Where Have You Gone, Lucy, Duke, Rod, and General MacArthur?

2025-01-16

Lucille Ball, John Wayne, Rod Serling, and General Douglas MacArthur take center stage as our look at 1951 continues. On March 31, 1951, five days after Mickey Mantle’s big day at Bovard Field, the last broadcast of “My Favorite Husband” starring 39-year-old Lucille Ball, aired on the CBS radio network. Lucy’s transition from radio to television and “I Love Lucy” marked a fundamental change in American life. It also changed the lives of William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

Lucille Ball, John Wayne, Rod Serling, and General Douglas MacArthur take center stage as our look at 1951 continues.

On March 31, 1951, five days after Mickey Mantle’s big day at Bovard Field, the last broadcast of “My Favorite Husband” starring 39-year-old Lucille Ball, aired on the CBS radio network. Lucy’s transition from radio to television and “I Love Lucy” marked a fundamental change in American life. It also changed the lives of William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

On April 11, 1951, five days before the traditional Major League Baseball opening day in Cincinnati to kick off the 75th anniversary season of the National League, President Harry Truman went on radio and television to announce his dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur from command in Asia.

Also featured are stories of William Riley Burnett, Orson Welles, Norman Corwin, Leonard Bernstein, Sgt. Issac Woodard Jr., Lewisohn Stadium, Woody Guthrie, and MacArthur Park.

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