Entertainer Lucie Arnaz helps 'I Love Lucy' fan realize his Hollywood dream

HOLLYWOOD (KABC) -- If you ask me what my favorite TV show is of all-time, I'll quickly say, "I Love Lucy," starring the late, great Lucille Ball.And right now, I love Lucie... Arnaz, her daughter.

On "I Love Lucy," we know Lucy always wanted to be in show biz. Now, in real life, Lucie Arnaz is helping someone else who has the same dream.

"I do it for Raj because he's a good guy and he deserves it," said Arnaz.

Raj is actor Raji Ahsan. He's the writer and the star of a short film called "Dr. Sam," but he's short on cash to get his project completed. It's a project his friend and mentor, Lucie Arnaz, agreed to star in with him.

"I trust him! And he wrote a very cute film. When I read it and I thought, 'This is so good. This is so great.' And he asked me if I'd play the mom and I was, first of all, humbled and thrilled. And it was absolutely fabulous," said Arnaz. "I loved doing it. I hadn't made a film in a while so it was kind of fun to get back in front of the camera and make-believe."

But make-believe costs money. So "I Love Lucy" fan Raj came up with a plan. Arnaz and her husband, Larry Luckinbill, won an Emmy for their 1993 documentary, "Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie." He asked if they'd show it on the Paramount lot as a fundraiser and then do a Q&A for fans.

"I actually always turn down stuff that's me talking about, just talking about my life, my folks, I say no, thank you, no. Done that. Been there. Thank you. Bye bye. No no no no no. I say no all the time," said Arnaz. "But this was Raj. So I said yes."

"And what we need now to really finish is $30,000. We get 10, we're going to festivals. Thirty? We can pay all the artists what they're worth!" said Ahsan.

Lucie is happy to do this. After all, she's spent her life in show business...currently enjoying what she calls her "third act" as a cabaret singer... and bringing her current show to the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood June 27th and 28th.

"It's about the finding and the falling and the fantasies and the foul-ups, all the 'f' words--of love!" said Arnaz

As a loving friend to Raj, she knows where he's been in life and where he'd like to go. His own mother came here from Egypt in 1990 after being kicked out of the family for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

"And she ended up in a shelter in Long Beach and then a woman from a local church took us in. And my mother cleaned houses. My mother took any job she could to keep a roof over our head," said Ahsan.

And to bring his journey full circle. "We're giving 10-percent of the proceeds to the very shelter that my mother lived in."

"Lucie on the Lot: The 'Dr. Sam' Fundraiser Thursday June 5hth on the Paramount studios Lot in Hollywood.