Lucille Ball

timeline

born 1911

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.

bio bits

known for

"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."

three big moments

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"}

fast facts

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

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today

explore

her quotes

all quotes by Lucille Ball (19)

"I think any time you give the American people the truth they’re with you."
LA Times | september 1953

"God ... how I love babies! Not just my own, but the world's babies."
Love, Lucy | early 1960s

"My mother was always willing to go into hock for a good cause."
Love, Lucy | early 1960s

"I've become a woman with a capacity for happiness again."
Love, Lucy | early 1960s

"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 don't like anyone who can take a nap."
Barbara Walters Interviews of a Lifetime | december 1977

"I can. If I wish, I can."
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

"I don't think you should write a book until you tell the absolute truth. You can't do that until you're 85, and I don't want to live that long."
Ask Her Anything About Desi Sr., Divorce, Drugs, Gay Rights | february 1980

quoteurs we recommend...

Amy Poehler
comedian | smart girls advocate

Carol Burnett
variety show host

Rose O'Neill
feminist artist + Kewpie inventor

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