Hello there. I’m Ethel. Welcome to my web page. Here is where I will attempt to give you a day by day account of everything that happened at 623 East 68th Street. That’s where I live with my husband Fred. Ever since we rented 3-D to the Ricardos, life has never been the same. Now, it may take quite a while to write all this but if you check back often, I’m sure you will have fun and be pleased to read all about the shenanigans that went on here on 68th Street in New York City.
ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO PLAYED ETHEL MERTZ
She was born Vivian Roberta Jones, with a brother and four sisters. After the family moved from Cherryvale to Independence KS, she studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albequerque NM brought her to the Albuquerque Little Theatre, which provided her the money she needed to study under Eva LeGallience in New York. After arriving in 1932 she had trouble finding work until she began a two-year stint in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Music in the Air."
She next understudied Ethel Merman in "Anything Goes." Her first starring role was as Kay Thompson's last minute replacement in "Hooray for What!" starring Ed Wynn. Other Broadway costars included Danny Kaye, Eve Arden and Nanette Fabray. In 1945 while starring in a touring company of "Voice of the Turtle" she had a nervous breakdown. After undergoing psychotherapy and limited movie work, she returned to "Voice of the Turtle" at the La Jolla Playhouse, where she was seen by Desi Arnaz who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz in the I Love Lucy television series.
At first she didn't want the part (too frumpy), and she always hated being cast as the wife of William Frawley (she was 39, he was 64; the two never got along). After I Love Lucy ended she divorced her first husband, married again, and moved to Stamford Connecticut. In 1962 she began work on The Lucy Show, but the pressures of long-distance commuting didn't suit her, so after three years she limited her performances to guest appearances.
In 1974 she and her husband moved to Belvedere (just north of Francisco Bay) so she could be near her sister. Five years later she died there, of breast and bone cancer.
