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The Mertzes Biography
ETHEL MERTZ
Whole Name: Ethel Mae Potter Mertz
Date of Birth:Sometime between July 23rd and August 23rd 1910?
Marriage: Fred Mertz, 1934
Hair: Blonde
Eyes:blue
Biography: Ethel Mae Potter was born during the Leo part of the year in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mr and Mrs Potter. Ethel went to school at the Albuquerque Grammer School with Betty Foster, who Ethel would later live next door to in Connecticut. Ethel was voted the most popular girl in town in 19-something Ethel won't tell us. In 1934, Ethel married vaudevillian Fred Mertz and they had a successful vaudeville career until vaudeville wasn't popular anymore. She claims she was 19 when she married Fred, but in reality she was actually 24!!
FRED MERTZ
Whole Name: Fredrick Hobart Mertz
Date of Birth: unknown
Marriage:Ethel Potter, 1934
Hair:Very minimal, but its mostly gray
Eyes:Blue
Biography:: Fredrick Hobart Mertz lived in Steubenville,Ohio. He lived on a farm and learned how to raise chickens and he even had a horse. When he was older, he was a doughboy in World War One. He was at one time stationed in France, and he developed a case of seasickness during this time. The only way the general could get him across the ocean was to threaten him with a bayonet. He also went to a police benefit in 1919 where he acquired a pair of handcuffs from the civil war. Fred Mertz formed a vaudeville act with a gal by the name of Ethel Potter, and in 1927 they staged "The Flapper Follies of 1927" which they later would preform again 25 years later with the same showgirls!! At some time before vaudeville died, he also had an act with a man by Barney Kurtz, in which the act was called "Laugh Till it Hurts With Mertz and Kurtz." Ethel and Fred also gained some experience working in a diner when they were stranded in Indianapolis. It was around 1934 when Fred married his vaudeville partner--Ethel Potter.
LIFE AS A MARRIED COUPLE:
Fred and Ethel bought a reconverted brownstone apartment in New York, NY. They began a career as landlord and landlady. Life was just ho-hum until August 6, 1948 when a young married couple moved into apartment 4A--Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Ethel quickly became friends with Lucy, and also got involved in Lucy's schemes. Fred also became friends with Ricky, even though Fred is at least twice as old as Ricky is. The Mertzes and Ricardos have a very strong friendship with each other, occassionaly having a disagreement, but always making up in the end. In 1953, the Mertzes become godparents to the Ricardos' son Ricky Ricardo Jr. In 1955, they took a trip to Hollywood with Lucy and Ricky, where they met many movie stars, and got into some pretty wild adventures. In 1956, they took another trip, this time to Europe, and again with their best friends. In 1957, the Mertzes were heartbroken when their favorite tenants, move out of the apartment building to live in a country home in Connecticut. So what do they do about it? They do what any normal person would do in these circumstances, they pack up, turn the place over to Ethel's aunt, and move into their guesthouse. Fred even gets a job raising Lucy and Ricky's chickens and collecting and selling the eggs that the chickens laid.
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