Desi Arnaz News

A moving and memorable portrait of America's favorite sidekick. Vivian Vance.

Provincetown will see yet another return visitor when Lucie Arnaz returns to The Crown and Anchor for a one night only concert of her latest act ' I Got The Job: Songs From My Musical Past.' After selling out this same concert last year, producer Rick Murray asked Ms. Arnaz to return with the same show that had audiences cheering. Along with her musical director Ron Abel, the show will play Monday July 22,2019 at 8pm. Arnaz and Abel will bring this show to a many more venues over the next year, including New York's fabled 54 BELOW CLUB this fall .

Profiles in History announces the grand entrance from Tara, The O'Hara Plantation in Gone With The Wind sold for $120,000. 

A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will enable the Great American Songbook Foundation to digitize historic radio recordings featuring The Music Man creator Meredith Willson and make them available online for scholars worldwide.

Actress Fay McKenzie Waldman passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of April 16th at the age of 101. She was born February 19, 1918 into a show business family where she was the youngest of two sisters and an actress cousin, and made her screen debut at only ten weeks old in "Station Content" (1918) in which she was carried in the arms of Gloria Swanson. Her parents, Eva & Bob "Pops" McKenzie were already veteran performers and apparently wanted their daughter to get an early start in films. She nearly stole the show from Oliver Hardy as "the baby" in the Alice Howell short "Distilled Love" (filmed in 1918 but released two years later). By the time she was six, Fay was considered an old hand, having played diverse parts in her father's stock company. Among her early films was the 1924 Photoplay Medal Winner, "The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln." 

I LOVE LUCY FUNNY MONEY SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, April 19 (8:00-9:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The National Comedy Center, the country's official cultural institution dedicated to comedy, announced today that it has added a second show for John Mulaney after his initial show - as well as Sebastian Maniscalco's first show - broke all festival records by selling out in the first day on sale to the public for the 2019 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

The National Comedy Center and legendary producer, director, and writer Carl Reiner announced today, on Carl Reiner's 97th birthday, an initiative to digitally preserve Reiner's extensive personal collection of production-used scripts from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" - one of the most iconic, innovative, and beloved comedy series in television history.

The National Comedy Center was formally designated as the nation's official cultural institution dedicated to the art form of comedy on Tuesday, March 12. In a tremendous bi-partisan show of support, both the Senate and House of Representatives passed this bill in February, and the president signed it into law on Tuesday, recognizing the Center as the "Official National Comedy Center of the United States."

I LOVE LUCY FUNNY MONEY SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, April 19 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Audiences are in for a rare treat when theatrical legend Charles Busch and playwright/performer Lee Tannen team up for a special two-performance concert staging of Tannen's I LOVED LUCY on Friday March 22 and Saturday March 23 as a benefit for Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre. This delightful stage adaptation of Tannen's own 2001 memoir, directed by Carl Andress, stars the fabulous Charles Busch as Lucille Ball, Lee Tannen as … Lee Tannen, and also features the multitudinous talents of actor/pianist Tom Judson.

There is an historic house in Key West, La Terraza De Marti, which was the home of cigar manufacturer Teodoro Perez who was a symbol of Key West's strong ties to Cuba. On May 3, 1883 Perez welcomed Jose Marti, the man who was the symbol of Cuba's bid for independence from Spain to speak from his 2nd story balcony to thousands of Cuban sympathizers. Marti was an integral factor in freeing Cuba from Spanish rule.

Had Lucy's family stayed in Trenton, history might have been very different, but the Garden State stayed peripherally involved the Queen of Comedy's life and work.

The National Comedy Center, the nation's first museum and visitor experience dedicated to the comedic arts, announced today that Sebastian Maniscalco and John Mulaney will headline the 2019 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, August 7th -11th. Tickets for their performances will go on pre-sale for National Comedy Center members only -- starting Wednesday, February 20th at Noon ET at www.ComedyCenter.org.  

Bid to win 4 Tickets to I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, a special one-night-only live radio theater performance on Sat, March 2, 2019, 7:00 pm in Beverly Hills, CA!

The National Comedy Center will celebrate the centennial year of legendary comedy innovator Ernie Kovacs with the acquisition and display of never-before-seen material and rare artifacts courtesy of the comedian's estate. The acquisition and exhibit were announced today – on Ernie Kovacs' 100th birthday – by the National Comedy Center and Kovacs estate executive Josh Mills.

The National Comedy Center will celebrate the centennial year of legendary comedy innovator Ernie Kovacs with the acquisition and display of never-before-seen material and rare artifacts courtesy of the comedian's estate. The acquisition and exhibit were announced today - on Ernie Kovacs' 100th birthday - by the National Comedy Center and Kovacs estate executive Josh Mills.

The Actors Fund announced today that television favorites Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy) and Oscar Nuñez (The Office) will portray Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom by Gregg Oppenheimer, on Saturday, March 2 (7pm) at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. All proceeds from this one-night-only live radio theater performance will benefit The Actors Fund's programs and services.

Actress, Singer and Comedienne Kaye Ballard died today, January 22, 2019, peacefully at home in Rancho Mirage, CA at age 93 after a brief illness.

I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.