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William Frawley, the Iowa-born vaudevillian whose quick-witted comebacks and grumpy however lovable portrayal of Fred Mertz on the legendary sitcom “I Love Lucy” endeared him to tens of millions of Americans, died on this day in historical past, March 3, 1966.
He was 79.
Nicknamed “Bill,” the actor was greatest recognized for his supporting position as Fred Mertz, the Ricardos’ sarcastic landlord of 623 E. 68th Street in Manhattan.
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Throughout his profession, Frawley was solid in over 100 movies, together with “Desire,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Monsieur Verdoux” starring Charlie Chaplin.
He usually portrayed coaches or trainers — becoming, arguably, given his affinity for sports activities and his friendships with athletes.
A studio portrait of actor William Frawley, carrying a pinstripe swimsuit, for Paramount Pictures, 1936. (Archive Photos/Moviepix/Getty Images)
After his success as Fred Mertz as he labored alongside Lucille Ball (Lucy Ricardo), Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo) and Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz) in “I Love Lucy,” Frawley starred as Bub in the tv comedy collection, “My Three Sons.”
Frawley got here from “vaudeville roots,” as famous in the unauthorized biography of Vance and Frawley titled, “Meet the Mertzes,” written by Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg.
Some of the solid of the TV collection “My Three Sons,” circa 1963. Clockwise from left: Stanley Livingston, Tim Considine, William Frawley (1887-1966), Don Grady (1944-2012) and Fred MacMurray (1908-1991). (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
He carried out in vaudeville together with his brother Paul Frawley earlier than touring with others, together with together with his spouse Edna Louise Broedt, a performer whom he divorced in 1927 after 13 years of marriage.
He additionally had a stable run on Broadway amid many B-roles in movies.
“Safe At Home!” US foyer card, from left: Roger Maris, William Frawley, Bryan Russell (entrance) and Mickey Mantle, 1962. (LMPC through Getty Images)
As Edelman and Kupferberg wrote in their guide, “William Frawley might easily have ended up mired in obscurity, serving up scotch on the rocks and boilermakers from behind a bar and yammering on and on about his days on the vaudeville and Broadway boards.”
They added, “This easily might have been his fate in the early 1950s and 1960s – if not for ‘I Love Lucy.’”
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The characters of Fred and Ethel Mertz reportedly didn’t exist in the CBS sitcom’s early improvement.
“The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced he was Fred Mertz.”
Once these characters did, a number of actors together with Gale Gordon and James Gleason have been thought of for the position of Fred Mertz.
Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz and William Frawley as Fred Mertz are pictured in a picture dated Feb. 1, 1954. (CBS through Getty Images)
When Frawley heard concerning the half, he known as Ball and Arnaz to precise his curiosity in the TV gig.
“After I hung up I kept seeing his puss and remembering how good he was at playing the kind of gruff character he usually played,” Arnaz wrote in his 1976 autobiography, in line with Edelman and Kupferberg.
“The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced he was Fred Mertz.”
From left, Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), musician and actor; Lucille Ball (1911-1989), comic and actress; Keith Thibodeaux, little one actor; Vivian Vance (1909-1979), actress; and William Frawley (1887-1966), actor, in a gaggle studio portrait issued for the US TV collection “I Love Lucy,” circa 1955. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images )
Ball additionally needed 64-year-old Frawley for the half.
It was CBS officers and sponsor Philip Morris tobacco who have been on the fence.
Frawley had a repute: His fondness for booze was reportedly recognized all through present enterprise.
“Safe at Home!” starred, from left, William Frawley and Fred A. Scwarb, 1962. (The Everett Collection)
“Well, those b——-, those sons of b——,” Frawley reportedly stated on the time, in response to the community’s hesitation to rent him.
“They’re always saying that about me. How the hell do they know?” he additionally stated, in half.
Arnaz apparently established floor guidelines for Frawley’s employment.
If he missed greater than three days of labor on “I Love Lucy,” he’d be canned, as Edelman and Kupferberg famous in their guide.
Frawley delivered. He didn’t miss work — and the present was an awesome success.
On Dec. 16, 1953, Lucille Ball (1911-1989) hugs William Frawley (1887-1966) as she stands behind him in the course of the shock get together for her thirteenth marriage ceremony anniversary to Cuban-born actor and singer Desi Arnaz, held at Larry Finley’s restaurant on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Ball, Frawley and Arnaz have been costars in the hit TV collection “I Love Lucy.” (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
He starred alongside the gang all the best way into the 1960 airing of the ultimate episode of the collection spinoff, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Despite the early skeptics, Frawley was often called an excellent actor. “I Love Lucy” director William Asher stated he was “very, very good” certainly.
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“He really was,” Asher stated in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation earlier than his loss of life in 2012. “But he used to drive Vivian [Vance] loopy.”
Frawley had just a few years on Vance, who performed his TV spouse. He was 64 when the primary “I Love Lucy” episode aired on Oct. 15, 1951. Vance was about 42.
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Asher’s opinion was that Frawley and Vance’s relationship gave the impression to be “hateful,” although their professionalism proved in any other case.
“She would [say], ‘Go on, you dirty old drunk’ and he’d call her ‘an old b—-.’ They’d be at each other all the time,” he stated.
“It contributed actually to their relationship and of course, Lucy and Desi, who began having their differences, were highly professional and none of that showed.”
“I Love Lucy” actors Vivian Vance and William Frawley have been TV co-stars till 1960. (CBS through Getty Images)
Asher added, “Everybody got along, except for Bill Frawley and Vivian, but the cast got along just fine.”
As for Arnaz and Ball, Frawley was recognized to have a robust friendship with the couple.
When Frawley died in 1966, Arnaz took out a full-page advert in The Hollywood Reporter, bidding his pal farewell with a photograph and the message, “Buenas Noches, Amigo!”
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Frawley’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sits on Hollywood Boulevard between Vine Street and Ivar Avenue, roughly eight tenths of a mile away from Vance’s.
“One could not imagine his and Vance’s stars ever being placed side by side,” Edelman and Kupferberg wrote.
Frawley’s position as Fred Mertz scored him 5 Emmy nominations in addition to a posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
J.Okay. Simmons, who performed William Frawley, arrives on the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon Studios’ “Being The Ricardos” on the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Dec. 6, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
In 2022, Academy Award Winner J.Okay. Simmons earned a nomination for his portrayal of Frawley in the 2021 Amazon biographical drama movie, “Being the Ricardos.”
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