William Frawley shot to fame playing Fred Mertz in the ‘50s sitcom I Love Lucy. His onscreen banter with costar Vivian Vance was a favorite among viewers of the program. When it came to William’s personal life, he was married once to Edna Louise Broedt but the pair did not have any children together.
Did William Frawley have Kids?
William married Edna in 1914, and the duo began performing a vaudeville act together. Their marriage ended in 1927, just as he began to snag more film roles. The couple did not start a family together, however, many of the Iowa native’s most memorable roles involved him portraying a family man.
The Broadway star appeared on I Love Lucy from 1951 to 1957. At the time, he had already established quite the resume as a film star, appearing in movies like Night Work, Untamed, Roxie Hart and Pretty Baby. After his I Love Lucy fame, William signed on to the ABC comedy My Three Sons in 1960.
His casting as the grandfather and housekeeper, Bub, came as a shock to some of his costars. Stanley Livingston, who played Chip on the program, told Closer exclusively about what it was like to work with the film veteran.
“I have no idea what he was like when he was younger, but by the time I met him, I guess he was already in his early 70s. I knew him from being a kid and watching TV, especially I Love Lucy,” he said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be working with him. When I was hired on My Three Sons and then found out he was going to be the grandfather, I was blown away. I wasn’t sure how he would be; I just knew I liked him. In fact, he was my favorite character on I Love Lucy — I just liked his weird grumpiness, which I thought was funny. And what you saw on the show pretty much mirrored what he was like in real life. Minus the four-letter words.”
Stanley noticed that William’s character on the program was a lot different than who he was in his personal life. “The thing that I kept thinking about is that Bill wasn’t married. He didn’t have any kids or grandkids. All he really had at that time was My Three Sons, and when they took that away from him, he really had nothing to live for.”
William died on March 3, 1966, after suffering a heart attack. He remained friendly with his I Love Lucy costars, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball up until his death.
