Lucy Ricardo

Lucy Ricardo
Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy publicity photo
Vital information
Gender:	Female
Birthname:	Lucille Esmeralda McGillicuddy
Height	5' 7½" (1.71 m)
Personal and Family information
Birthplace:	Jamestown, New York, U.S.
Occupation/ Career:	Housewife/Homemaker
Spouse(s):	Ricky Ricardo
Related to:	Ricky Ricardo, Jr. (son) Mrs. McGillicuddy (mother)
Character information
Character description:	As wife of famous nightclub performer/bandleader, always manages to get mixed up in mischievous predicaments, many of them centered around her desire to perform, namely at the nightclub where husband Ricky performs
Appeared on:	I Love Lucy/The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
Episodes appeared in:	all of both series
Character played by:	Lucille Ball

Lucy Ricardo (born Lucille Esmeralda McGillicuddy on August 6, 1921 in West Jamestown, New York.) is the titular charecter of I Love Lucy. She is played by comedienne/actress Lucille Ball.

She is married to bandleader/nightclub musician/singer Ricky Ricardo. She and Ricky have a son named Little Ricky. Her best friends are the Mertzes, Fred and Ethel. Lucy does have a mother who is seen in some episodes. Some of her other friends include Carolyn Appleby, Marion Stronghold, and Ms. Trumbull.

Lucy and Ricky live in an apartment building on East 68th Street in New York City. The Mertzes own the apartment building and several of their friends live there also.

Often at times, Lucy comes up with mischeivous schemes or a plan or two (often centered around the Cobana where Ricky plays, and Lucy's wish to perform there!) that often doesn't exactly go right, from getting into show business to buying a new mink coat or moving from place to place, hilarity and mayhem often ensures!!

Early life and family

While she attended Jamestown High School in Celoron, New York, Lucy demonstrated a passion for the theater. She played the head of the petunias in a ballet recital, and she was Juliet in the senior play of Romeo and Juliet. Her high school drama teacher, Miss Hanna, said that she wouldn't be surprised if Lucy ended up as a Broadway star. Lucy also learned how to play "Glow Worm" on the saxophone so she could go on band trips with the football team; at the time, she was dating one of the high school's football players. This football player was probably the captain of the team Lucy refers to while listing her past romances. Her other high school romances inclued a nameless lifeguard, Billy, Maury, Jess, Jerry, Bob, Bennett, george, Phil, Martin, Danny, Argyle, Bud, Wilbur, Noble, Carl, Frank, and Henry. One blemish on her high school record is that she flunked Spanish when she took the course.

Lucy lived in Jamestown until she was 17, but right after she graduated high school, she left for New York City. She went to an unknown college for an unknown major, and while there, she dated Tom Henderson, who is now the owner of a big fur salon downtown. In 1953, she said that she broke up with Tom Henderson "15 years ago," meaning her relationship with Tom at college must have ended in 1938. She also dated Kenny and Johnny while at "junior college."

In 1940, Lucy agreed to go on a blind date with a Cuban drummer that was set up by her friend Marion Strong. This "Cuban drummer" was conga player Ricky Ricardo. They fell madly in love. (Lucy says in 1955 that this blind date happened 15 years prior.) Lucy and Ricky seem to have gone dancing on their blind date, because Lucy once said that Ricky first asked what her name was when they first danced together. Lucy also made many blunders the first time she met Ricky. She says that she "said awful things, spilled stuff all over [Ricky], and acted like a first-class nincompoop." But this obviously didn't deter Ricky, who was head over heels for her.

In 1940, only a couple of months after they met, Lucy and Ricky got married at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. (Lucy once said she was 22 when she got married, but this doesn't match up with her 1921 year of birth or her 1940 year of marriage.) The date of their marriage is unclear. It was sometime in the spring, but Lucy once says her anniversary is on the 19th of the month, but another time, she says her anniversary is on the 7th of the month. The mystery month was most likely April or May. They went skiing somewhere on their honeymoon. It is rumored that they wanted to go skiing at Sun Valley on their honeymoon but were unable to afford it at the time. Lucy probably became a redhead before she met Ricky. Her natural hair color is mousy brown, and she gets henna rinses every two weeks. Nobody knows where Lucy and Ricky lived during the first eight years of their marriage, but it was likely somewhere in New York City.