Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball: Friends to the End and Maybe Beyond

Lombard & Lucy

There was a new story in the book FIREBALL: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3 by Robert Matzen that I had never heard before.  Well, actually, there were several that I’d never heard before, all fascinating, but this one’s the gem.

I knew that Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball had been friends, and oh, what a pair they must have made!  I had heard that Lucy was devastated when Carole died.  But I’d never heard this:

Long after Carole had passed away, Lucy, whose film career was floundering, wondered if she should try acting in a television comedy show.  One night she had a dream about her old friend Carole Lombard, who had once reigned as the “Queen of Screwball Comedy.”  In the dream, Carole appeared, beautifully dressed in a suit.  She said to Lucille, “Take a chance, honey. Give it a whirl!”

Lucy did.  She probably figured her old friend wouldn’t ever have steered her wrong.

The result was the most beloved show in television history:  I LOVE LUCY.