Happy Birthday, Little Ricky Ricardo! Keith Thibodeaux was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on December 1, 1950 and his family would move to the Avoyelles Parish community of Bunkie, Louisiana when Thibodeaux was two years old. Even though he did not come from a musical family, his earliest memories are of listening to music and keeping time by beating on pots and pans with sticks, knives, and forks. Afterwards, he graduated to banging on metal trash cans in the familys back yard. By age three, Thibodeaux was playing drums professionally when he began performing at local Lions Club meetings and high schools in the area. His uncle made arrangements for the young drummer to make an appearance on the Horace Heidt Traveling Variety Show when it came to Lafayette in 1954 for a talent contest. Thibodeaux won the contest and Heidt hired him as a regular on his Saturday night show two weeks later. Lionel Thibodeaux quit his job at United Gas Company and accompanied his son as they toured the U.S. and Canada. But it wasnt until two years later that the father and son would walk into Desilu Studios in California and change television history. That was the day Keith Thibodeaux auditioned for the part of Little Ricky. When Thibodeaux walked into the studio in 1956, he was unaware that over two hundred youngsters had already auditioned for the part of Little Ricky, the new TV son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. After being introduced to Lucille Ball, the redhead asked Lionel Thibodeaux if his son had studied acting. When she was told that he had not, Lucy impatiently sked, Well, what does he do? Hes a drummer, the elder Thibodeaux replied. Not only did the youngster have the musical talent to portray a bandleaders son on television; he also resembled his soon-to-be TV dad. Apparently, that was enough for Desi and Lucy, and the drummer from Bunkie, Louisiana was signed on as Little Ricky. Desi, however, did not think that most people would be able to pronounce Thibodeaux, and suggested that the youngster change his stage name to Richard Keith. The role of Little Ricky made Thibodeaux the most well-known child actor on television over the next four years. In fact, most of the general public believed that Thibodeaux was Lucy and Desis own son. I Love Lucy ended in 1960 when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorced. Thibodeaux continued his acting career by appearing on a number of television episodes, including The Shirley Temple Playhouse, The Farmers Daughter, The Joey Bishop Show, Route 66, and many others. Thibodeaux auditioned for The Andy Griffith Show and won the role of Johnny Paul Jason, Opies best friend. Thibodeauxs appearances on TAGS ended in 1966 when his parents divorced and the young drummer/actor moved back to Louisiana from California with his mother and siblings. He graduated from Lafayette high school in 1968 and attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana for a while. He also helped support his mother by playing drums in a variety of bands. By December of 1969, Thibodeaux had become a member of David and the Giants - a popular rock band that played mostly around the south. In 1976, he met and married a ballet dancer named Kathy Denton in Jackson, MS. The couple moved to Southern California in 1977 where he was asked to join the pop band Starbuck famous for the late 70s hit Moonlight Feels Right. After 2 weeks of rehearsals in Atlanta, Thibodeaux returned to Mississippi in 1978, where he, his wife and daughter Tara eventually settled in Jackson, Mississippi. Thibodeaux played with jazz bands locally for a brief time before joining a newly revamped Christian David and the Giants. His wife Kathy, Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet Magnificat! was a former principal dancer of Ballet Mississippi who won a Silver Medal in the Senior Division of the 1982 II USA International Ballet Competition.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 12:14:07 +0000
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