Lucille Ball and Shirley Hemphill
Dataloungers often make reference to the fact that in the 70s Lucille Ball gave a talk at an acting school in LA and a drunken Shirley Hemphill ( before her success on "What's Happening?") attended and made a fool of herself during the Q&A, and was slapped down by Lucy.
At first I thought this was a joke, but it's been repeated so often that now I think it must have actually happened. What actually transpired during that Q&A? Did Lucy diss Shirley? Did Shirley fight back, prompting Lucy to make "the spider"? Was Lucy later forced to eat her words when Shirley became a nationwide success?
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 2, 2022 4:15 AM
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From Taylor Negron's wonderful story about Lucille Ball teaching a series of Comedy Classes:
[italic]Candid, frank and rough-voiced, Lucy pointed at the students who dared put their hands up. "Girl in the black sweater." "Boy in the paisley shirt."
[italic]Every 20 minutes or so she would put more Vaseline on her teeth, and we soon learned that this trick kept her teeth moist so her lips would work.
[italic]"Most of you are not going to make it in show business." The crowd hushed quiet. "Most of you aren't that good." She inhaled, then took a bit of tobacco out of her teeth, flicking it into space.
[italic]The older members of the crowd laughed. The younger members became sullen, enraged and uncomfortable. America's favorite clown had become a strict governess, a wicked Mrs. Danvers.
[italic]Shirley Hemphill was one of the students. Shirley, a rotund girl with a sloppy afro, had yet to make a name for herself as the waitress on the sitcom What's Happening. She was still working at a fast food restaurant on La Brea. She stood up. "I want to be on a TV show now! I am ready. Where do I go? I want to know where to go. You can get me on TV." Shirley's voice was filled with impatience. Lucy pointed to her with her cigarette, then stabbed it out in the ashtray.
[italic]"You're not ready, and you will never make it with this attitude of yours. Terrible. Awful." Lucy rubbed more Vaseline on her teeth. You could hear a pin drop. "Hollywood does not stand for that."
[italic]Shirley said, "Oh, shit" and then walked out of the big room and asked for her money back.
[italic]Lucy continued: "There isn't enough room for you all. You have to be honest with your chances in this business. I didn't do the pilot for I Love Lucy until I was 40 years old." She lit another cigarette. "Back then I remember thinking that 40 sounded very old."
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | October 2, 2022 3:36 AM
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Also from Taylor's article:
Lucy had requested a pack of Pall Mall non-filtered cigarettes, a bag of Chocolate Pogen Cookies, and a bottle of Scotch.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 2, 2022 3:41 AM
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Let me tell you about Shirley Hemphill ...
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 2, 2022 3:54 AM
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Why were her lips not working without a petroleum product? Too much smoking? Shocking detail.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 2, 2022 4:05 AM
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What about her Florida water?
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 2, 2022 4:08 AM
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[quote]Why were her lips not working without a petroleum product? Too much smoking? Shocking detail.
Decreased saliva production is sometimes related to aging, and taking certain medications can make it worse.
Cigarette smoking certainly makes it worse.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 2, 2022 4:15 AM
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