lucy ricardo is the wacky wife of cuban bandleader ricky ricardo. living in new york, ricky tries to succeed in show business while lucy — always trying to help — usually manages to get in some kind of trouble that drives ricky crazy. their best friends are fred and ethel mertz, who are also their landlords. usually, ethel becomes lucy’s less-than-willing partner in crime. ricky and lucy welcomed little ricky in 1953, whose birth was national tv.

casting for

lucy ricardo (lead) lucille esmerelda “lucy” mcgillicuddy ricardo is the wife of cuban band leader ricky ricardo and the mother of “little ricky” ricardo. a housewife, she wants nothing more than to become a star in show business and it is this desire — and the lengths she goes to in order to attain it — that often gets her and ricky in trouble. in an effort to prove to her husband that she, too, can make it in showbiz, she has been known to sneak into auditions even for his own show. ricky is not entirely supportive of lucy’s quest for stardom, but eventually comes around and even tries to get her a role in a movie. lucy learned to play “glow worm” on the saxophone in high school — and, it turns out, that’s like the only song she knows how to play — and is seen playing the ukelele. beyond her determination to be a star, lucy is very much into status symbols and can be manipulative, stubborn and sneaky. but she clearly has a good heart and is a caring wife, mother and friend.

lucy lives in a new york city apartment with her husband and, soon enough, their infant son. their landlords, neighbors and eventual best friends are fred and ethel mertz. the ricardos and mertzes are inseparable — even vacationing together.

while insecure about how fit she is to be a parent, lucy wants the best for her child and goes as far as to enroll herself, ricky and the mertzes (who would become little ricky’s godparents) in english classes to ensure they all set a good example. she also took a sculpting class in order to be able to offer her son an artistic role model.

background: lucy was born in west jamestown, n.y., and met ricky when she was set up on a blind date at the age of 22.

i love lucy web series

ricky ricardo (lead)
enrique alberto fernando ricardo y de acha iii, or “ricky” ricardo, is the husband of lucy ricardo and father of “little ricky” ricardo. he is a cuban conga player and the band leader at the club tropicana in new york. his signature song is “babalu.” ricky is a caring husband and father, but is a classic 1950s husband who worries his wife is spending too much money and wants her to stay home and take care of the house. he is not a big fan of lucy’s desire to become a star in show business, but occasionally tries to help her out.

ricky lives in new york city with lucy and, soon enough, their newborn son little ricky. he and lucy quickly become best friends with their neighbors and landlords, fred and ethel mertz, and the couples are inseparable. the mertzes, who become little ricky’s godparents, spend tons of time at the ricardos’ apartment and also vacation with them.

a hard worker, ricky is a proud husband and father who takes his patriarchal role seriously. he can be short tempered, arrogant and sometimes overbearing, but his actions usually come from a place of love. outside of music, ricky loves sports and enjoys fishing, watching boxing, golf and baseball.

background: little is known about ricky’s life in cuba before he came to the united states in 1940, but he has a large family there and was at least partly raised by his uncle alberto, whom he remembers fondly. still, ricky often quotes his father’s advice. he entered the world of entertainment at the age of 12 back in cuba and knew from an early age that he wanted to make a career singing and playing the conga drum.

ethel mertz (supporting)
she was born ethel mae potter in albuquerque, new mexico early in the 20th century. young ethel mae soon left her birthplace to find fame as a singer and dancer in new york city. she married fred mertz, a wwi veteran and her very experienced partner in a musical vaudeville act, who appeared to be some years older. after the demise of vaudeville, the mertzes purchased a brownstone apartment building in manhattan. she soon became best friends with a newlywed tenant, lucy ricardo whose husband, ricky ricardo, was a successful nightclub entertainer who immigrated from cuba.

known for her down-to-earth manner and bigger-than-life appetite, ethel mertz is the quintessential “second banana” in american situation comedies. she would try to reign in lucy on mostly every outrageous scheme, but she would always succumb to the pressure applied by her friend and eventually team up with her on whatever dubious endeavor lucy had planned.

the husband/wife relationship between fred and ethel mertz could be fractious and testy, as they were often at loggerheads. a common dynamic would have the two friendly couples divided into opposing factions determined by gender, where each side would attempt to prove their superiority to the other. but then again, on issues concerning their finances, fred and ethel could demonstrate solidaridy, and true conviction to their partnership.

the mertzes were seldom physically demonstrative, and the most affection ethel would display to her “ol’ fat freddy” usually consisted of her rubbing his bald pate or a peck on the cheek. but they were happiest when they could perform any of their old vaudeville routines, when they would dance and harmonize with true professionalism. the both enjoyed dressing up in outrageous costumes at the drop of a hat, and were especially drawn to the entertainments of “the gay nineties” in much of their musical performing.

when the ricardo and the mertzes traveled through ethel’s hometown of albuquerque, the townsfolk welcomed her with great enthusiasm. they somewhat confusedly believed that ethel was a bigger star than her best friend’s husband, ricky ricardo, who was on his way to hollywood to shoot a movie. the people of albuquerque hung huge banners on their roadways proclaiming:

“ethel mae potter! we never forgot her!”

fred mertz (supporting)
frederick hobart mertz is the husband of ethel mertz and best friend, landlord and neighbor to ricky and lucy ricardo.

fred and his wife ethel share a common background with ricky in that they were also in show business. fred performed in vaudeville acts for years before he met ethel, and the couple toured the country, performing together for several years. at one point during that time, they supplemented their income by working in a diner with fred as the cook and ethel as a waitress. eventually, they settled down in new york city and bought a brownstone apartment and now make their income as landlords.

fred is notoriously cheap. he is generally the one to bring up the cost of things and prevents ethel from spending too much money. this may have been a result of having lost significant wealth in the stock market crash of 1929. fred is the oldest of the foursome. he is a big fan of the new york yankees and enjoys playing cards. he is also a member of his lodge and hopes to become its sergeant at arms.

ethel and fred have no children, but become godparents to ricky and lucy’s son little ricky. ethel and fred very much love each other, but bicker constantly and playfully — we think — insult each other on a regular basis. ethel’s father did not like fred much and the couple eloped when ethel was 19.

background: not much is known as fred’s childhood, but he was born in steubenville, ohio, and grew up on a farm. he also was a golden gloves boxing champion in his youth.

little ricky – supporting
enrique alberto fernando ricardo y de acha, or “little ricky,” is the son of ricky and lucy ricardo. he’s the godson of fred and ethel mertz. little ricky was born in the second season of the show and is the center of his parents’ universe — although they often leave him with a babysitter or lucy’s mother so they can go out with fred and ethel. he is also left in new york with mrs. mcgillicuddy when ricky, lucy, fred and ethel head west for a road trip to california. his grandmother later flies across the country with little ricky to meet up with them.