William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to San Francisco in 1910. Four years later he formed a light comedy act with his new wife Edna Louise Broedt, "Frawley and Louise", touring the Orpheum and Keith circuits until they divorced in 1927. He next moved to Broadway and then, in 1932, to Hollywood with Paramount. By 1951, when he contacted Lucille Ball about a part in her TV show I Love Lucy, he had performed in over 100 films. His Fred Mertz role lasted until the show ended in 1960, after which he did a five-year stint on My Three Sons. Poor health forced his retirement. He collapsed of a heart attack on March 3, 1966, aged 79, walking along Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a movie. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
Interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California, USA. Never felt comfortable with the out-of-sequence filming method used on My Three Sons after doing I Love Lucy in sequence for years. Both he and Vivian Vance had nothing but contempt for each other during the run of I Love Lucy, which is probably what filtered into their TV characters and made them work so beautifully. The two were given the opportunity to move into their own "Fred and Ethel" spin-off once "Lucy" had run its course in 1959. Despite his animosity towards her, Frawley saw a lucrative opportunity and was quite game, but Vance nixed the idea, having no interest in ever working with Frawley again. Vance got her own series, Guestward Ho!, which failed. Frawley hit it big as Bub on My Three Sons. Possessed of a fine singing voice in his younger days, it was supposedly Frawley, not Al Jolson, who introduced the song "My Mammy" to vaudeville audiences. By almost all accounts, Frawley's off-screen personality was not all that much different from his on-screen one. A notorious misanthrope, with one brief failed marriage behind him and a fondness for the bottle, he lived in the same spare bachelor apartment for most of his years in Hollywood. When hiring Frawley for the role of Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, Desi Arnaz made it clear to him that, if he showed up drunk for work more than once, he would not only be fired from the program but blacklisted throughout the entertainment industry. Frawley, whom no one would hire at that point because of a combination of his general disposition and fondness for the bottle, readily agreed. He never showed up drunk on the set at all, and, in fact, Arnaz became one of his very few close friends. When Frawley died, Arnaz took out a full-page ad in the trade papers, consisting of Frawley's picture, edged in black, and three words: "Buenos noches, amigo!" Despite the fact that they played husband and wife on I Love Lucy, Frawley and Vivian Vance disliked each other intensely. Part of it was the real life age difference between the two (Frawley was 22 years Vance's senior), but essentially it was a clash of two driving, strong personalities. Vance and her second husband were dining out when they heard Frawley had died. Upon receiving the news, Vance reportedly shouted, "Champagne for everybody!" Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 168-169. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Fired from 'She's My Baby' (1928) for punching Clifton Webb in the nose. Is portrayed by John Wheeler in Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter