Lucille Ball: Interfaith marriages

Although Protestants and Catholics are both Christians, their distinctions are often enough to be dubbed “interfaith” in nature.  Therefore, when Lucille Ball married Desi Arnaz, many predicted difficulties due to their religious differences.

Even within her own life, Ball had interfaith leanings.  Her

great-grandfather, Clinton Ball, was a Protestant fundamentalist

who adhered to a strict Puritanical code.  According to adherents. com, five of Clinton’s six children fell in line with this – but the sixth, Lucille’s grandfather, did not.  He ended up leaving Clinton’s home and settling in Jamestown, New York - where his son Henry (Lucille’s father) met and married Desiree Hunt.  Lucille’s parents,

Henry and Desiree, were married on September 1, 1910 by the

pastor of the Calgary Baptist Church.

Although Lucille Ball considered herself a Protestant throughout her life, she also “flirted with superstition and numerology.”  Her

biographer, Stefan Kanfer, cited numerous examples of this.  For a while, Ball studied with “the gregarious Aquarius” Carroll Righter, astrologer of Hollywood stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Charlie Chaplin.  Righter had assessed the Ball/Arnaz marriage to be a challenging one due to inherent difference in their astrological natures.  Desi Arnaz was a “heart on the sleeve” Pisces – whereas Lucille Ball was a Leo who shunned vulnerability.

According to adherents.com – Arnaz also came from “a devout Cuban Catholic family” and was also “at least partially an adherent of the Afro-Caribbean religion Osha, which was practiced by a large proportion of Cubans.”  Many, in fact, trace Arnaz’ famous “Babalu” song to these Osha roots.  When Arnaz and Ball were having difficulties conceiving children, Desi’s mother believed that this was because “Lucy and Desi remained unmarried in the eyes of the Catholic Church.”  According to adherents.com, Desi “listened to his mother for the first time in years.” Lucy and Desi had a Roman Catholic ceremony eight years after their initial wedding.

Lucy’s second marriage to Gary Morton was also interfaith in nature.  According to Wikipedia - Morton, born Morton Goldaper in New York City, was “of Jewish heritage.”  Nevertheless, he and Ball were married in New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church.  Ball had attended this church for years – not because of its Dutch Reformed denomination, but because of its pastor, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.  The influence of Peale’s “positive thinking” (about oneself, as well about much else) philosophy on Ball was profound.  She is often quoted as saying:  I have an everyday religion that works for me.  Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.   

   

Resources

http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=2098.933.0.0

http://www.adherents.com/people/pb/Lucille_Ball.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Ball

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu6Ra59RSis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Morton

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lucille_ball.html

Copyright August 6, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke