Paula Stewart- Much More Than Lucille Ball’s Best Friend

Entertainment, History — By Buddy Sampson on October 30, 2026 at 4:05 pm

By Buddy Sampson

The sophisticated, urbane actress, on a hot day in Southern California, answers her door. Her dog Cookie, immediately greets me with warmth, jumping on my lap. Her apartment is nothing short of fabulous and appears as if you’ve stepped in a palatial environment, a glorious space that could appear in the best of style and interior decorating publications. “Well, I was an interior designer,” said actress and legend Paula Stewart, when asked about her impeccable sense of design. “I designed a lot of things for Lucy. (Lucille Ball). You know, I designed her apartment, which was in Architectural Digest. And I was a designer, and I also was an auctioneer.” Paula Stewart, who was one of Lucille Ball’s best friends, has a unique story of her own. And Paula Stewart, 97, is simply fascinating. Paula Stewart’s friendship with Lucille Ball may be the doorway into her story, but it is far from the whole house.

Originally from Chicago and christened Dorothy Paula Zürndorfer, Broadway actress/soprano Paula Stewart has been a consummate actress and performer. You’ve seen her in many of TV’s iconic TV series’ such as “My Favorite Martian,” “The Joey Bishop Show,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Perry Mason,” “Route 66,” and “The Big Valley,” among many others.  Her father was Dr. Walter Zürndorfer and her mother, Esther Morris, was in the Ziegfield Follies and on Broadway in “Lady Be Good,” starring Fred Astaire. She starred in the George White review “Nice to See You” in 1953 at the Versailles Club. During this run, Paula married composer Burt Bacharach. He was also her accompanist and scored arrangements for her night club act. They divorced in 1958.

“In fact, if I’m really sorry about anything, it’s about my marriages, because they didn’t last very long, and they were not very happy,” said Paula, reflecting on her marriages to two notorious womanizers. However, she had an affinity towards Burt Bacharach because he was just so talented. “We fell in love because he was my accompanist. When you’re playing together and working together, things evolve from a close relationship into a loving relationship,” she said, reflecting on her marriage to Burt. “So, we got married. We weren’t married for a long time.”

Paula has performed in over 35 musicals and plays on Broadway and summer stock around the country. Among her well-known theatrical co-stars are Donald O’ Connor in “Little Me,” “Gordon McRae and Howard Keel in “Carousel,” and Jack Carter in “Operation Mad Ball.” She appeared with Carter in nightclubs and USO tours, as well. The couple married in Miami Beach Florida in 1961. They had a son, Michael David Carter, who is a real estate agent, before divorcing in 1970.

Paula Stewart has a book that’s due for a second printing soon. The book, entitled “Lucy Loves Me,” is a page-turner and a must read. The honest, brutally truthful writing, paints a picture of not only her relationship with Lucy, but takes a look at some of her relationships and friendships with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But what motivated her to write the book?

“Just my relationship with Lucy,” said Paula. “And people ask me so many questions about my life, and I have done so many different things. I figured, well, I might as well put them down on paper, you know, before I leave this planet.” Paula Stewart starred in numerous Broadway shows with Ed Asner, Jerry Orbach, Steve Lawrence and Donald O’ Connor among others. She was highly recommended to play the younger sister of Lucille Ball in the play “Wildcat,” starring Lucille Ball.

But it almost didn’t happen. The producers thought she was too similar to Lucille Ball. Lucy wasn’t having any of it. “The producer and director asked, ‘Why? What’s with this Paula Stewart?’” said Paula Stewart, reflecting on her first encounters with Lucy. “She said, No, she’s too much like you, Lucy. Lucille Ball responded What? She’s supposed to be my sister.”

“Lucy had me audition for her,” she continued. “She sat in the back of the theater, and I had hardly opened my mouth before she said, ‘That’s it. I want her.’ That’s how she hired me.” That was the beginning of a long friendship with Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball loved her, because Paula refused to be a yes lady. She was brutally honest with Ball and ended up being a vocal coach for the superstar. “We became very—well, at the first rehearsal, everybody had to perform a little bit, and Lucy sounded like Groucho Marx,” laughed Paula.  “She couldn’t sing her way out of a box. Poor thing. I could see she was sweating and uncomfortable and embarrassed. So, when there was a break in the rehearsal, I went over to her and offered her my help with her singing, if she needed it. And she threw her arms around me and said, ‘Oh, yes. Absolutely.’”

So, the first thing to go was Lucy’s penchant for cigarettes. I said, “You can’t smoke anymore. I’ll give you voice lessons,” she said. “I happened to get her through the show, because she really was not a singer. But she ended up being able to perform all the songs in the end. And she just became attached to me. She liked to have me at her side. I think she was hungry for friendships at that point, because she no longer had her cast from ‘I Love Lucy.’ She was in New York, in a completely different environment, and she loved the fact that I was doing something to help her. I think that’s what it was. She was very grateful that I spent the time with her. And it wasn’t easy, believe me. I had to be a strong taskmaster with her because she liked to do things her way. I said, ‘No, that’s not the way you do it. You do it this way. You do vocal exercises, humming exercises and breathing exercises—and no smoking. Which was the hardest thing of all to give up. In those days, everybody smoked.”

She was also a dear friend of Sammy Davis Jr.’s and was going to work with him until she was advised not to by Lucille Ball, just because of the racial climate of those times. “In those days, it was an entirely different situation between Blacks and Whites and everything else,” she reflected. “Even though Sammy was a dear friend of Jack and me, and we worked together in Las Vegas, and we were very close. Jack had no problem with me working with Sammy. We were supposed to do a musical together. But Lucy said she didn’t think it was a good idea because of the climate and the world. The situation at that time was not conducive to Blacks and whites working together. I mean, it was considered a no-no just to marry somebody.” However, she adored Sammy Davis Jr. “He was a sweet darling—full of fun and a great comedian,” she said, reflecting on her friendship with the Black cultural icon. “He was very easy to be with. We were close. We worked together in Las Vegas, in the same clubs, and he and Jack were also very close.”

Film and TV work for her thrived during the 1960s. Making her big screen debut in “Diary of a Bachelor (1964), she made only two other films after that. Known for having a special zeal for living life to the fullest, Paula has been flying her own planes since she was 17. “My father was a doctor, and he was also a flying physician. He was in the Flying Physicians of America, and he had a plane. And he felt that all of his wives and his kids should know how to fly,” explaining her passion for flying. “But I was the only one. My brother wasn’t interested in being a pilot, but I loved the idea of flying. And I used to take up my boyfriends, usually.”

Well at least until she crashed a plane. She had one of her ex-boyfriends on a plane with her. Let’s just say it didn’t end too well. “Well, it wasn’t my fault,” she explained. “I had engine failure on the takeoff, and I just hit an overgrown field, and the plane flipped over. But at least I survived.” And the ex-boyfriend that was with her? “That was the end of that relationship,” she laughed. “He thought it was a good idea until we crashed.”

In addition to appearing in movies, she has produced and has been a realtor, investing in properties in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs and Malibu. Leasing clients have included Michael Douglas, Roger Moore, Rex Harrison and Woody Allen, to name a few. As an interior decorator, her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Good Housekeeping and the New York Post. Other sidelines and interests include gourmet cooking, auctioneer, linguistics and the breeding of Yorkies.

Paula has had a variety of successful careers. A movie she produced, “Dinah East” won raves in the L.A. Times. As a real estate tycoon, she invested in prime properties in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, and Malibu, which she leased to Michael Douglas, Roger Moore, The Bee Gees, Rex Harrison, Woody Allen to mention a few. Her decorating clients included many famous stars, such as Lucy, rock stars, the Pointer Sisters etc. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Good Housekeeping and The New York Post. She opened one of Hollywood’s most fabulous Auction Houses some years back and was also the auctioneer. Naturally the stars came. Shelly Winters, George Hamilton, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Rip Taylor were avid attendees. Besides having a pilot’s license, she is a gourmet cook, linguist, and Yorkie breeder.

Paula reflects on current times and she, as many of us, is concerned as to what the future may bring. “I’m more curious about what’s going to happen to this world, because we’re living in very dangerous times. I don’t know that this Earth—our civilization—is going to make it through the century,” she sadly reflected. “I hope that this civilization—that humans—survive for the next couple of centuries. That’s my hope.”

Paula Stewart’s book, “Lucy Loves Me,” is a spicy, turbulent reflection of her life with Lucille Ball and her own very colorful life. When the book hits the stands in its second printing, you must run, not walk to purchase it. It is simply a page-turner and a reflection of the 50s, 60s 70’s and more. Although the book is largely about her relationship with Lucille Ball, it reflects on her own life and reflection of a world that’s changing and constantly in flux.

Look for her book “Lucy Loves Me,” in its second printing, coming out soon.