Ethel Mae Mertz (née Potter) (alternately "Ethel Louise" and "Ethel Roberta"), played by
Vivian Vance, is one of the four main
fictional characters in the highly popular 1950s American television
sitcom I Love Lucy. Ethel is the middle-aged landlady of the main character,
Lucy Ricardo, played by
Lucille Ball. Ethel was most likely born about 1905 and was raised in
Albuquerque, New Mexico (episode #113). She is married to
Fred Mertz, played by
William Frawley, with whom she had a career in
vaudeville. The two female characters are close friends, habitually scheming together; Ethel is generally the voice of reason as a counterpart to Lucy's hare-brained ideas.