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Lucie Arnaz

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Lucie Arnaz
Arnaz at the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, 2013
Born
Lucie Désirée Arnaz

(1951-07-17) July 17, 1951 (age 73)
Occupation(s)Actress, singer, dancer, producer
Years active1963–present
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Spouse(s)
Phil Vandervort
(m. 1971; div. 1977)

(m. 1980)
Children3 children
2 stepsons
Parent(s)Desi Arnaz
Lucille Ball
RelativesDesi Arnaz Jr. (brother)
Fred Ball (maternal uncle)
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz II (paternal grandfather)

Lucie Désirée Arnaz (born July 17, 1951) is an American actress, singer and producer.[1][2][3]

Early life

Lucie Arnaz was born and raised in Los Angeles. She lived for a few years in New York City when she was 10 years old, and attended St. Vincent Ferrer School, along with her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., and attended the Roman Catholic Immaculate Heart High School.[4] She is the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz Jr.[5][6][7][8]

Career

Arnaz, her mother Lucille Ball, and her brother Desi, Jr., in Here's Lucy, 1968

Television

Having had walk-on roles on her mother's television series The Lucy Show, Arnaz made her acting debut in a continuing role in the series Here's Lucy from 1968 to 1974. She played Kim Carter, the daughter of the eponymous Lucy—who was played by Arnaz's real-life mother, Lucille Ball.[2][9][10]

Arnaz branched out into television roles independent of her family from the mid-1970s. In 1975, she played murder victim Elizabeth Short in an NBC telefilm of Who is the Black Dahlia?,[11] [12] and she starred with Lyle Waggoner and Tommy Tune in Welcome to the "World", The Wonderful World of Disney special commemorating the grand opening of Space Mountain at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.[13] In 1978, she appeared in an episode of Fantasy Island [14] as a woman desperately trying to save her marriage. She has continued to make appearances in a number of popular television series over the years, including Murder, She Wrote, Marcus Welby, M.D., Sons and Daughters (CBS, 1991),[15] and Law & Order.

Arnaz also had a short-lived series of her own, The Lucie Arnaz Show, on CBS in 1985. The reviewer for The New York Times described the show as "the always ingratiating Miss Arnaz as a psychologist who not only writes an advice column, but also takes calls from listeners on her own radio program."[16][17][18]

She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special, in 1993 for her documentary about her parents, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie.[3][19][20][21]

Theatre

She has also had a lengthy career in musical theatre. In the summer of 1978, she played the title role in Annie Get Your Gun at the Jones Beach Theatre on Long Island, New York.[22] This was the first production at Jones Beach Theatre after the death of longtime producer Guy Lombardo. [23] She made her Broadway debut in February 1979 in the musical They're Playing Our Song.[24] Arnaz won the Theatre World Award [25] [26] and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Sonia Walsk. In 1986, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her tour with Tommy Tune in the international company of the musical My One and Only.[27][28]

She has numerous other theater credits, both in the United States and abroad: Seesaw (first national company, 1974[29]), Whose Life Is It Anyway?, The Guardsman (Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, New Jersey, January 1984[30]), The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (Concert at Lincoln Center, 1995, televised[31][32][33]), Sonia Flew (Coconut Grove Playhouse, Florida, April 2006[34]), The Witches of Eastwick (London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, June 2000[35][36]), Vanities (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1976 as "Kathy"[37]), Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers (Broadway[38]), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Broadway, May 23, 2006 to September 3, 2006[38] and Terence McNally's Master Class (Seacoast Repertory Theatre, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, April to May 1999[39]).

She toured in Pippin in 2014, playing the role of Berthe, the title character's grandmother.[40] She appeared on Broadway in Pippin, from October 9, 2014 to November 9, 2014.[41][42]

In 2010, Arnaz performed in (along with Raúl Esparza and Valarie Pettiford) and directed Babalu: A Celebration of the Music of Desi Arnaz and his Orchestra. A Miami, Florida performance was given in July 2010.[43]

Film

Arnaz made feature-film appearances, including The Jazz Singer (1980) in which she co-starred with Neil Diamond and Laurence Olivier.[44] She earned a nomination for the 1981 Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.[45]

Other work

Arnaz was a Trustee on the Board of The American Theatre Wing for 15 years (1999-2014). From about 2002 to 2007, Arnaz was the president of the board of directors of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York. She resigned over a dispute with the executive director over the future direction of the Center.[46][47]

In October 2008, Arnaz and longtime family friend, Hollywood columnist and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne participated in a tribute to Arnaz's mother, Lucille Ball, at the Paley Center For Media in New York City.[48] The program, "Lucie and Lucy: Lucie Arnaz Shares Treasures From The Family Video Collection", included a discussion between Osborne and Arnaz about Ball, and also focused on Ball's last long-running series, Here's Lucy (which was celebrating its 40th anniversary), as well as several of Ball's television specials and guest appearances during the 1970s, which Arnaz had recently donated to the Paley Center for Media.

She appeared live on stage in Jamestown at the Reg Lenna Palace Civic Center on August 3, 2012, to promote the Lucille Ball Festival of New Comedy in which new comedians are invited to perform. She gave tribute to both her parents, and expressed a desire to further expand the Festival of New Comedy and expand the Jamestown, New York, Lucy Fest. She gave the history behind the Lucy-Desi Museum and Lucy-Desi Playhouse, and the 2011 birthday centenary for Lucille Ball (which was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of people dressed like Lucille Ball in one place at one time), and announced intent to start using the recently renovated Jamestown train station to further the mission and vision of the Lucille Ball Festival of New Comedy. Lucie Arnaz praised and appeared on stage with the new executive director of the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center and applauded her work and dedication to the festival.

Comedians who performed at the 2012 Festival of New Comedy included Billy Gardell, Paula Poundstone and Tammy Pescatelli.[49][50][51]

Personal life

She has been twice married, to actor Phil Vandervort (1971) and actor-writer Laurence Luckinbill (June 22, 1980 – present).[5][52][53] Luckinbill and Arnaz live in Palm Springs, California.[54]

She has three children together with Luckinbill: Simon, Joseph and Katharine Luckinbill.[55] Luckinbill has two sons from his previous marriage: Nicholas and Benjamin Luckinbill.

She shared her birthday, July 17, with her mother's brother, Fred Ball.[56] as well as his wife, her aunt Zo Ball.

She attended an all-girls, Catholic high school mainly because of its good drama program,[55] and is a member of the Unity Church.[57]

Stage

Filmography

Television

Sources: Archive of American Television;[64] Internet Movie Database[65]

References

  1. ^ "Lucie Arnaz Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed December 5, 2015
  2. ^ a b "Lucie Arnaz Overview" tcm.com, accessed December 5, 2015
  3. ^ a b "'Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie' Overview" tcm.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  4. ^ Zeigler, Todd. "Lucie Arnaz Brings Musical Legacy To Silks In The Bluegrass" The Voice-Tribune, April 17, 2014
  5. ^ a b "Lucie Arnaz Biography (1951-)" filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-12
  6. ^ "Lucille Ball Biography, Encyclopedia of Television" museum.tv, accessed December 8, 2015
  7. ^ Wire Services. "Southland : Family Bids Lucy a Private Farewell" Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1989
  8. ^ Heckman, Don. "Arnaz the actress -- in a show that sings" Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2004
  9. ^ Here's Lucy at IMDb
  10. ^ Template:Tv.com show
  11. ^ "'Who is the Black Dahlia?' Overview" tcm.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  12. ^ "'Who is the Black Dahlia?' Overview" New York Times, December 9, 2015
  13. ^ scottnj1966 (6 March 2014). "Space Mountain Grand Opening Celebration 1975 "Welcome to the World"" – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "'Fantasy Island: Anniversary; Reunion' (TV)" paleycenter.org, accessed December 4, 2015
  15. ^ a b Zurawik, David. "'Sons and Daughters' goes from bad to worse" Baltimore Sun, January 4, 1991
  16. ^ O'Connor, John J. "2 Sitcoms: 'Lucie Arnaz' And 'Hail to the Chief'", The New York Times, April 9, 1985, p.C16, ISSN 0362-4331
  17. ^ Margulies, Lee. "Lucie Throws Her Series Into The Ratings Ring" Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1985
  18. ^ Margulies, Lee. "'Jeffersons' Out Of Cbs Lineup" Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1985
  19. ^ Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie" imdb.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  20. ^ Dunne, Susan. "Lucie Arnaz To Present 'Lucy And Desi: A Home Movie'" Hartford Courant, May 22, 2013
  21. ^ King, Susan. "Retro : Lucy's Candid Camera : Documentary Shows Revealing Footage of Ball and Arnaz, Family and Friends" Los Angeles Times, February 14, 1993
  22. ^ Klein, Alvin. "Theater. A Rip-Roaring 'Annie Get Your Gun'" New York Times, May 31, 1987
  23. ^ "Jones Beach Theatre History" limusichalloffame.org, accessed December 3, 2015
  24. ^ ​They're Playing Our Song​ at the Internet Broadway Database
  25. ^ Simon, Neil. Introduction" They're Playing Our Song, Samuel French, Inc., 1980, ISBN 0573681058, p. 3
  26. ^ "'They're Playing Our Song' Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  27. ^ No author. "'My One And Only' Taps Into Town With Tommy Tune, Lucie Arnaz". Chicago Tribune. November 17, 1985
  28. ^ "Awardees" sarahsiddonssociety.org, accessed December 3, 2015
  29. ^ Altman, China. "Lucie Arnaz, Doing It Her Way" People Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 12, May 20, 1974
  30. ^ Emblen, Frank. "New Jersey Guide. Lucie and Laurence" New York Times, January 8, 1984
  31. ^ "'The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True' Credits" allmusic.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  32. ^ "'The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True'" imdb.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  33. ^ Robinson, Mark. "10 Wickedly Wonderful Musicals Inspired By 'The Wizard of Oz'" playbill.com, October 30, 2015
  34. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Show Goes On: Coconut Grove's 'Sonia Flew', With Arnaz, Starts April 19" playbill.com, April 17, 2006
  35. ^ Simonson, Robert and Paddock, Terri "Report: Arnaz Joins Crawford in West End 'Witches of Eastwick'" playbill.com, January 19, 2000
  36. ^ Wolf, Matt. "Review: 'The Witches of Eastwick'" Variety, July 20, 2000
  37. ^ Kataora, Mike. "'Vanities' To Premiere In PS" Desert Sun, December 3, 1976
  38. ^ a b "Lucie Arnaz Broadway" ibdb.com, accessed December 3, 2015,)
  39. ^ Ehren, Christine. "Lucie Arnaz to Give 'Master Class' at NH's Seacoast Rep April 22-May 23" playbill.com, March 19, 1999
  40. ^ Gioia, Michael. "Lucie Arnaz Will Swing from Pippin's Trapeze on Tour" playbill.com, July 28, 2014
  41. ^ Gioia, Michael. "Lucie Arnaz Swings Into Broadway's 'Pippin' Tonight" playbill.com, October 9, 2014
  42. ^ "'Pippin' Cast Replacements" Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine playbillvault.com, accessed December 3, 2015
  43. ^ "Review-Desi Arnaz tribute `Babalu' sizzles at the Arsht". Miami Herald. Associated Press. July 9, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  44. ^ Template:AllMovie title
  45. ^ "Golden Globe Award Nomination, 1981" goldenglobes.com, accessed December 6, 2015
  46. ^ "Jamestown Update: Morris Resigns". Lucyfan.com. January 4, 2002. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  47. ^ O'Shei, Tim. "New leadership at Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center looks to turn it into National Comedy Center" Buffalo News, March 8, 2014
  48. ^ The Paley Center announcement: Tuesday, October 28; 6:30 pm; Panelist: Lucie Arnaz; Moderator: Robert Osborne, Host, Turner Classic Movies.)"2008 Annual Report. Lucie & Lucy: Lucie Arnaz Shares Treasures From the Family Video Collection. p. 17" paleycenter.org, accessed December 4, 2015
  49. ^ (No Author). "Tammy Pescatelli Joins Lucy Comedy Fest Line-up" lucycomedyfest.com, accessed December 4, 2015
  50. ^ Cadle, Jessie, "Jamestown’s Lucy Fest tickles the funny bone" The Chautauquan Daily, August 1, 2012
  51. ^ "AUDIO: Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy Begins Today" WRFA, August 1, 2012
  52. ^ Template:AllMovie name
  53. ^ "Larry Luckinbill and Lucie Arnaz Begin Their Own Chapter Two as Mr. and Mrs." People, July 7, 1980
  54. ^ Fessier, Bruce. "Lucie Arnaz and Laurence Luckinbill find family in Palm Springs" Desert Sun, February 23, 2015
  55. ^ a b Edgers, Geoff. "Lucie Arnaz, daughter of entertainment royalty, steps into her own circus in ‘Pippin’" Washington Post, December 10, 2014
  56. ^ Associated Press. "Lucille Ball's brother dies in Cottonwood", Tucson Citizen, February 7, 2007. accessed November 19, 2015.
  57. ^ Messer, Kate X. "Lucie 'splains It All" Austin Chronicle, February 10, 2011
  58. ^ Billy Jack Goes to Washington tcm.com, accessed December 5, 2015
  59. ^ Second Thoughts tcm.com, accessed December 5, 2015
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  62. ^ Smoking/Non-Smoking imdb.com, accessed December 5, 2015
  63. ^ The Thought Exchange imdb.com, accessed December 5, 2015
  64. ^ "Interview" emmytvlegends.org, accessed December 3, 2015
  65. ^ "Lucie Arnaz Film and TV" imdb, accessed December 3, 2015
  66. ^ Death Scream tcm.com, accessed December 6, 2015
  67. ^ "'Death Scream' Overview" New York Times, accessed December 6, 2015
  68. ^ a b Monush, Barry. t's Not Where You Start - It's Where You Finish" Archived 2011-01-08 at the Wayback Machine paleycenter.org, October 15, 2008
  69. ^ O'Connor, John J. "TV: Bird Watchers Find Romance", New York Times, December 30, 1980, p. C9
  70. ^ Maslin, Janet. "TV: Lucie Arnaz Appears As 'Washington Mistress'" New York Times, January 13, 1982
  71. ^ Murder, She Wrote: Wearing of the Green (TV) paleycenter.org, accessed December 8, 2015
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