Cleo Smith (2001) on her cousin Lucile Ball

[@ericlundstrom3134]

Great to see this video. Cleo and her husband Cecil lived 2 houses down from us in Westlake Village, CA along with their kids Marcus and Tina. Cleo and Cecil were so friendly and nice, just great. She would take her son and myself down to the studio where Lucille had an apartment and visit. Didn’t appreciate it then but do remember it. Lucille would come out to visit Cleo and we would marvel at her Rolls Royce. Our homes were similar and once walked into the living room to see Lucille walking into our house. She would get them confused and get so embarrassed. But Cleo and Lucille were always so nice to us kids. Great memories.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Thanks for sharing this!!!

[@mallenjm252]

Sweet story! :)

[@OLALALA1019]

Wow so awesome! ❤ she must have been so lovely in person.

[@ginnylorenz5265]

So sweet to hear. Thanks!!!

[@emue229]

Such a pretty woman, so gentle. Wonderful interview and so honest. One feels as if Cleo is one's own family member..A very precious interview for the history of Hollywood..

[@ReviewsChannel-e4r]

Now that Lucie Arnaz is older, I see a strong resemblance between her and her Aunt Cleo. Can anyone else see it?

[@ginnylorenz5265]

Absolutely!!! Very alike!!!!!

[@TRUTHx247]

I could see some resemblance to Lucille. Sweet woman. Thanks for this interview.

[@stevenpatrickstone766]

This is a gem ! Cleo Smith was absolutely delightful to listen to. What a charming lady ! You have made an amazing contribution to the biography of Lucille Ball by uploading this interview with her cousin. Thanks for sharing it.

[@scotnick59]

My mom met her in a bar in Alhambra in 196O. She asked what Lucy was like and Cleo just said "She's very real and unaffected; thinks of her work as just a job". Nice.

[@trawlins396]

Ppl in this generation were just no nonsense, serious types. Although my grandmother was a blk woman (and a little younger than Cleo) she was the same type.. America was in it's prime when this generation was running things. I said what I said.

[@trawlins396]

@@AlexandraRieloff Exactly. Everyone cares about "Me Me Me" and that's it.

[@bostonblackie9503]

Lucy always introduced Cleo as her sister. In the opening credits of "Here's Lucy" the animated doll of Lucy blows a kiss when Cleo's (who worked on the show,) name goes up.

[@ginnylorenz5265]

I love that!

[@julietteyork3721]

Her husband should have been interviewed as well. He surely had amazing stories as an entertainment columnist during that era.

[@bejoyful]

Wonderful interview of Cleo; all Lucy fans should see this one!

[@stigmoto228]

This is great - I always knew about Cleo but don't think I've ever seen an interview of her. What a wonderful woman.

[@lashawnalee921]

LUCILLE BALL'S DAUGHTER LUCIE ARNAZ FAVORS COUSIN CLEO SMITH SO MUCH

[@williamf4544]

What a lovely lady - thats the thing about relatives they just tell it as it was - no gushing no frills - i dont think you would have got the same feeling of knowing even if you had been listening to Lucy herself - just a chat with someone who grew up with the person - not the actress - this is a gem that will be interesting to generations to come - thank you for your hard work

[@annetteturner5954]

Life was different back then I think people were stronger and took life as it came.

[@constanceroma8264]

Delightful interview. She’s very knowledgeable about Lucy and Desi’s family life. Thanks for sharing.

[@rosemarie20]

Ms. Smith is so full of life in this interview, it's hard to believe she passed away on April 9, 2012 at the age of 92. Here, she's 81.

[@Bubbacrunch1]

What a nice lady. She was a great beauty, and still was in this interview.

[@marilynwillett804]

OH CUT THE SHIT, she's not a great beauty. but Taylor was.

[@michaelbenton1434]

This is fascinating! Thanks for posting!

[@scotnick59]

My mom met Cleo in a bar in Alhambra in 1960. She asked what Lucy was like in "real" life: "She's just like anyone else" was her answer; mom said she was very nice.

[@ReviewsChannel-e4r]

Did you notice the set of bongos behind where Cleo Smith is sitting? No need for a photo of Desi. lol

[@scotnick59]

neat observation!@@ReviewsChannel-e4r

[@karenmallonee3867]

What a great interview, I enjoyed it very much! ❤️

[@greatday5404]

Love that she is complimentary & loyal to Lucy who was a great talent and star 😊.

[@annettebarlette9471]

I see family, in both of them.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Same nose! Lucy's unique beauty was so underated. She rivaled Hedy Lamarr and the Bennett sisters!

[@julietteyork3721]

“Too Many Girls” was sadly prophetic.

[@anyhowe2702]

she lived in a time where to wake up was to enjoy the hours of the day and you were happy with the place you lived

[@lissettesbloom8223]

Thank you for sharing this great interview.

[@mallenjm252]

I can hear the similarity in her vocals. :)

[@tannawannavannabittannawan7138]

What a wonderful and fascinating interview!! Thank you so much❣️

[@marthadoody]

This was just wonderful! I've recently, after many years of being an "I Love Lucy" fan, become almost obsessed with watching the show again and hearing everything from all sources about Lucy and Desi. Cleo was absolutely lovely, too. So glad this interview happened. She seemed like a lovely person.

[@galanis38]

Fascinating interview, not only for the biographical info on Lucille Ball it provides, but also for the wider picture of the places and times it describes. And an absolutely lovely lady, Cleo Smith.

[@TheGuillermo519]

Lucy aside, this is an interesting interview.

[@paris777kidney]

Beautiful lady❤️

[@anyhowe2702]

Lucie Arnaz looks like her Aunt Cleo,

[@annettebarlette9471]

Remind me of Lucy while talking.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Strong resemblance! ❤

[@brigittebeltran6701]

I always thought it amazing that Desiree married a fellow across the ocean named Desario...Both French and Spanish for DESIRE! FACINATING INTERVIEW! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@hye7777]

DEStiny

[@ramongonzalez2112]

Wow. Similar mannerisms and humorous personality, like her cousin Lucille Ball.😊Lovely lady.

[@annetteturner5954]

I can't remember yesterday much less years back like this beautiful lady.

[@1975jstar]

Much resemblance to Lucy!! You can sure tell they are related..This is going to be great! ♥️

[@ginnylorenz5265]

What a lovely lady. Clearly beauty runs in the family. 82 y/o here by my reckoning. God bless her!!!!!

[@caroldurham1004]

She looks a lot like Lucy. She’s a beautiful person.

[@ReviewsChannel-e4r]

She looks like current day Lucie Arnaz.

[@uofa82]

I did a side-by-side picture comparison of the two and you are correct! KZbin won’t let me post it.

[@karenritter3888]

Aww grandma always had room for family to lay their head.🤗

[@MrCherbear1990]

She has Lucy’s nose! Omg...So cute!

[@njc2107]

They also had the same jaw, which can be seen in photos of the two when they were younger.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

I saw that too!!!

[@scotnick59]

Cleo! Without a sip of water - amazing lady.

[@veronicae8672]

Wow she resembles Lucy a lot 🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@judithlightrox]

Cleo and Lucy were basically sisters. So to see this interview is incredible. Cleo is amazing and down to earth. I always hear great things about her from those who got to meet her. Rest in paradise 💗

[@HenPapirman]

Interesting interview. I'm currently reading the book - "Love, Lucy." It's marked 1964, so it's closer to the events. Lucy tells that it was Fred's 12th birthday and that she was there, when the boy was shot as well as Freddy, Cleo and the girl Johanna. It was the Fourth of July weekend.. Again, Lucy tells in her own words that she was there. Lucy was 6 years older than Desi but on their wedding day they lied and wrote she was 26, and he was 25. Lucy and Desi have the most fascinating story, I keep reading, watching and learning new stuff.

[@trawlins396]

Lucy Jr looks so much like her Aunt Cleo.

[@anyhowe2702]

oh my God I just wrote that and in scrolling down I found your comment, now what is that? Angels, I am enjoying everything about Lucy, so this was a great coincidence, Thank you Lucy!!!!

[@maryrecoy1616]

I LOVE LUCYS STORY...DESI & LUCYS LOVE STORY IS EVERY GIRLS LOVE STORY..LUCY MADE IT EASY TO RELATE TO HER...THEY ARE ONE OF A KIND IN TV HISTORY❤💜💚💙💛

[@laurenl5843]

Thank you for sharing. This was great!

[@adelebz7]

She sounds so much like Lucy!

[@billmcpherson2126]

she talks a lot like lucy during her more serious interviews

[@agiftedlife-WOW]

Really enjoyed this interview with Cleo Smith, but what in the world is that snapping noise I hear through the entire conversation?

[@Gio_Vanni6143]

I'm guessing a crackling fire, but it says interview was conducted on May 28, 2001.

[@rebeccaanderson5191]

Crackling fire.

[@gailsirois7175]

Sounds like a crackling fireplace

[@annettebarlette9471]

Yes very beautiful lady.

[@julietteyork3721]

Description box typos - should be “cousin” not “causing”....”and” not “ant”...should be comma after Celoron, not a period.

[@jimbrown4652]

Fascinating 💙

[@elliemay7569]

Excellent

[@rosykatzCATS]

Too bad the sound had to focus on him & the Mike couldn't of been more for her!

[@cherylfielding8592]

Love this 💜❤️💜

[@janepatterson6779]

She favors Lucy, sounds like her too.

[@JohnMinehan-lx9ts]

Lucille Ball had another cousin, Susanne Ball, was Richard's Long's late young wife, who died very young from cancer after developing a bit of a film career.

[@mariacardenas4665]

I love her

[@lenwelch2195]

A great sense of self respect.

[@karabadasski2521]

Ann Sothern told Lucy to decorate her home in white and powder blue.

[@HenPapirman]

Where did you get this video?

[@Mike-fp5rc]

This woman is all over the map. She remembers the specific details of the shooting, but not the name of her street in Jamestown, NY where she lived, presumably a few YEARS after? Something is off here. I would like hear Lucie Arnaz' version.

[@laurieschmidtke7632]

Listen to the 10 Turner Classic Movies Podcasts. They are great.

[@MicheleHuffman-d8c]

Her voice sounds like Lucy!

[@Kindnessloveunderstanding]

She has Lucy’s nose! 😮

[@JustAThought155]

Gosh, this woman is talking softly and discussing extremely traumatic memories and this interviewer chimes in so loud and abrupt. Come on!!! Please, if you host a guest, please meet the guest where they are. At times he is very sensitive, but his abruptness sounds like he is in a courtroom rather than simply talking with a guest in that comfortable home setting. This man is too distracting for me.

[@Tmanaz480]

I interpreted that as him simply speaking up. She's in her 80s and perhaps a little hard of hearing. Combine that with the mic being on the camera and he sounds too loud from our point of view.

[@juliecaissie6530]

She looks alot like lucy wow!

[@junebennett978]

Nice.

[@mehmetokay7073]

Lucy made her teenage kids appear in Here's Lucy so she could keep an eye on them? Didn't Desi Anez Junior impregnate a girl when he was thirteen?

[@trawlins396]

He was 15

[@LJ-ht4zs]

@@trawlins396 Also like he father he was an addict - Desi Arnaz Jr was addicted to drugs and alcohol and got a girl pregnant - they were both 15. Also his mother was concerned about his choices of girls - which were many and seemed to be older and not good choices. (ie Patty Duke and Liza Minelli) Now it seems like he is a hermit (according to his sister) again like Desi Sr. who seemed to fade out of the limelight too. While Desi Arnaz Sr loved his children he was not a great role model for his son. (Also, if i were his daughter - would not appreciate his obsessive cheating and gambling and drinking.)

[@trawlins396]

@@LJ-ht4zs I'm sure she didn't "appreciate" it but as his daughter that's not her place to correct him. I already know Desi Jr had addiction problems.

[@SenorZorrozzz]

You seen out right away at the beginning of this there’s a big mistake. And when I hear interviews like this it makes me wonder how much of the other information is wrong!??? She said that Lucy was eight years older than her she says when she was in kindergarten Lucy was already in high school. That’s impossible Lucy would’ve had to been in the sixth grade or maybe the seventh but not in high school! You see what I hear things like this I I have to question some of the other memories. And that’s the way it is with books that I read an interview is that I see about famous people historical people, when the information is wrong you don’t know how much of it is wrong. Notice she had to be corrected and prodded here in there for different names and things.

[@chriscaffee4227]

In those days, 6th or 7th grade might have been in high school. In a lot of schools what we call middle school or junior high was in the high school building. That might have been the case. After all they were eight years apart in age.

[@gailsirois7175]

Why so BITTER about it ?? You have issues

[@joecozzi1365]

Who is Greg Peterson?

[@paulk9985]

Not sure. But Ed Peterson was Lucy's step-father, DeDe's second husband.

[@gailsirois7175]

Its ED, and listen to it again

[@paulpittsburgh]

IT'S "L U C I L L E " NOT LUCILE.

[@carolannea7861]

The interviewer was way too loud and then her voice was low. Had to stop watching. It was too annoying.

[@tannawannavannabittannawan7138]

Your loss lady.

[@carolmcclain6655]

Thanks for sharing cleo I had similar relationship with my friend who was also a leo and me being a Taurus we made each other laugh she was Lucy and I was Carol Burnett

[@JustAThought155]

I agree. 🙄! The man sounds like an interrogator rather than conversing with this woman in that warm home environment. I nearly turned it off during the first ten minutes.

[@anyhowe2702]

and whats wrong with that, hormones, virgin love, they should have made Lucy a grandmother, why not, they had all the money in the World.

[@deepachand9689]

I'm struck by the fact that lucy did so much for this cousin but nowhere in this interview does she wholeheartedly and lovingly praise lucy or her mother who brought up this orphan girl as their own In fact she seems absolutely enamored of desi arnaz and has fulsome praise only for him ,maybe she empathized with that good for nothing who only exploited lucille ball's celebrity to boost his career and was too foolish to retain that reflected fame for long and after his divorce ,sunk into oblivion and anonymity. Lucy spoke about this cousin so affectionately and plied her with all career opportunities but she doesn't have a loving word for either de de , Fred ball or lucy herself...seems as self centered as her children ,sad that lucy did not get the love and care from these people during her last years

[@williamf4544]

She was just a relative doing what relatives do - a right you cant take away from her even if you dont like it all that much

[@jhankri]

TROLL ALERT

[@jhankri]

TROLL ALERT

[@reneeterrell2539]

You sound bitter. And why. Did you try to date Cleo?

[@OLALALA1019]

I didn’t get that vibe at all. She’s just being matter of fact, like many would be talking about a family member who they’ve been questioned on their whole entire life. To her Lucy is just Lucy her cousin/big sister. So she answers the questions and tells her story. I think the point is that there is more behind Lucy than just what the public knew. Cleo has a story and lived quite a life in her own right too and here she is telling that story and Lucy’s. It’s about the whole family and that’s what she was asked about. It’s HER interview.

[@stumack9755]

Too long. Needs to be edited.

[@johnfd0210]

If it was shorter, someone would comment, "I wish there was more." No one is ever content.

[@tannawannavannabittannawan7138]

Maybe your attention span needs adjustment Stu. You should work on that.

[@kathyp760]

No it doesn't