2 September 2008 12:04 PM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news
Legendary comedians Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz have returned to the spotlight following a resurgence of rumours the couple fathered an unknown child.
Madeline "Linda" Jane Dee was allegedly given up for adoption by Ball in 1947 amid fears a baby would impede her plans for stardom, according to her daughter Cassandria Lucianna Carlson, 38.
Now the New York Post has reported Private Detective Vito Colucci has urged the couple's two publicly known children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. to "put this (the case) to rest" by providing DNA samples to prove paternity.
He adds that he believes Carlson's account, based on facts "accumulated over the years".
Dee was born four years before the 1951 debut of hit U.S. TV show I Love Lucy and immediately given up for adoption to California nurse Ruth Smith.
Carlson claims she discovered her mother's paternity after phoning Smith from a funeral home to help locate Dee's birth records following her mother's death in 2003.
Records name Helen Elizabeth Barnes as Dee's mother. There is no listed father.
But according to the newspaper, several attempts made by Carlson to establish the truth have been shunned by her allegedly estranged family.
In a letter written by Lucie Arnaz to Carlson in 2004, she protests: "I must inform you we're almost certainly not related. In 1947, my parents were married and wanted nothing more than to have a baby together. They struggled for 10 years with infertility and miscarriage until I came along in 1951. My mother would never have given up a child of hers nor would my father have let her."
A spokesperson for Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucie Arnaz did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Similar News Items
Lucille Ball- Report: Michael Jackson Rests in Berry Gordy's Crypt (From PEOPLE.com. 10 July 2009, 4:30 AM, PDT)
- New on DVD: Pedro and Lucy (From AfterElton.com. 1 July 2009, 8:54 AM, PDT)
- 'Twilight Zone' Featured in Classic TV Stamp Set (From Get The Big Picture. 29 June 2009, 11:04 AM, PDT)
"I Love Lucy" (1951)
- DVD Playhouse--July 2009 (From The Hollywood Interview. 14 July 2009, 12:00 PM, PDT)
- Yoo-Hoo! Mrs. Goldberg's Hitting the Big Screen (From Cinematical. 9 July 2009, 4:03 PM, PDT)
- The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three for Two - DVD Review (From Monsters and Critics. 2 July 2009, 6:51 AM, PDT)
Desi Arnaz
- [DVD Review] TV Sets: Forever Funny (From JustPressPlay. 27 May 2009, 11:44 AM, PDT)
- I Love Lucy: Watch the Classic TV Show -- Finally in Full Color! (From TVSeriesFinale. 14 December 2008, 9:22 PM, PST)
- I Love Lucy: Talk to Gregg Oppenheimer on Shokus Radio Today! (From TVSeriesFinale. 28 November 2007, 7:51 AM, PST)
