I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball [Hardcover]

Lee Tannen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2001

Few people knew Lucille Ball the way Lee Tannen did. Lee first met Lucy as a child, but their close and enduring relationship began almost twenty-five years later. Now, Tannen gives us an intimate portrait of the "lost" Lucy years: from what life was like in her Beverly Hills and Palm Springs hideaways to how she traveled, what she ate, and how she entertained. I Loved Lucy reveals for the first time the private face of a beloved star whose public persona is the most famous in television history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Kathleen Brady's outstanding Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball (1994) is still the benchmark for biographies on the red-headed comedienne who ruled the TV airwaves from 1951 through 1974, this slighter memoir, focusing on the last decade of her life, is still a treat for fans who continue to love Lucy. Tannen, a distant relative through marriage, befriended Ball (1911-1989) during the last decade of her life. By this time, Ball was spending most days playing backgammon and confining professional appearances mostly to yearly Bob Hope specials. Whereas Jim Brochu's Lucy in the Afternoon (1990) covered the same ground, Brochu pulled memories from Ball as they toiled over the backgammon table, creating an oral history of her professional and private life. Tannen's portrait of Ball is less reflective on the past, instead concentrating on her frustration at being denied one of the great joys of her life her work because of bad health and poor decisions. Gary Morton is presented as an absentee husband (when not golfing, he's in his study on the phone with friends). His bad career advice leads Ball into two late-in-life disasters: a TV movie (1985's Stone Pillow), which ruined her health, and the poorly conceived TV series Life with Lucy (1986), which, when canceled, convinced her that she no longer had a career or fans who wanted to see her. Tannen believes that this led Lucy to lose enthusiasm for life. This affectionate and intimate but by no means rose-colored portrait presents Ball as a demanding taskmaster at a loss during her twilight years. Fans won't learn much new here, but it's still a worthwhile visit. Photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Lucille Ball will always be remembered as Lucy Ricardo, the wacky redhead who was forever getting herself into hilarious situations. The queen of comedy was a very different person in her private life. Writer/director Tannen, who is a distant cousin of Gary Morton, Lucy's second husband, became one of the comedienne's closest friends before her death. This book is not a biography but a memoir of those years. Tannen spent many hours playing backgammon with Lucy, going on ski trips, accompanying her to awards ceremonies, and traveling anywhere else Lucy wanted to go. Writing with sensitivity and passion, Tannen shows us the real Lucy, who could be lovable but also very controlling, reclusive, and demanding. The only fault here is Tannen's flexibility with chronology; it would have been easier to follow had he kept the time line more focused. Otherwise, this is a great book about one of the great Hollywood legends. Lucy fans will not be disappointed. Recommended for larger libraries. Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., Pembroke Pines, FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (October 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312287534
• ISBN-13: 978-0312287535
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #889,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( B ) > Ball, Lucille

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Lucy that I've ever read..., October 2, 2003

By 

Kevinduran (Indianapolis, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball (Hardcover)

... and I've read most of them!

I sort of expected this book to be some tabloidish tale, an exploitive expose' about The Queen Of Television Comedy. I was completely wrong and am not ashamed to admit that.

It was one of the only books about Lucille Ball that I had not purchased. I ran across it one day at the library so I checked it out. I ended up purchasing the book for my collection before I even finished it. The glowing letter of endorsement from Lucy's daughter Lucie Arnaz that graces the back cover should have been enough for me to make the purchase upon its release!

Tannen dishes a lot of dirt here, but it's nothing that Lucy would necessarily be mad at him for revealing. His words give Lucy fans a complete idea of what Lucy's last years were like. Stories about how Lucy desperately wanted to make the movie "Driving Miss Daisy" (Lee says she would have been all wrong for it, and he's right); her disastrous last two projects (the TV movie "The Stone Pillow", and the failed ABC sitcom "Life With Lucy"); her obsession with backgammon and game shows (she loved Vanna White of "Wheel Of Fortune"), plus a lot of other stories let us in on a Lucy we never really knew.

As the star of one of the world's most popular TV shows, most people would think that Lucy lived a grand life of luxury. She did, but she seemed mostly unaware that it was so grand- and that it could have been even grander. She did not enjoy change. Her homes are described in detail, down to what the furniture looked like. It's all extremely riveting, especially for anyone that is a fan of Lucille Ball.

The thing that makes this book so wonderful is that you truly get a sense that Lee Tannen REALLY did love Lucy. He didn't write this book to cash in on anything. He just wanted to share a side of Lucy with her fans that they didn't know about before. She does't come out smelling so perfect at all times, but this book certainly will not tarnish anyone's image of her.

If you have any interest in Lucille Ball at all, this is a book that you will not want to miss out on. It was extremely hard to put down.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Loved It, February 1, 2004

By 

Ann Sherry (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball (Paperback)

This is a book about a distant relative of Gary Morton's relationship with Lucille Ball during the last ten years of her life. He spent a good amount of time with Lucy, and he shares with us their dinner dates, skiing in Colorado, going to the theatre and, of course, backgammon! I couldn't put the book down. The private life of Lucy after "I Love Lucy" is fascinating, no matter what she said or did - I wanna hear it all. The author tells the story always with love for Lucy and with a good sense of humor of his own. Lucy fans should treasure this.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the last ten years of Lucille Ball's life, July 28, 2002

By 

Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Loved Lucy: My Friendship with Lucille Ball (Hardcover)

Lee Tannen was a good friend and frequent backgammon partner of Lucy during the last ten years of her life. He presents us with a lightweight yet winning book, although at times I felt I had strayed into the script of "Sunset Boulevard" as he details Lucy's isolation, her days spent playing backgammon inside her shuttered Beverly Hills home, with her outdated 50's decor and kitchen appliances.
He doesn't make the Lucy he knew into a saintly figure; instead he lets us in on her "star-ego" moments and her lapses into pettiness. He describes in detail how each of her homes and her ski condo at Snowmass, Colorado are decorated, and tells us of her wardrobe with her extensive collection of fur coats.
Although his book is entertaining, with some degree of unavoidable name-dropping, I think most people prefer to remember Lucy as she was in the 50s when her antics made a whole nation laugh with delight.