Fred Mertz? Almost…

This is James Gleason who you may remember best for his roll in the classic, ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan’. He also co wrote ‘The Broadway Melody’, the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Gleason worked with Lucille Ball on ‘Miss Grant Takes Richmond’ in 1948 and when it came time to cast ‘I Love Lucy’, she suggested Gleason and Gale Gordon for the roll of Fred Mertz. Both had commitments at the time and were not available for the first few shows and that’s when William Frawley won the roll of Fredrick Hobart Mertz.

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