Now let us never speak of that horrifying Lucille Ball statue again
A more pleasing rendition of comedian Lucille Ball replaces the alien "Scary Lucy" version in her hometown park.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
We like to think Lucy would've found it all pretty funny.
In 2009, a 400-pound bronze sculpture of comedian Lucille Ball was installed in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in her childhood hometown of Celoron, New York. But Ball's friendly Vita-Meta-Vegamin slurping, chocolate-chomping face was almost unrecognizable. This wasn't sweet, snappy Lucy who always wanted to be in the show. This was a horrifying, grimacing Lucy with Chiclet teeth, a smashed nose and eyes that made her look as if she'd just caught Ethel making out with Ricky.
Public protest, including from the We Love Lucy Facebook page, made it clear this wasn't how fans wanted to remember the comedy icon. On Saturday, which would've been Ball's 105th birthday, a new statue was unveiled. Go ahead, compare the two.
Poor Dave Poulin, who sculpted the first statue, seems genuinely apologetic about how the first statue turned out. "I take full responsibility for 'Scary Lucy,' though by no means was that my intent or did I wish to disparage in any way the memories of the iconic Lucy image," he said in a letter published by The Hollywood Reporter in April 2015.
Carolyn D. Palmer, who made the second, more appealing statue, felt bad Poulin had to deal with such a negative reaction to his original statue. "That's the biggest nightmare in the world for anybody," she told THR.
Scary Lucy lives on, though, as the statue has been moved to another part of the park.