Remembering Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball was known and loved long before she became a worldwide star in her famous television series.

In New York, in 1948, she was a guest panelist on a live television show that I was directing, called “Charade Quiz.” It may have been her first TV appearance ever--certainly it was one of her first because there was so little on the air at that time.

After the show I got a cab and drove her and her press agent to the Zanzibar, a night club on Broadway where her then boyfriend, Desi Arnaz, was appearing with his orchestra. We talked about the show and how it had gone and when she got out of the cab I said, “Good night, Miss Ball.”

At that point the cab driver literally went to pieces and almost collided with another cab. “Was that Lucille Ball?” he screamed. “Wait till I tell my wife I had Lucille Ball in my cab! She’s her favorite actress!”

DAVID P. LEWIS

Sherman Oaks