Lucy and Ricky Ricardo | |
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Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the Alps on their European vacation, 1956
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First appearance | "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub" (1951) |
Last appearance | "Lucy Meets The Mustache" (1960) |
Portrayed by |
Lucille Ball as Lucy Desi Arnaz as Ricky |
Information | |
Nickname(s) | Bird Legs, Droopy Drawers, Lucita, Cousin Lucy |
Aliases |
Lucy: Lucille McGillicuddy |
Gender | Female and male |
Occupation | Housewife, Mother, Club Officer, Committee Officer,Chicken Farmer,Girl Friday |
Title | Housewife and band leader |
Family | Mrs. McGillicuddy (Lucy's mother) |
Significant other(s) |
Ethel and Fred Mertz (best friends/landlords/farm partners) Ernie Ford (friend) |
Children | Ricky Ricardo Jr. (son; born January 1953) |
Nationality |
American (Lucy) Cuban American (Ricky) |
Lucille Ball as Lucy
Ethel and Fred Mertz (best friends/landlords/farm partners)
Mrs. Trumbull (neighbor),
Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are fictional characters from the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, portrayed respectively by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The Ricardos also appear in The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, and Lucy also appears in one episode of The Ann Sothern Show.
Ricky is a character very similar to Arnaz himself, a Cuban-American bandleader whose trademark song is "Babalu". Red-haired Lucy is his wife, who always gets into trouble and is usually caught at it by Ricky. They have a son Ricky Ricardo, Jr., also called "Little Ricky", portrayed by child actor Richard Keith.
Lucy's full name (Lucille Esmeralda Ricardo née McGillicuddy) is given in the episodes "The Marriage License," "Fred and Ethel Fight," and "The Passports". Ricky gives his full name in the episode "Hollywood Anniversary" as Ricardo Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha, but in the episode "Lucy Raises Tulips" Lucy calls him "Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha III".
Much like Lucille Ball herself, Lucy McGillicuddy was born and raised in Jamestown, New York (or West Jamestown per episode #138), to an American family of Scottish descent. In one episode in which she was asked her birthday has her giving it as August 6th, though in typical fashion for her she refused to give the year, but in another where she's forced to tell the truth has her saying she was 33 years old-the episode aired during the third season in 1953. In the episode, her parents are never referred to by name, and only her mother (portrayed by Kathryn Card) is seen over the course of the series. No other family is even mentioned, except for a passing reference to her grandmother being Swedish (Jamestown has a large Swedish community). In Season 5,episode 11 - "The Passports" it's established she was born in 1921. In grammar school, she played a petunia in a recital. In high school, she was involved in the drama program, wherein she studied with Miss Hanna and played Juliet Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She also played the saxophone in high school (as did the real Lucy), though every song she played sounded like "The Glow-Worm." Lucy also knows how to play the ukulele. She is seen playing a ukulele in episodes "Ricky Loses His Voice", "Don Juan is Shelved", and "Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright".