William Frawley 4

A former vaudeville star, William Frawley was known for play cantankerous, brash and bossy characters which were close to his real life personality. After over a hundred films, he became a hit in two of the 1950's and 60's most popular sitcoms, the first as Lucy and Ricky's neighbors Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy and as Uncle Bub, Fred MacMurray's father in law on My Three Son's. Frawley was born February 26, 1887 in Burlington Iowa. He and his brother formed a vaudeville act before he broke into film. His first film was a silent movie called Lord Loveland Discovers America in 1916. Most of the films he did were comedies. It was in 1951 that I Love Lucy started and he and co-star Vivian Vance starred as Fred and Ethel Mertz. Their volatile relationship on screen was very much the way it was off screen. He died March 3, 1966. Some of my favorite movies with Frawley in it are Gentleman Jim, Roxie Hart, The Farmer's Daughter, and The Zigfield Follies.