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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 267277" data-attributes="member: 5079">Lucy had expected Ethel to be played by an older and/or frumpier character actress.  Aside from Bea and Mary, Barbara Pepper was also considered.  Vivian was only slightly older than Lucy and, in the earliest episodes, actually slimmer; Lucy had not yet lost the weight from her pregnancy.    Great effort was made to make Lucy look 10 years younger, and Vivian 10 years older.  Vivian being made to appear so dumpy had the effect of depressing her and she gained weight, thereby making her appear dumpy for real.Even though they were very funny in their own way, ILL would have been very different if Fred & Ethel had been played by Gale Gordon and Bea, as was Lucy's first choice.</blockquote>