Lucie Arnaz recalls Christmas with Lucy, Desi
Lucille Ball's classic antics are colorized in an "I Love Lucy" holiday special airing on CBS. But daughter Lucie Arnaz's vivid family Christmas memories don't require any embellishment to shine.
Arnaz says her parents, Ball and Desi Arnaz, made the most of the holiday at their Beverly Hills home in the 1950s. Arnaz and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., reveled in it.
Her Cuban-born dad added a memorable touch one particular Christmas Eve. Young Lucie awoke to the sound of clattering on the roof, followed by a man in a red suit bringing gifts into her room.
As Arnaz recalls: "He bent over and kissed me and said" -- here she adapts a Cuban accent -- "'Merry Christmas!' I thought, 'Santa sounds just like daddy."'
She fondly recalls watching her parents on the set of "I Love Lucy," and hopes the "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (8 p.m. Friday, CBS) will introduce the sitcom to a new generation of viewers.
The hour-long program includes colorized versions of a Christmas special and one in which Lucy memorably stomps grapes for wine in Italy. A newly released DVD includes those and a third episode, "Lucy Goes to Scotland."
Tyler Perry says Fincher is 'amazing' director
Tyler Perry writes, directs, stars in and produces his own movies and TV shows, so he doesn't have much time for outside projects. One he's glad he made work is a role in director David Fincher's upcoming film, "Gone Girl."
Based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn, "Gone Girl" is the story of a man who comes under suspicion in the disappearance of his wife. The movie, scheduled for release next October, stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.
"Gone Girl" is "the most educational, awe-inspiring thing that I've ever done," Perry said in a recent interview.
"Sitting in his presence, in his genius, the man is a genius," he said of Fincher. "It really makes me go, 'Whoa, let me just stop and take this in,' so it's been wonderful."
And, as one filmmaker to another, he's humbled by working with the Oscar-nominated director.
"I'm a storyteller. That man is a di-re-ctor. He is amazing. And to watch him work and to watch how he paints his pictures, the tableaus, everything is really just beyond anything I could ever imagine."
Lane, Dennehy find new home for 'Iceman Cometh'
Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy will star in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" in Brooklyn in 2015.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music said Tuesday the pair of stars, who had been in an acclaimed Goodman Theatre version of the play in 2012 in Chicago, will present the five-hour work for a six-week run in the BAM Harvey Theater from Feb. 5 through March 15.
The director is Robert Falls, artistic director of the Goodman, and the show is produced by BAM and Scott Rudin. Lane was last on Broadway in "The Nance" and Dennehy was in "Desire Under the Elms."