Ethel Mertz

**Ethel Roberta Louise Mae Potter Mertz** is a character on *I Love Lucy*, *The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour*, and other media. She was played by Vivian Vance.

## About Ethel

Ethel was born sometime between 1905 and 1915 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a Leo, so her birthday must be sometime in late July or early-to-mid August.

She was raised in a ranch outside of Albuquerque. Her father, Will Potter, owns a successful soda shop in Albuquerque, and when Ethel visits him in early 1955, her mother is nowhere to be seen. Her mother is never shown or given a name, but Ethel has went home to her mother's when fighting with Fred in 1952, and Ethel told Fred she was visiting her mother when she went to help Lucy trick Ricky on the camping trip in 1953. Ethel never mentions having any siblings, but her Uncle Oscar is married to her Aunt Emmy, and her Aunt Martha is married to her Uncle Elmo. Ethel attended Albuquerque Elementary School along with Betty Foster Ramsey, with whom she reunites when she moves to Westport. Ethel's father even belonged to the same lodge as Betty's father, Leslie Foster. In high school, she took French, but she forgot it all by adulthood.

Ethel is a very talented singer and dancer, and she knew that she wanted to go into show business to use her beautiful soprano voice. As a young adult, the former "Miss Albuquerque" gave a performance at the Little Theater in Albuquerque, as a "farewell" to the town before she left for New York to pursue a career on Broadway. She considers herself to have been a "star of musical comedy." She was so well-liked and respected in her home town of Albuquerque that, when she returned in 1955, the Little Theater put up on their marquee: "Ethel Mae Potter, we never forgot her!" She was quite the catch in her young days, and while she was still living in Albuquerque, her long list of suitors included Billy Hackett (now editor of the newspaper in Albuquerque), Deke Arledge, and Hank Spear.

Sometime after she left Albuquerque, she met Fred Mertz, her future husband. Mr. Potter didn't like Fred, so Ethel and Fred eloped against Mr. Potter's wishes when Ethel was nineteen. Ethel and Fred married 3 May.

Fred and Ethel had a rather successful vaudeville career together after their marriage, performing all over the country under the name Mertz & Mertz, the name on their vaudeville trunk, which they bought from a man who had a seal act. One of their career highlights was starring in the *Flapper Follies of 1927* at the Palace Theater in Jamestown, New York, an act which they reprised in 1952 at the Tropicana. They also did an Apache dance together during their act, and Ethel used to do some sort of an Egyptian dance. The Mertzes seemed to have lived a sort of vagabond life early in their marriage. They traveled a lot for vaudeville, and once, they were stranded in Indianapolis. To survive, they worked at a diner, Fred as the waiter and Ethel as the cook. It is likely that they were in vaudeville together the first five years of their marriage, as Ethel once says (before her California trip) that she hadn't been out of New York for 20 out of the 25 years she had been married.

In 1937, the couple retired from show business and purchased a small brownstone apartment in Manhattan, located at 623 East 68th Street. (In 1953, Ethel says that they've been living in the apartment for 16 years.) The deed for the building was written in Ethel's name; the Mertzes moved in to apartment 3C, which is right across the hall from the Ricardos' second apartment of 3D. Fred and Ethel quickly grew accustomed to earning their living as landlords. When Lucy and Ricky Ricardo moved into their building in 1948, Ethel and Fred quickly developed a very close friendship with them. Ethel and Lucy became best friends and soon were inseparable. Fred and Ethel went with the Ricardos on their 1955 trip to Hollywood. When Ricky had to tour Europe with his band a month after returning from Hollywood, he hurriedly asked Fred to be his business manager during the trip, knowing how Fred had managed his vaudeville act all by himself. Ethel was able to go on the Europe trip, too, with the money Ricky saved by his band members getting free boat fare by playing their instruments all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Ethel was responsible for speaking Italian on the trip. Fred continued to be Ricky's band manager long after the trip to Europe, which meant that Ethel was able to see even more exotic places for free that Fred otherwise never would have taken her, such as Las Vegas, Mexico and Tokyo, Japan.

The Mertzes never had any children. When Lucy became pregnant in 1952, she immediately declared that the Mertzes would be the baby's godparents. Ethel's godson, Ricky Ricardo, Jr., was born 19 January 1953. Little Ricky calls his godmother "Aunt Ethel."

In 1957, when the Ricardos moved to Westport, Connecticut, Ethel was devastated with the loss of her best friend. When the chance came for the Mertzes to apply for the job of hired hand in the Ricardos' chicken/egg business, they did so in a heartbeat and moved to Westport, too. The Mertzes live in the Ricardos' guest house, with free room and board for taking care of the chickens, as well as a portion of the profits from the egg sales at sixty cents a dozen. Once the Ricardos' landlords, the Mertzes now are the Ricardos' tenants.

Ethel lives a fairly healthy life, even though she once went to Mayo Brothers in Minnesota to have gallstones removed, and she broke her ankle in 1951. She is co-president with Lucy of her women's club, the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League. She is also a long-time member of a bridge club. Ethel loves playing cards in general. She enjoys bridge, canasta, and gin the best. She also plays the piano. Her expertise as a piano player depends which season she plays. Sometimes, she's a whiz at the ivories. Other times, she only knows how to play "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain".

## Inconsistencies

* The Mertzes celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary in 1951, which would mean they eloped in 1933. They celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in 1952, which would give a wedding year of 1927.