Meet the Mertzes

Meet the Mertzes is an expansive dual biography chronicling the lives of two of America''s most popular situation-comedy actors, William Frawley and Vivian Vance, who portrayed Fred and Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy. This meticulously researched book contains interviews with Frawley''s and Vance''s colleagues, friends, and relatives, and explores their personal and professional lives before, during, and after I Love Lucy. With a complete filmography and videography of each, Meet the Mertzes finally sets the record straight on the lives and legacies of these compelling stars who detested one another.

You''ll learn about:

-Vance''s successful Broadway career prior to I Love Lucy
-Frawley''s vaudevillian roots and his passion for baseball
-Vance''s nervous breakdown after the collapse of her first marriage
-Frawley''s drinking and carousing
-Lucille Ball''s caustic relationship with both of her costars
-Vance''s hatred of being known to the world as Ethel Mertz