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Entertainment
FROM ‘LUCY’
TO THE LORD
Like many former child stars, Keith Thibodeaux, who
played Little Ricky Ricardo on TVs beloved / Love Lucy in die 19505, hit a rough spoc after
leaving the show-biz spotlight. Drugs and depression threatened to take over his life.
"I had to have a miracle, and that's what God gave me: a miracle," says
Thibodeaux, now 57.
Bom in Lafayette, La., the drum-playing prodigy went from tapping on trashcans
to playing on a national Big Band tour by age 4, billed as "the world’s tiniest drum
mer" after being discovered by The Homce Heidt S/yjw, a 1950 s forerunner of today’s
TV talent-search competitions. After the tour ended, he won the coveted role of Little
Ricky, the toddler child of characters portrayed by Lucille Ball and her real-life hus
band, Desi Amaz.
"Lucy was very demanding as far as what she expected from people, but she was also
a mother figure to me on the set," Thibodeaux recalls. "I didn't see myself as a celebrity .
Desi Ariiaz
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Thibodeaux was (Love Lucy’s “Little Ricky.” Johnny Piiul Jason, Opie Taylors best
friend, on The Andy Griffith Show. At age 15, his parents’ divorce sent him and his siblings
back home to Louisiana to live with their mother. During high school and a brief stint
in college, he worked as a drummer in a rock band. By age 24, experimentation with
marijuana had evolved into a full-blown drug problem, and Thibodeaux’s life was such a
mess that he even thought about suicide. A visit to a rural Louisiana church turned him
around—eventually.
“All my problems dklrit disappear overnight,” he says. "But my encounter with die
Lord gave me hope. 1 started to read the Bible and a whole new life opened up for me.'
His Christian conversion enabled Thibodeaux to win his battle with drugs. He met
and married ballet dancer Kathy Denton, and they settled in Jackson, Miss., where their
daughter, Tara, now 28, was bom. He spent a decade recording and touring extensively
1 was there to do a job."
Pushed into show business by his
Hollywood-fascinated father, the shy
Cajun found himself in a world of
fantasy and pressure on the set. "It was
a very unusual relationship," he says of
the dynamic between him and his on
screen parents. "I was a kid but I was
also an employee. Pleasing Lucy and
Desi was very important."
After his part in Liny ended in 1960,
Thibodeaux found work in numerous
other TV roles, including four years as
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with the Christian band David & Tire Giants. In 1991, he joined Ballet Magnificat!, a
Christian ballet company founded by his wife, eventually becoming executive director.
The ballet has two touring companies that perform 100 dates each year, a 400-student
performing arts school in Jackson and 50 employees.
"Our purpose is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the medium of dance,”
says Thibodeaux, who co-authored a memoir, Life After buy. and continues to make
Dry-related appearances at events around the country.
"Fans are thrilled to meet not only an actual cast member," says Ric Wyman, the
director of Tire Lucille Ball-Desi Amaz Center in Jamestown, N.Y.. “but someone who
knew the ‘first couple of comedy' personally.”
Thibodeaux’s wife continually meets "a whole new generation of buy lovers" in their trav
els with the ballet company. She recalls one restaurant stop where a woman started shaking
when site learned that Thibodeaux had played Little Ricky on her favorite sitcom.
“I’m tlTankft.il God gave him the opportunity to be on two of the greatest shows of all
time,” Kathy says. "He can use that as an open door to talk co people about the Lord."
"I never wanted to be a child star. That was in my favor. I just wanted to play music,”
Thibodeaux says. "The best thing that ever happened to me was becoming a believer in
Jesus. It I said any other thing was the reason I didn’t turn out (badly), I’d be lying.
"The gift of laughter is the legacy of Lucy and Desi. and I am grateful to have played
a small part in that." ★
St<ny by Audrey T. Hmgley of Mecharuaville. Va.
Visit americanprofile.com for more information.
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Keith
Thibodeaux
- and wife
their Chris
tfan ballet
company.
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