Celebrating 'I Love Lucy' 60 years later

As we approach "I Love Lucy's" 60th anniversary in October, loyal Lucy fans have plenty of places to celebrate, from Lucille Ball's birthplace 100 years ago in Jamestown, N.Y., to Los Angeles, where the famed redhead became TV's Queen of Comedy.

"She's more than just an icon," says Bruce Bronn, president and CEO of Unforgettable Licensing in Chicago, which represents Ball's estate (Desilu, too), and CBS, which owns "I Love Lucy." "She's a symbol of America."

Bronn must give permission every time you see an image of Ball and her first husband and TV co-star, Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. With CBS and Desilu, too, he signs off on all officially sanctioned public events, and this year there are plenty.

Let's start our Lucy tour in Jamestown, about a seven-hour drive from New York City.

The official Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center (www.lucy-desi.com) opened Jamestown in 1996, seven years after Ball's death at age 77. The museum and its nearby Desilu Playhouse are treasure troves of Lucy memorabilia. Visitors can view video clips, walk through replicas of "I Love Lucy" sets and see original costumes from the classic sitcom, which originally ran from Oct. 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957. "We have the professor's ... cello costume donated by Pepito, the Cuban clown who appeared in the ("I Love Lucy") pilot," said Susan Ewing, a staff writer at the center.

Among her favorite displays: Ball's gold 1972 Mercedes-Benz, donated to the museum by Laurence Luckinbill, actor and husband of Lucie Arnaz, Ball's daughter. "It has her monogram, LBM, on the driver's side door," Ewing said. (Ball married comedian Gary Morton in 1961, after she and Arnaz divorced in 1960.)

Fans can re-enact classic Lucy bits on the set replicas, Ewing says.

Each August during Ball's birthday week, the museum holds Lucy Fest: The Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy. This year was special, as attendees celebrated the star's centennial.

"We had a huge celebration," Ewing said. "We believe we have set a Guinness Book of World Records, having the most people dressed as Lucy Ricardo in one place -- 915. Men, women and children. And a dog."

'Nothing compares to Lucy'

A museum memento not seen on television: the desk belonging to "I Love Lucy's" creator/producer/writer, Jess Oppenheimer. Atop the desk is Oppenheimer's original Rolodex, opened to Ball's phone number.

"I just love that," Ewing said. "When I see the desk and think what came from that creative talent, that's amazing, too."

"You had this superb cast, you had great writing, timeless stories. There's not a lot of cultural references that people won't understand."

Beginning in the early 2000s, Oppenheimer spent seven years restoring the series for DVD. Now, he directs public re-creations of old-time radio shows at conventions and Lucy festivals. On Nov. 5, he will direct his own play, "I Love Lucy: The Untold Story," based on his dad's book. Longtime "Lucy" actresses Janet Waldo (Peggy, the teen neighbor who develops a crush on Ricky Ricardo), Shirley Mitchell (Lucy Ricardo's friend Marion Strong) and Doris Singleton (nearsighted Caroline Appleby) will appear in the play, to be performed at a benefit in North Hollywood, Calif.

The play coincides with a major Lucy exhibit at the nearby Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles: Lucille Ball at 100 & "I Love Lucy" at 60. On display through Nov. 30 are scripts, costumes and memorabilia spanning Ball's entire film and TV career. Oddities include the autographed plaster cast Ball wore after breaking her leg in a 1972 ski accident (www.thehollywoodmuseum.com).

The Paley Center for Media, located both in Los Angeles and New York City, also is celebrating Ball with "We Love Lucy" public screenings through Oct. 30 (www.paleycenter.org).

Even Florida has a tourism stop for Lucy fans: Universal Studios in Orlando with its long-running Lucy: A Tribute exhibit, which screens classic TV clips and displays props from "I Love Lucy" and costumes worn by Ball.