple of books about this...
(I typed this directly out of a book)

She was more expressive when she was alone with Desi. Whatever joy remained in their marriage effectively ended with the story in Hollywood Confidential . Harriet told her closet friend that in the course of one argument at the height of their fame, possibly during this period, Lucy knocked Desi out cold. She often "shot" him with the lighter shaped like a dueling pistol, but on this particular occasion, she actually picked up a hammer and hit him on the head. He fell down unconscious and when he did not respond to her attempts to revive him, Lucy screamed for Harriet. The two women applied ice packs with no noticeable results. Certain that she had killed him, Lucy and Harriet decided that their story would be that he had fallen and hit his head. While they rehearsed it before calling the police, much as Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz would have done if I Love Lucy had been set in hell, Desi revived. As he sat holding one of their ice packs, he realized that he would have to explain his appearance when he went to the studio and agreed to go along with their explanation that he had fallen and hit his head.

Also, I read in some books that when Desi bent over, Lucy kicked him and she kicked him in his crouch.

What do you guys think??

Mickey · 08-23-2003, 11:06 AM

Well I guess it's common knowledge that she used to whale on him from time to time, especially when they'd been having one of their fights, but this stuff does sound a little but OTT! I can't imagine her discussing an alibi, or not even taking his pulse!

Ricardos4ever · 08-23-2003, 11:17 AM

Geez, keep the hammers away from Lucy when she's angry!!! It reminds me of a story she told in "Love, Lucy." When they were still newlyweds, she and Desi had a huge fight and she woke up the next morning and smashed all of the windows on their new station wagon with a hammer! Desi should have recognized the warning signs then!

This story was discussed on another message board a few months back. We pointed out that this story didn't even come from any of the people who were actually there -- Harriet, Lucy or Desi. So it is hearsay, but then again, what reason would anyone have to make up a story like this?

However, the possibilities are endless. The details could have gotten skewed in the process. For instance, maybe she cold cocked him instead of hitting him with the hammer. Or maybe when Harriet told her friend this story, she made it seem more dramatic, making it into a bigger deal than it really was.

Or maybe it really happened that way. And if so, it really is extreme. No matter how angry you are with someone, no matter what that person did to get you that angry, you just don't hit people over the head with hammers. Furthermore, you just don't have hammers accessable at any given moment -- most people don't, anyway. So it probably wasn't in the heat of the moment. She had to plan it out -- seek out her weapon. I hope this isn't true, but it really doesn't seem that far fetched to me. Lucy was a very emotional lady.

Some people on the other message board expressed their shock over the fact that Lucy and Harriet were actually planning to cover it up. Sorry, but I think I would probably do the same thing if I had just killed my husband with a hammer. Let me emphasize that I would have never gotten myself into that position in the first place because I would never have even thought about hitting him over the head with a hammer it all. BUT, if the deed had already been done and I were in her position--one half of the most famous couple in the country at that time--I would have told the police that it was an accident. Could you imagine the headlines? "Lucille Ball Kills Husband Desi Arnaz by Blow to the Head" That would have been bigger than the OJ Simpson trial!

Both of these hammer stories--we know at least one of them is true because Lucy told the car story herself--show that Lucy just didn't know the proper way to deal with her anger and her intense emotions. Some people were insulted when Lucie said that her mother would often react to bad situations like a child, throwing tantrums, etc. These stories seem to verify that. She really didn't know the adult way to deal with her anger.

One more thing: I'm wondering if anybody truly could verify this story? If Desi went to the studio and had a big knot on his head and told everybody that he fell down, at least one person who worked with them should be able to verify that, yes, Desi did come into work with that story at one time.

Mickey · 08-23-2003, 11:53 AM

I think suspecting her of doing it in cold blood is a little extreme! She might have had a hammer to hand for any number of reasons. They had a lot of parties with banners up, for example. All the same, I agree it is extreme, but we do know she had a temper! So did he of course. I've heard about her throwing pots and vases at him, so I guess anything else she happened to have nearby, including a hammer, isn't really going that much further.

They were quite the pair, weren't they!

crazyredhead · 08-23-2003, 11:58 AM

lol! where do ya'll get those smilies like that?

Mickey · 08-23-2003, 12:09 PM

You know the little bunch of them next to the reply box? Underneath it says "Showing 16 0f 150 - Get More". Click there and there's lots more.

All hail the dancing banana

:

This one's Desi doing El Cumbanchero!

crazyredhead · 08-23-2003, 12:52 PM

wow! they're so cool! thanks lol

this one explains me! lol =P

dawsongirl · 08-23-2003, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crazyredhead
wow! they're so cool! thanks lol

this one explains me! lol =P

That is a strange smilie. I mean, what did that 5th guy ever do to get yelled at and then kicked out? And eww...the new 4th guy grows out of the new 5th?

Too much thinking, I know.

Joicetti · 08-23-2003, 09:20 PM

Whatever the story, we know that Lucy had a knack for embellishing and exagerrating. I know she used to love to talk about how the Italian lady in one of the European episodes really did start coming after her in the wine vat and was trying to drown her. Even the ILL writers have gone on record in television interviews saying that Lucy used to love to tell the story that way, even though it wasn't true.

So who knows what really happened. Lucy and Desi probably did have physical fights - they both had very volatile tempers - and some probably did get out of control. But hitting someone with a hammer is pretty serious and not just something you walk away from with a little bump on the head. But who really knows.

Lodee · 08-23-2003, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Whatever the story, we know that Lucy had a knack for embellishing and exagerrating. I know she used to love to talk about how the Italian lady in one of the European episodes really did start coming after her in the wine vat and was trying to drown her. Even the ILL writers have gone on record in television interviews saying that Lucy used to love to tell the story that way, even though it wasn't true.

That's true. I've heard she used to say that her nose catching fire in the Hollywood At Last episode was an accident too, and that's not true.

Joicetti · 08-23-2003, 10:06 PM

Yep, re the Hollywood episode with Bill Holden, she did love to say that her fake nose wasn't supposed to catch on fire and she had to improvise and dip her nose in the coffee cup to put it out. Everything that came out of that episode was scripted, but she liked to make it sound more interesting than it really had been, and somehow her bit about improvising some of that scene accomplished that for her.

Ricardos4ever · 08-24-2003, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joicetti
Everything that came out of that episode was scripted, but she liked to make it sound more interesting than it really had been, and somehow her bit about improvising some of that scene accomplished that for her.

Over the years, she probably told that story so much that she actually started to believe it!

crazyredhead · 08-24-2003, 03:24 PM

Quote:

That is a strange smilie. I mean, what did that 5th guy ever do to get yelled at and then kicked out? And eww...the new 4th guy grows out of the new 5th?

lol! I guess because newbies are strange, like me..I got yelled at when I first came to this board didn't I? lol

Mickey · 08-25-2003, 05:18 AM

I didn't. I had to wait ages before somebody yelled at me.

LUCILLE BALL · 08-25-2003, 08:58 PM

Some how I would hvae to say that story is false....Lucy LOVED Desi, even though he was a art to her, she loved him, i highly doubt she would ever deliberately hurt him in that way. I think she has thrown a few plates at him in their time,,,,but nothing ever serious to come of it. Can you honestly blame her for being angry though? He cheated on her. He drank incessively, he gambled. He did all the things she would over and over beg him not to do. I hear in intrviews and even in reading books and talking to people that Desi always said he loved Lucy, and how beutiful she was and how attracted he was to her....and Lucy obviously adored him...just look at the way they look at eachother in pictures. So I guess my question is if you honestly feel this way about someone, why would you look around and do these things on a continuous basis, when you know it is hurting that person terribly? Being stuck in your ways, isn't a factor here. Maybe that was what he was used to, or grew up doing and was taught by other male "models" to do....but he got married, it was time for him tp settle down and grow up. When you are married, such things as partying and cheating with hookers isn't sanctionable....besides he had Lucy....he had the most beutiful loving adoring woman to make him happy and meet his every need why in the world would anyone want to stray??? Let me ask the guys this??? If you were married to Lucy would YOU honestly stray, knowing you had the most beutiful woman in the world at your side??? I know if I was a guy I wouldn't, In fact I would never want to stray from her.

08-23-2003, 08:54 AM	#1
crazyredhead Seniorita Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: DIZZY LAND Posts: 715	Lucy hurting Desi.. I've read in a couple of books about this... (I typed this directly out of a book) She was more expressive when she was alone with Desi. Whatever joy remained in their marriage effectively ended with the story in Hollywood Confidential . Harriet told her closet friend that in the course of one argument at the height of their fame, possibly during this period, Lucy knocked Desi out cold. She often "shot" him with the lighter shaped like a dueling pistol, but on this particular occasion, she actually picked up a hammer and hit him on the head. He fell down unconscious and when he did not respond to her attempts to revive him, Lucy screamed for Harriet. The two women applied ice packs with no noticeable results. Certain that she had killed him, Lucy and Harriet decided that their story would be that he had fallen and hit his head. While they rehearsed it before calling the police, much as Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz would have done if I Love Lucy had been set in hell, Desi revived. As he sat holding one of their ice packs, he realized that he would have to explain his appearance when he went to the studio and agreed to go along with their explanation that he had fallen and hit his head. Also, I read in some books that when Desi bent over, Lucy kicked him and she kicked him in his crouch. What do you guys think??
	__________________ *BEKAH* But uf coss I cahn spik purfuctly good Amurecun. Ethel: "Ring the bell." Fred: "What for?" Ethel: "They don't know we're comin up and people would like a little privacy." Fred: "These aren't people, they're Ricky & Lucy."

08-23-2003, 11:17 AM	#3
Ricardos4ever Henna-rinsess Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 28, 2002 Location: Somewhere in the middle of the world's longest Conga line Posts: 473	Geez, keep the hammers away from Lucy when she's angry!!! It reminds me of a story she told in "Love, Lucy." When they were still newlyweds, she and Desi had a huge fight and she woke up the next morning and smashed all of the windows on their new station wagon with a hammer! Desi should have recognized the warning signs then! This story was discussed on another message board a few months back. We pointed out that this story didn't even come from any of the people who were actually there -- Harriet, Lucy or Desi. So it is hearsay, but then again, what reason would anyone have to make up a story like this? However, the possibilities are endless. The details could have gotten skewed in the process. For instance, maybe she cold cocked him instead of hitting him with the hammer. Or maybe when Harriet told her friend this story, she made it seem more dramatic, making it into a bigger deal than it really was. Or maybe it really happened that way. And if so, it really is extreme. No matter how angry you are with someone, no matter what that person did to get you that angry, you just don't hit people over the head with hammers. Furthermore, you just don't have hammers accessable at any given moment -- most people don't, anyway. So it probably wasn't in the heat of the moment. She had to plan it out -- seek out her weapon. I hope this isn't true, but it really doesn't seem that far fetched to me. Lucy was a very emotional lady. Some people on the other message board expressed their shock over the fact that Lucy and Harriet were actually planning to cover it up. Sorry, but I think I would probably do the same thing if I had just killed my husband with a hammer. Let me emphasize that I would have never gotten myself into that position in the first place because I would never have even thought about hitting him over the head with a hammer it all. BUT, if the deed had already been done and I were in her position--one half of the most famous couple in the country at that time--I would have told the police that it was an accident. Could you imagine the headlines? "Lucille Ball Kills Husband Desi Arnaz by Blow to the Head" That would have been bigger than the OJ Simpson trial! Both of these hammer stories--we know at least one of them is true because Lucy told the car story herself--show that Lucy just didn't know the proper way to deal with her anger and her intense emotions. Some people were insulted when Lucie said that her mother would often react to bad situations like a child, throwing tantrums, etc. These stories seem to verify that. She really didn't know the adult way to deal with her anger. One more thing: I'm wondering if anybody truly could verify this story? If Desi went to the studio and had a big knot on his head and told everybody that he fell down, at least one person who worked with them should be able to verify that, yes, Desi did come into work with that story at one time.
	__________________ ELVIS LIVES ***** "They had one of those historical marriages, like Napoleon and Josephine, Richard and Liz--destined to be trouble but destined for them to never find anyone as passionate or as fabulous." -- Lucie Arnaz on her parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

08-23-2003, 09:20 PM	#9
Joicetti Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 02, 2001 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 46	Whatever the story, we know that Lucy had a knack for embellishing and exagerrating. I know she used to love to talk about how the Italian lady in one of the European episodes really did start coming after her in the wine vat and was trying to drown her. Even the ILL writers have gone on record in television interviews saying that Lucy used to love to tell the story that way, even though it wasn't true. So who knows what really happened. Lucy and Desi probably did have physical fights - they both had very volatile tempers - and some probably did get out of control. But hitting someone with a hammer is pretty serious and not just something you walk away from with a little bump on the head. But who really knows.
	__________________ Joy

08-25-2003, 08:58 PM	#15
LUCILLE BALL Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 08, 2001 Location: Land of the Red White and LU Posts: 96	Some how I would hvae to say that story is false....Lucy LOVED Desi, even though he was a art to her, she loved him, i highly doubt she would ever deliberately hurt him in that way. I think she has thrown a few plates at him in their time,,,,but nothing ever serious to come of it. Can you honestly blame her for being angry though? He cheated on her. He drank incessively, he gambled. He did all the things she would over and over beg him not to do. I hear in intrviews and even in reading books and talking to people that Desi always said he loved Lucy, and how beutiful she was and how attracted he was to her....and Lucy obviously adored him...just look at the way they look at eachother in pictures. So I guess my question is if you honestly feel this way about someone, why would you look around and do these things on a continuous basis, when you know it is hurting that person terribly? Being stuck in your ways, isn't a factor here. Maybe that was what he was used to, or grew up doing and was taught by other male "models" to do....but he got married, it was time for him tp settle down and grow up. When you are married, such things as partying and cheating with hookers isn't sanctionable....besides he had Lucy....he had the most beutiful loving adoring woman to make him happy and meet his every need why in the world would anyone want to stray??? Let me ask the guys this??? If you were married to Lucy would YOU honestly stray, knowing you had the most beutiful woman in the world at your side??? I know if I was a guy I wouldn't, In fact I would never want to stray from her.
	__________________ *I am happpy I have brought laughter because i have been shown by many the value of it...in so many lives in so many ways...Lucille Ball 1989* http://www.smiliegenerator.de/s17/smilies-23676.png

08-23-2003, 11:06 AM	#2
Mickey Ranger Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 12, 2002 Location: The UK, and still finding Desi funnier than Lucy Posts: 960	Well I guess it's common knowledge that she used to whale on him from time to time, especially when they'd been having one of their fights, but this stuff does sound a little but OTT! I can't imagine her discussing an alibi, or not even taking his pulse!

08-23-2003, 11:53 AM	#4
Mickey Ranger Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 12, 2002 Location: The UK, and still finding Desi funnier than Lucy Posts: 960	I think suspecting her of doing it in cold blood is a little extreme! She might have had a hammer to hand for any number of reasons. They had a lot of parties with banners up, for example. All the same, I agree it is extreme, but we do know she had a temper! So did he of course. I've heard about her throwing pots and vases at him, so I guess anything else she happened to have nearby, including a hammer, isn't really going that much further. They were quite the pair, weren't they!

08-23-2003, 11:58 AM	#5
crazyredhead Seniorita Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: DIZZY LAND Posts: 715	lol! where do ya'll get those smilies like that?

08-23-2003, 12:09 PM	#6
Mickey Ranger Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 12, 2002 Location: The UK, and still finding Desi funnier than Lucy Posts: 960	You know the little bunch of them next to the reply box? Underneath it says "Showing 16 0f 150 - Get More". Click there and there's lots more. All hail the dancing banana : This one's Desi doing El Cumbanchero!

08-23-2003, 12:52 PM	#7
crazyredhead Seniorita Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: DIZZY LAND Posts: 715	wow! they're so cool! thanks lol this one explains me! lol =P

08-23-2003, 10:06 PM	#11
Joicetti Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 02, 2001 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 46	Yep, re the Hollywood episode with Bill Holden, she did love to say that her fake nose wasn't supposed to catch on fire and she had to improvise and dip her nose in the coffee cup to put it out. Everything that came out of that episode was scripted, but she liked to make it sound more interesting than it really had been, and somehow her bit about improvising some of that scene accomplished that for her.

08-25-2003, 05:18 AM	#14
Mickey Ranger Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 12, 2002 Location: The UK, and still finding Desi funnier than Lucy Posts: 960	I didn't. I had to wait ages before somebody yelled at me.