Lucille Ball Auditioned for the Role of Scarlett O'Hara in “Gone With the Wind” In 1939, Ball — along with 1,400 other hopefuls — auditioned for one of the most celebrated roles in Hollywood history.

Who auditioned for Gone with the Wind?

Among the biggest names vying for the role were Lucille Ball, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, and Lana Turner, but Selznick rejected them all as unconvincing for one reason or another. For a while, the frontrunners were Tallulah Bankhead and Paulette Goddard but he bypassed them as well.

Who was the first choice for Scarlett O Hara?

Tallulah Bankhead and Joan Bennett were widely considered to be the most likely choices until they were supplanted by Paulette Goddard.

Did Lucille Ball test for Gone with the Wind?

Through 1937, Selznick's team scoured the country looking for unknown actresses, but that effort was largely unsuccessful. Through 1937 and 1938, many read (including Lucille Ball and Diana Barrymore), but few of them made tests — among those were young Susan Hayward, Anita Louise and Paulette Goddard (all seen below).

Was Lucille Ball in Gone with the Wind?

Ball also did some stage work and auditioned (unsuccessfully, of course) to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939). Among her more notable roles of the era at RKO was that of a burlesque queen in Dorothy Arzner's Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), with Maureen O'Hara as another dancer.

Lucille Ball on Bob Hope Special (c. 1984) - Gone With The Wind Story.

Did maureen o hara and Lucille Ball get along?

Lucille Ball and Maureen O'Hara became inseparable friends while shooting this film, and remained lifelong friends until Ball's death in 1989. O'Hara was having lunch with her when Ball first saw her future husband Desi Arnaz.

How many babies did Scarlett O Hara have?

In the book, Scarlett gives birth to three children: Wade Hampton Hamilton, Ella Lorena Kennedy, and Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler. In the film version only Bonnie is featured. Almost universally, the studio and the public agreed that the part of Rhett Butler should go to Clark Gable.

Who was Lucille Ball's best friend?

Vivian Vance believed her friendship with Lucille Ball was perfectly balanced. Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz had the friendship that many wanted. Lucy always persuaded Ethel to tag along on adventures that eventually got them in trouble with their husbands. The women bickered often, but their bond remained strong.

Did Lucy and Ethel get along in real life?

Lucy and Ethel Were Not BFFs in Real Life

The truth is that Ball and Vance didn't initially get along. As time went on, they grew more supportive of each other, but they remained competitive and feuded throughout the run of I Love Lucy at different points. It was truly a love/hate relationship.

Why did Desi Arnaz Jr leave Here's Lucy?

At the end of the third season, Desi Arnaz, Jr. decided to leave the series to pursue a movie acting career. His character of Craig returned in the fifth-season episode "Lucy and Joe Namath', but after that he never again appeared on the show although Craig was referred to from time to time.

Did Ashley Wilkes love Scarlett?

Ashley is the man with whom Scarlett O'Hara is obsessed. Gentlemanly yet indecisive, he loves Scarlett, but finds he has more in common with Melanie, his first cousin and later his wife.

Why did Rhett leave Scarlett?

Rhett, believing Scarlett has never loved him and will jump at the chance to marry the now free and receptive Ashley, becomes apathetic to Scarlett's declarations to the contrary. Tired of it all, Rhett walks out of his marriage, seeking to abandon everything to find something left of "charm and grace" in the world.

How old was Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind?

Filming Gone With the Wind

Leslie wasn't a popular choice for the role of Ashley. He was English, not American, and he was 46, while Ashley's character was supposed to be 21. Similarly, Vivien Leigh was an English actress chosen to play Southern Belle Scarlett O'Hara.

How old was Vivien Leigh when she played Scarlett?

When Vivien Leigh played the leading role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, she was twenty-five years old. She was born in November of 1913, and Gone With the Wind was made in 1939.

Did Bette Davis want to play Scarlett O Hara?

Davis expressed her desire to play Scarlett, and while David O. Selznick was conducting a search for the actress to play the role, a radio poll named her as the audience favorite.

How much was Vivien Leigh paid for Gone with the Wind?

Leigh in costume for Gone With the Wind. The film had a grueling schedule: Leigh worked for 125 days on the movie while Gable worked for 71 days. Leigh—who spent two and a half hours on screen during the four hour movie— was paid approximately $25,000, while Gable earned more than $120,000.

Did Ethel ever smoke on I Love Lucy?

In one ad the couple enjoys a goodnight cigarette in matching pyjamas, in another they retrieve a carton of king size Philip Morris from a wall safe, reminding the audience that Philip Morris leaves you with no cigarette hangover. Lucy and Desi constantly smoke throughout the show, as do their friends Fred and Ethel.

Did Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance not get along?

Their unshakable friendship was there until the very end when Vivian Vance died of bone cancer. Ball visited to say her goodbyes and according to Paige Peterson, an author and friend of Vance, “You could hear them laughing and towards the end there was a lot of sobbing, but it was an amazing thing to witness.

Was Lucille Ball happy with Desi Arnaz?

"Lucy loved Desi till the day she died," comedian Jack Carter, who introduced Ball to her second husband, told People. "There was a great, great love there," I Love Lucy director William Asher echoed. "Desi was very unhappy about the breakup, and I think she was too. I don't think either one of them ever got over it."

What's Lucille Ball's real name?

Born Lucille Désirée Ball on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York, the actress lived multiple lives as a model, showgirl and “queen of B-movies” before the success of her CBS Radio comedy “My Favorite Husband” led the network to invite her to develop the show for television.

Did Lucille Ball like Carol Burnett?

The two would become close friends and perform on each other's shows.

Was Maureen o hara a real redhead?

She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate but sensible heroines, often in Westerns and adventure films. She worked with director John Ford and long-time friend John Wayne on numerous projects.

Who did Lucille Ball leave her estate to?

Ball had put an estate plan in place and created a trust naming her daughter (Lucie -that's not confusing or anything) as her Trustee with the trust assets split three ways, to her husband (Morton) and two children.

Why was Scarlett so in love with Ashley?

He epitomizes the old lifestyle and cannot function in the New South that emerges during and after the war. Scarlett clings to him like many Southerners cling to dreams of their old lives, but her eventual recognition of Ashley's weakness and incompetence enables her to see that dreaming of a lost world makes one weak.