
Lucille Ball
sitcom star + producer
America's favorite comedian had a long road to the top. She left home at 15 to break into showbiz, but lost her first job {as a dancer} because she couldn't dance. Her looks landed her modeling work, though rheumatic fever at 17 nearly ended her fledgling career. At 20, she got a bit part in Roman Scandals, and went on to star in many B movies ~ often as a cold-hearted gold-digger! But, as 1946 newspaper story on her wartime charity work reported, "Lucille Ball Hardboiled? Why, She's a Big Softie!"
Her early roles come as a surprise to those who grew up on her clowning + mugging. Her success as a production exec is also at odds with the slapstick haplessness that so defined the iconic Lucille Ball ~ and still makes us laugh.
"I Love Lucy" {1951-1957} | more popular than Eisenhower's inauguration, "I Love Lucy" almost didn't make it to television. No surprise it was a raging success when it did ~ unlike the stormy marriage it was intended to save. Desi reserved all rights to show, and resold them to CBS for $5 million.
first television pregnancy | censors required the show to use the term "expectant" not "pregnant" and scripts were monitored by 3 clergymen for decency. Nearly every television set in the nation was tuned in to Lucy Ricardo and the birth of Little Ricky {which aired the same day Desi, Jr. was born in real life}
pioneering sitcom television techniques | 3 cameras, live studio audience + reruns
movies | more than 75 films over the course of 45 years, numerous shorts and tv movies
big-name costars | appearing on the big screen with Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor ~ even the Three Stooges!
her red hair | she started life as a brunette + hit the screen as a blonde. The red came from a bottle ~ Desi quipped to reporters in the wake of Lucille's being called out as a Communist during the Cold War, "The only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and that's not legitimate."
1940 | met Desi Arnaz on set of "Too Many Girls," and married him shortly after.
1951 | I Love Lucy aired on October 15th, changing television {and Lucille's career} forever.
1962 | bought Desi out to become the first female head of a Hollywood Studio {went on to produce "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible"}
from | to
model + anonymous blonde B-movie actress | the Queen of Comedy
born on
august 6, 1911
born in
Celeron, New York
birth name
Lucille Désirée Ball
nickname | stage name
Queen of the Bs + Queen of Comedy | Diane Belmont
citizen of
United States of America
daughter of
Désirée "DeDe" Hunt + Henry Ball {a lineman}
~ father died when she was 4 ~
sister of
1 brother | Fred
grew up in
upstate New York
educated at | studied with
John Murray Anderson School | Bette Davis
divorced from | married to
Desi Arnaz
~ comedic co-star | married 1940, first filed for divorce in 1944 and finally split in 1960 ~
Gary Morton
~ married 1961-1989 ~
mother of
Lucie Arnaz {born 3 months before "I Love Lucy" began}
Desi Arnaz, Jr. {born at the same time as the fictional "Little Ricky," one of the most-watched television episodes}
influenced by | worked alongside | mentored
Norman Vincent Peale {Power of Positive Thinking} | Vivian Vance {Ethel}, Bob Hope | Carol Burnett
accolades
4 Emmys {13 nominations}
Women in Film Crystal Award
Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors
Governors Award from Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
died on
april 26, 1989
~ aortic aneurysm ~
image credits
Macfadden Publications | Wikimedia Commons | public domain
collapse bio bits"I think any time you give the American people the truth they’re with you."
LA Times | september 1953
"I get my spontaneous performances out of knowing exactly what I'm supposed to do."
Lucille Ball interviews Doris Day | 1964
"I don't care if the show ever goes on, but I love rehearsals."
Lucille Ball interviews Doris Day | 1964
"I don't think funny. I can do funny things that other people write down in detail, tell me how to do them."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"I always felt that they, the public, needed a show that had a beginning, a middle, and a happy ending. Something they could depend on."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"My success was never labeled success by anyone close to me."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"I didn't have time to think of being a success personally."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"I used [the show] when I was unhappy. It was always happy in our story. It was always happy pretending. I had to pretend, but it helped."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"We had many houses before, but we didn't have a home."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977
"I tried very hard to say something but all I could do was cry with joy."
Lucille Ball and Daughter Interviewed | may 1979
"I sure as hell didn't know what I was doing when I started."
Ask Her Anything About Desi Sr., Divorce, Drugs, Gay Rights | february 1980
"They can use my name for equal rights, but I don't get out there and raise hell because I've been so liberated I have nothing to squawk about."
Ask Her Anything About Desi Sr., Divorce, Drugs, Gay Rights | february 1980
"My idea of getting high was a Coca-Cola and an aspirin."
Ask Her Anything About Desi Sr., Divorce, Drugs, Gay Rights | february 1980
for further reading about Lucille Ball:
curated with care by Meghan Miller Brawley {august 2014}
short film | Hollywood Without Makeup | 1963
Home movies of Lucille Ball at various early points in her career. Taken from a short film, Hollywood Without Makeup, it includes scenes from the set of Fancy Pants, a 1950 film with Bob Hope. Lucille loved home movies. She told Barbara Walters she had 85,000 feet of them!
Hosted/produced by Ken Murray | Filmaster Inc | uploaded by Video Cellar
television show | I Love Lucy | 1951-1957
Who doesn't love Lucy? CBS didn't at first ~ they almost didn't pick it up. {Who'd believe a white woman had a Cuban husband? Never mind that Lucy and Desi really were married.} The 2 took their concept, a television version of Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband," on the road in a vaudeville show to test its appeal. It did the trick, and "I Love Lucy" first aired in October 1951. No surprise the wildly popular show has been on television ever since {it did pioneer the rerun, after all!}.
CBS
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz | Los Angeles Times | sept. 13, 1953
Lucille registered as Communist to please her socialist grandfather. At the height of McCarthyism, she was called to testify before Congress and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, declaiming any interest in or knowledge of politics. Her popularity ~ and possibly pressure from "I Love Lucy" sponsor Philip Morris ~ led HUAC to issue a rare public statement clearing her name from the infamous Hollywood blacklist.
Los Angeles Times photographic archive | UCLA Library | CC-A-NC-SA 3.0 | http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucille_Ball_and_Desi_Arnaz.jpg
television show | What's My Line | october 2, 1955
Lucille made a guest appearance on the popular game show, "What's My Line." Lucy + Desi confound the panel, who weren't expecting 2 mystery guests. The spot gave Lucy a great chance to show off her famous funny faces ~ don't miss her answer to the question, "Are you of the voluptuous, blonde type?" about 4 minutes in!
CBS | Internet Archive
production company | Desilu
Lucy and Desi were partners in production as well as marriage. 2 years after their explosive marriage ended in divorce, Lucy paid Desi $2.5 million for his share of Desilu, making her the first female production company head. Her notorious perfectionism ~ at odds with her public persona ~ served her well in this role. Lucille appeared on CBS for 23 consecutive years, in 5 different shows produced by Desilu. She's also brought well-loved programs like "The Untouchables," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and even "Star Trek" to tv. Desilu was on the rocks, but by 1967, she sold it to Paramount for $17 million.
MikeRS | public domain