Keith Thibodeaux, the last living star from the hit 1951 sitcom I Love Lucy, recently opened up about his time working on the show with Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz. The actor was full of praise for his reel-life parents.
Keith Thibodeaux says Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz treated him like ‘their own child’
In the very first episode of the brand new CW special TV We Love, Keith Thibodeaux spoke about his time on I Love Lucy. Thibodeaux — who was credited as Richard Keith — portrayed the character of Ricky Ricardo Jr. a.k.a. Little Ricky, the son of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, respectively. He still remembers minor details from his time on the show, even though he was only 4 years old when he joined the cast.
When Arnaz and Ball, who were also married in real life, had a child together at the same time, the couple, Thibodeaux shared, took him “as their own child and introduced me to their children, Lucie Jr. and Desi Jr., who I became really good friends with as a kid. We grew up together.”
At one point, when I Love Lucy was at the peak of its popularity, Thibodeaux mentioned that he felt the pressure from Ball. “Lucy was very demanding of everybody being right on cue. Desi treated me really, really good. He’d teach us how to fish and ride horses and swim. I had a heart for him.”
Later, in Episode 9 of the final season titled, “The Ricardos Visit Cuba,” Thibodeaux had to play the conga drums at one point. Reflecting back on that memory he said, “It’s a lot of pressure for a little kid. I did other shows after that, but this was the big one, in front of a live audience. You did one take, and that was it. It hurt my hand so much to do, because I wasn’t used to doing that, playing the congas.”
