The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 9.11Lucy and Orson

[Tony]

Do you remember the "I Love Lucy" episode with Welles, which ends so suddenly? Well here's a possible explanation as to why:

From the Shakespeare Conference: SHK 9.1192 Friday, 27 November 1998:

"Lucy Meets Orson Welles" (org. airdate, Oct. 15, 1956) from
Bart Andrews, The "I Love Lucy" Book (NY: Doubleday, 1976), p. 186:

This episode featured the multi-faceted Orson Welles, who received a record amount for his guest run: fifteen thousand dollars. Two months earlier, in April, Welles and Arnaz had teamed up to produce a one-hour television series, in which the Academy Award-winner would also star.This arrangement never resulted in a series, but Welles did manage to complete a half-hour pilot titled "The Fountain of youth" that is still shown at film festivals. The Welles "Lucy" show also featured "The Waltons'" Ellen Corby as Lucy Ricardo's high school drama teacher. The show originally contained scenes of Vivian Vance playing Cleopatra to Welles's Julius Caesar, and Lucy sparring with the Shakespearean master as Juliet and Lady Macbeth, but for some unknown reason these sequences did not make their way into the final print of "Lucy Meets Orson Welles" that was shot the evening of June 14, 1956.

Here's Lucy: http://hollowaypages.com/welles.htm

[Roger Ryan]

Thanks for the link! That collection of photos is quite stunning; I was especially impressed with how Welles' Falstaff make-up for "Five Kings" in '39 made him look exactly like he did in "Chime At Midnight" 25 years later.

[Skylark]

http://hollowaypages.com/welles.htm

Cool page...