Were Fred and Ethel Mertz actually married in real life?

Answer 1

NO!! Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley and Vivian Vance) HATED EACH OTHER in real life. They played pranks on each other and called each other names. Because Frawley was 20 years older than Vance in real life, she often said "he should have played the part of my father." She often read the scripts and looked for how many scenes she had to be in with "that stubborn little Irishman." Actually, near the beginning of the I Love Lucy show, while the 4 main characters were just starting the first episode, even Vance and Lucille Ball didn't like each other. One would never suspect that because they all seemed to get along on film. I'm not sure if Ricky and Fred got along in real life or not. Lucille Ball (Lucy) and Desi Arnaz (Ricky) were actually married and were a real couple for a while, but then they divorced. During about the 3rd season, Desi had a huge drinking problem, as did Frawley. ( I am actually going to buy the book "The Other Side of Ethel Mertz, The Life Story of Vivian Vance. Ironically, Vance was not the character she portrayed in I Love Lucy. She was depressed and grumy most of the time. I want to find out more about her. She was married to John Dodds, a man who supposedly was bisexual and involved in a 20 year relationship with another man.) When Vance received the news that Frawley had died, she had a toast to celebrate.