In show business, it is considered an honor to be compared to Lucy. Every comedic actress wants to be the next Lucille Ball. After all, she did set the standard for comedy. But as you'll see, comparisons to Lucy are drawn quite often...maybe a little too often. Although several actresses have entertained us with their gifted comedic talent over the years, one has yet to come even close to overtaking the crown that the Queen of Comedy has worn for over half a century. The following quotes have been gathered from various reviews of films or television.
Kirstie Alley -- Various Programs
"Fans praise Alley's knack for comedy, often comparing her to famed comic Lucille Ball. Alley, like Ball, has a particular talent for animated facial contortion and exaggerated expressions of surprise. 'I'm just trying to tell a story somehow and ... elicit some sort of ... emotion,' she told an NBC interviewer. 'On an everyday basis, it's sort of more fun to do comedy. ... If people are going to dramatize something ... in life, it's usually something fun.'"
Amanda Bynes -- Various Programs
"[F]or the generation that connects the dots of personal growth from Baby Bop to Justin Timberlake via Pokémon, Ms. Bynes is like Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and Gilda Radner rolled into one 16-year-old package," raved David Hockman of the New York Times.
Cameron Diaz -- There's Something About Mary
In an article published in the Examiner, Ron Dicker wrote: "Cameron Diaz drew comparisons to Lucille Ball and Carole Lombard, beautiful women who could make you laugh."
Fran Drescher -- The Beautician and the Beast
Because she has often been referred to as the "Lucille Ball of the '90s" since gaining popularity with her sitcom, The Nanny, it wasn't surprising that Drescher was again compared to Lucy by a movie critic: "Evita meets Lucille Ball when TV's Nanny enters Eastern Europe whining to conquer fictional 'Slovetzia' royalty."
Jennifer Garner -- 13 Going on 30
Wrote Cynthia Fuchs of a particular comical scene: "Garner's elaborate gasping and cringing when [a character] begins to disrobe recall Lucille Ball's charismatic comedy."
Teri Hatcher -- Desperate Housewives
Some would say that Lucy Ricardo was tv's original "Desperate Housewife." Now, one of the stars of this present-day nighttime soap opera is drawing comparisons to the famous redhead. Charlie McCollum of Mercury News wrote that Hatcher "has displayed an unexpected Lucille Ball-like gift for physical comedy."
Nicole Kidman -- Practical Magic
“Kidman does a great vamp, slithering around in tight clothes and a fiery red coif that would make Lucille Ball envious. She's trouble all right, and Kidman plays the bad girl with aplomb,” wrote John Larsen of Light Views.
Bette Midler -- Bette:
Said Rob Owen, TV Editor of the Post-Gazette, "In Bette, Midler shows, no matter what her ego, she's most interested in getting laughs. Self-deprecating jokes about having her own TV series prove she's willing to make viewers chuckle at her own expense. But it's the physical comedy she performs, especially in a scene with a torture chamber-like piece of exercise equipment, that brings to mind Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy."
Brittany Murphy -- Uptown Girls
Roger Ebert wrote, "The theory is that Brittany Murphy is trying to channel Marilyn Monroe, but as I watched Uptown Girls, another name came to mind: Lucille Ball. Murphy has a kind of divine ineptitude that moves beyond Marilyn's helplessness into Lucy's dizzy lovability."
Julia Roberts -- Various Programs
"Julia is a cross between Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Bambi," said Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall in a People magazine interview.
Jessica Simpson -- The Newlyweds
Jessica Simpson defends her rep as a “dumb blonde" to MTV.com: “But then you know, for some reason, the ditzy blonde thing is endearing to people, like you love to watch Cameron Diaz in Charlie's Angels, or Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, or Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, because they're a total mess, and they're goofy, and you love them at the same time. Hopefully I've become one of those characters." (Ah, Jessica? FYI: Lucy wasn’t a blonde when she was on I Love Lucy. But as a fellow blonde named Jessica, I still love ya anyway. We sisters have to stick together.)
Is he the next Desi????
Now here's something to think about: Howard Stern once called Tom Arnold "the Ricky Ricardo of the 90s." Yikes!
