William Asher dies at 90; 'I Love Lucy,' 'Bewitched' director

As the director of more than 100 episodes of the enduringly classic 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy," William Asher considered the first episode he directed to be one of his most memorable: Lucy and Ethel working in a chocolate factory.

But for Asher, who died Monday at 90, his second "I Love Lucy" episode was even more memorable: He put his job on the line after discovering that Lucille Ball was giving cast members line readings and stage directions behind the scenes.

"So I went to her and said, 'Lucy, I know what you're doing. You're trying to direct this,'" Asher recalled in a 2000 interview with the Archive of American Television. "She told me, 'I'm just trying to help.' I said, 'No. It doesn't help. There can only be one director and you're paying me.... If you're going to do it, you do it.' She ran off the stage, crying."

After taking a break and realizing that he was "blowing an opportunity," Asher returned to the set where he encountered Desi Arnaz, who began screaming at him in Spanish.

"I said, 'Let me just tell you what happened,'" Asher recalled. "I told him, and he said, 'You're absolutely right; she shouldn't be doing that. But she's in there crying, and you go in there and make her feel better.'

"So I went in the dressing room and she was saying, 'I'm sorry.' The first thing you know I was crying, we were hugging each other. And after that I never had a problem with her. I had contributions from her, suggestions from her, mostly good, and it was a delight."


http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-william-asher-20120718,0,5228058.story

RIP Mr. Asher