F O R YO U R CO N S I D E R A T I O N I N A L L C AT E GO R I E S I N C L U D I N G Best Picture Produced by Todd Black, p.g.a. Jason Blumenthal Steve Tisch Best Original Screenplay Aaron Sorkin
THE DESILU EFFECT CONTINUED
Arnaz took on more and more of the business side, allowing Ball to focus on her creative pursuits. “Desi was always in control from the shadows,” says Bardem. “He made a lot of important decisions, but he was not credited, perhaps because she was the bigger star, perhaps other reasons.” According to their daughter, Lucie, once when Arnaz was asked who deserved the credit for Desilu’s success, he responded, “‘Give Lucy 90 percent of it and split the rest between everyone else.’ I think he understood that she was the gold and he protected her very much in the way that it is written in Being the Ricardos .” As the business grew, so did Arnaz’s responsibilities. “It was all so new at the time,” says Lucie. “Jobs we take for granted today, like marketing and public relations, didn’t exist then. He was really good at what he did, but he was inventing the wheel and steering the car.” LUCY TAKES THE REINS In 1962 , two years after the couple’s divorce, Arnaz resigned as president and sold his share of the company to Ball, making her the first woman to run a Hollywood production company. Under her leadership, Desilu produced some of the most successful shows of the era, including Mission: Impossible , Star Trek and The Untouchables . Other hit series, including The Andy Griffith Show , My Three Sons and The Dick Van Dyke Show , as well as classic films such as The Americanization of Emily and The Greatest Story Ever Told , were filmed on Desilu lots. In 1968 , Ball sold the studio to Gulf & Western and turned her full attention to acting in and producing her own long-running series, Here’s Lucy . “My parents created what they did with deep unconditional love and a tremendous mutual respect for each other’s talents,” says Lucie. “They trusted each other to do the things each was excellent at. I think that was the thing that attracted them to each other in the first place.”
DESI NEGOTIATED with sponsors and network executives …
… WHILE LUCY CONCENTRATED on what she did best − making people laugh.
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