Tim Matheson Looks Back at Lasting Lessons from Working with Lucille Ball on the 58th Anniversary of “Yours, Mine and Ours”
Tim Matheson Looks Back at Lasting Lessons from Working with Lucille Ball on the 58th Anniversary of “Yours, Mine and Ours”
Angela AndaloroTue, April 28, 2026 at 3:30 PM UTC
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'Yours, Mine and Ours" cast in 1968Credit: Screen Archives/Getty -
Tim Matheson appeared in Yours, Mine and Ours as the oldest Beardsley son, Mike
The 1968 film, which enjoyed box office success, celebrated its 58th anniversary this month
Matheson has openly applauded Lucille Ball and spoken at length about the impact of working with her in his early acting career
Tim Matheson is looking back at one of the most special moments in his career.
The actor, 78, took time on Friday, April 24 to honor the 58th anniversary of the premiere of Yours, Mine and Ours, his second film. The classic comedy starred Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as the parents of the sprawling blended family which included 18 children in total. Matheson played the oldest of the Beardsley children.
Sharing a photo of the cast on Instagram, he wrote, "Yours, Mine and Ours came out 58 years ago today. I was lucky to share the screen with the great Lucille Ball, and even luckier to learn from her."
"Lucy didn't just walk onto a set and be funny. She worked at it. Every beat, every look, every moment was thought through and earned," he continued. "Watching her taught me that comedy isn't effortless, it's craft. And if you're willing to put in the work, there's a rhythm to it you can feel. I'm grateful to have been a part of this one, and to have had a front row seat to one of the greats 🤩."
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On the Still Here Hollywood with Steve Kmetko podcast in May 2025, Matheson shared more about his experience working with Ball, calling her "the most powerful woman in Hollywood" at that time.
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“She was so involved in the casting of that part and so helpful to me in getting the part,” Matheson said. And while they were filming the movie, which also starred Fonda and the Virgin River star's late ex-wife Jennifer Leak, the actor remembered Ball would invite him into her trailer to talk about “the business” and “acting.”
Matheson added that to “just watch her, how precise she was and how perfect she was about the work she did and how seriously she took it” was just as inspirational.
Recalling another moment where Ball joked about an actor missing a line, Matheson explained the moment taught him that "Acting and making movies in Hollywood, it's a full-contact sport."
"And you gotta be ready to take the hit. And that's the biggest lesson I got from her because Lucy was tough. She was tough. She didn't care if it was a 6-year-old who blew his line or a 60-year-old.”
“She was the gold standard for me,” he said. She “didn't go out of her way to be extra nice” because they were at work, doing their jobs, he added. “But when you stepped offstage,” he remembered, Ball would ask how he was and be friendly and professional. “She was stellar,” he said of the star, who died in 1989 at age 77.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
