WATCH: A 1977 interview with Lucille Ball that is even more poignant post-”Being the Ricardos”

Now that everyone has calmed down and realizes that Nicole Kidman is mostly Lucille Ball and just a little bit of Lucy Ricardo in the film Being the Ricardos, they can focus on the fascinating real-life story of TV’s famous couple.

This 1977 interview with Barbara Walters shows a Lucy, then 66, far more like the character Kidman portrays in the film than the zany redhead on the sitcom. You see the toll Desi Arnaz’s drinking and womanizing had on Miss Ball and how it destroyed a great love. She is very candid here about how Desi had to lose, had to destroy all that he built up.

Her marriage to Gary Morton lasted for nearly 30 years and seemed comfortable and happy albeit far less interesting than the union with Desi.

Check out the interview and share your thoughts!