Theodore J. Mooney was a fictional character on the 1960s
CBS situation comedy The Lucy Show, he was portrayed by
Gale Gordon.
Mooney was the
president of the local
bank in Lucy Carmichael's (
Lucille Ball) hometown of Danfield. As such, he was also the
trustee of an apparently sizable
trust fund of which the
widowed Mrs. Carmichael was the
beneficiary, left to her by her late husband. Much of the series' humor in its early
episodes was based around Lucy's attempts to get Mooney to allow her to invade the principal of the trust, with Mooney steadfastly resisting Lucy's often hairbrained schemes. Gordon joined the show at the beginning of its second season in September 1963, and in a two-part episode that introduced the character, the tone of their frequently antagonistic relationship was immediately set, as Lucy accidentally locked herself and Mooney in the bank vault overnight. Gordon was to have joined the series at its premiere in 1962, but he was still contractually obligated to his role as Mr. Wilson on
Dennis the Menace. Consequently,
Charles Lane played the similar Mr. Barnsdahl character in
The Lucy Show’s first season.
Eventually, Lucy had spent so much of her time and efforts at the bank that it seemed logical to make her a paid bank employee, and she became such, serving as Mooney's secretary. In the series' later years, both Mooney and Lucy moved to
California, where Mooney became
vice president of a larger bank and Lucy again served as his secretary. The Mooney character's role expanded with the shift in locale to California, as
The Lucy Shows other costar, Vivian Vance, left the series at the same time. Mooney became a key figure in nearly every episode from this point on. The Mooney character is best remembered for his ill-temper and shouting outbursts at the incompetent "Mrs. Carmichael".