Ethel Mertz

Ethel Mertz is a fictional character played by Vivian Vance in the 1950s American television sitcom "I Love Lucy", where she was one of the principal characters. Ethel was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her maiden name was Ethel Roberta Louise Mae Potter. She was married to Fred Mertz, whose character was played by William Frawley. Ethel was Lucy's landlady, and Ethel and Lucy were always scheming though Ethel generally provided the voice of reason as a counterpart to Lucy's more hairbrained ideas.

Background

Like her tenant Ricky, Ethel had a music/acting career in vaudeville along with her husband Fred, but they settled down and bought a brownstone apartment in the late 1940's. As a result, some of Ricky's shows included one or both of them in the production, making Lucy even more determined to get into the act.

Ethel and Lucy, despite being landlady and tenant, were the best of friends. The two would often gossip and support each other during difficult times. They went into several business ventures together, including being the proprietors of a dress shop and a restaurant.

Along with Lucy's husband Ricky and her own husband, Fred, Ethel travelled to many places in the United States and Europe, such as England, France, Italy and Germany.

The Ethel Mertz character is memorialized in the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in
Jamestown, New York.(See also [http://www.savelucydesicenter.org SaveLucyDesiCenter.org] .)