Carol Burnett is revisiting a candid moment she once shared with Lucille Ball — one that revealed how the television trailblazer struggled, then ultimately stepped into her own power, following her divorce from Desi Arnaz.
Burnett, 92, recounted the conversation during an appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast on Tuesday, February 3. She reflected on her time working alongside Ball and the personal story Ball shared while the two were filming The Carol Burnett Show.
“We had a dinner break,” Burnett said, according to People. “So we went across the way to the farmer’s market, you know, and she’s knocking back a couple of whiskey sours, and she says, ‘You know, kid’ — because my husband at the time, Joe, was producing our show — and she said, ‘You’re very fortunate you got Joe to do it for you.’”
Burnett explained that Ball then opened up about how much Arnaz had handled behind the scenes during their marriage and how different things became after they divorced. The I Love Lucy stars ended their marriage in 1960 after 20 years together.
“She said, ‘Because when I was married to the Cuban… Desi did everything. He invented the three-camera system. He took care of the scripts, he took care of the costumes. He took care of the lighting. All I had to do was come in and be silly Lucy on Monday and do the show. Then we got a divorce,’” Burnett recalled.
According to Burnett, Ball described feeling the absence of Arnaz’s guidance when she began work on her next project.
“So they had a script reading of the new Lucy show. And she said, ‘It was terrible, and I thought, Desi wasn’t here to fix it. I called lunch. And I went back, and I figured I have to be strong, I have to be not afraid, you know,’” Burnett recalled.
Burnett said Ball ultimately pushed herself to take control and assert her authority.
“So she went back, and she said, ‘I told them in no uncertain terms what they had to do, how to fix it, I was just really tough,’” Burnett shared. “And then she took another little drink, and she said, ‘And kid, that’s when they put the ‘S’ on the end of my last name.’”
Burnett also shared how she first met Ball, recalling that the comedy legend attended the second night of her Broadway musical, Once Upon a Mattress.
“So I remember, I was stupid. I peeked through, and I saw this orange hair in the second row and [thought] oh my God,” Burnett said. “Anyway, I got through the show, and she wanted to come backstage. And it was in an off-Broadway theater, and it was really funky, you know, I had a couch where the coil was sticking up. … Lucille Ball, she comes in, and she headed for the couch, and I said, ‘Oh, look,’ and she said, ‘No, I see it.’”
“She sat on the right end of the couch and well, God, 20, 25 minutes. And she called me ‘Kid.’ She was 22 years older. And as she was leaving, she said, ‘Kid, if you ever need me for anything, you give me a call.’”