Ricky Ricardo, Jr.

He's the young son of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, born into a household of scheming and slapstick, mostly present as the reason his parents fret, dote, and occasionally rope him into their latest domestic caper. As a small boy he watches the chaos of showbiz apartment life unfold around him with wide-eyed calm.

Little Ricky works precisely because the show doesn't strain to make him precocious or cute on cue; he's a genuine anchor, the stakes that ground Lucy's wilder impulses. Richard Keith plays him with an unforced, easy naturalness that lets the adults' antics stay the point, while he quietly humanizes the Ricardos as parents.