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William Frawley (born February 26, 1887 in
Burlington, Iowa - died March 3, 1966 in
Hollywood, California) began in vaudeville and as
a screen actor, with well over a hundred films to
his credit, but gained greater fame on the
television shows I Love Lucy and My Three Sons.

Possessed of a fine singing voice in his younger
days, it was supposedly Frawley, not Al Jolson,
who introduced the song "My Mammy" to vaudeville
audiences. He was also an early and persistant
exponent of the hit song Carolina in the Morning.
His film credits include Miracle on 34th Street,
in which he portrayed "Charlie", the judge's
campaign manager.

On I Love Lucy (1951), Frawley played Lucy and
Ricky Ricardo's landlord Fred Mertz.  Throughout
the show's run, both he and Vivian Vance had
nothing but contempt for each other.  Part of it
was the real life age difference between the two
(Frawley was twenty-five years Vance's senior),
but essentially, it was a clash of two driving,
strong personalities.  The tension between them
probably filtered into their TV characters and
made them work so beautifully. The two co-stars
were given the opportunity to move into their own
"Fred and Ethel" spin-off once "Lucy" had run its
course in 1959. Despite his animosity towards her,
Frawley saw a lucrative opportunity and was quite
game, but Ms. Vance nixed the idea, having no
interest in ever working with Frawley again. Vance
got her own series "Guestward Ho!", which failed. 

Frawley next hit it big on My Three Sons in his
role as "Bub".  He reportedly never felt
comfortable with the out-of-sequence filming
method used on "My Three Sons" after doing "I Love
Lucy" in sequence for years.  

By almost all accounts, Frawley's off-screen
personality was not all that much different from
his on-screen one. A notorious misanthrope, with
one brief failed marriage behind him and a
fondness for the bottle, he lived in the same
spare bachelor apartment for most of his years in
Hollywood.  When hiring Frawley for the role of
Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy," Desi Arnaz made it
clear to him that, if he showed up drunk for work
more than once, he would not only be fired from
the program but blacklisted throughout the
entertainment industry. Frawley, whom no one would
hire at that point, readily agreed. He never
showed up drunk on the set at all, and, in fact,
Arnaz became one of his very few close friends. 

Poor health forced Frawley's retirement. (One of
his final performances was an October 1965 guest
appearance in Ball's subsequent series "The Lucy
Show".)  He collapsed of a heart attack on March
3, 1966, aged seventy-nine, walking along
Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a movie.  After
he died, Arnaz took out a full-page ad in the
trade papers, consisting of Frawley's picture,
edged in black, and three words: "Buenas noches,
amigo!"  Vance's reaction was exactly the
opposite.  She and her second husband were dining
out when they heard Frawley had died. Upon
receiving the news, Vance reportedly shouted,
"Champagne for everybody!"

Frawley is buried in San Fernando Mission
Cemetery, Mission Hills, California, USA.

==External links==

*imdb name|id=0292433|name=William Frawley