1911-1989
Who Was Lucille Ball?
Lucille Ball was an award-winning actor and comedian best know for her iconic role in the sitcom I Love Lucy. Ball got her start as a model and film star before becoming one of America's top comedic actresses. Co-starring with her husbandDesi Arnazthe upstate New York native made a name for herself as the wacky Lucy Ricardo in the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy. Following her divorce in 1960Ball went on to star in The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy while also becoming a top TV executive. She died in April 1989 at the age of 77.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Lucille Désirée Ball
BORN: August 61911
BIRTHPLACE: JamestownNew York
DIED: April 261989
SPOUSES: Desi Arnaz (1940-1960) and Gary Morton (1961-1989)
CHILDREN: Lucie and Desi Jr.
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo
Early Life and Career
Lucille Ball was born on August 61911in JamestownNew Yorkto Henry “Had”Durrell Ball and Desiree “DeDe” Evelyn Ball. The eldest of two childrenBall had a hardscrabble childhood shaped by tragedy and a lack of money. Shortly after she was bornher fatheran electrician who went by the nickname Hadrelocated the family to Montana for work. They soon moved again to Michiganwhere Had took a job as a telephone lineman with the Michigan Bell Company. In February 1914her father died of typhoid fever. Her mother was pregnant with her brotherFredat the time.
For Balljust 3 years old at the timeher father's death not only set in motion a series of difficult childhood hurdlesbut also served as the her first real significant memory. “I do remember everything that happened,” she saidaccording to Kathleen Brady’s 1994 biography The Life of Lucille Ball. “Hanging out the windowbegging to play with the kids next door who had measlesthe doctor comingmy mother weeping. I remember a bird that flew in the windowa picture that fell off the wall.”
After his deathBall’s mother packed up and returned to Jamestownwhere she eventually found work in a factory and remarried a man named Ed Peterson. While her mother and new stepfather looked for factory work in Detroitshe and Fred were forced to make a new home with their step-grandparentswho were a poorpuritanical couple.
Finallyat age 11Ball reunited with her mother when Desiree and Ed returned to Jamestown. Even thenBall had an itch to do something bigand when she was 15 she convinced her mother to allow her to enroll in a New York City drama school. But despite her longing to make it on the stageBall was too nervous to draw much notice.
“I was a tongue-tied teenager spellbound by the school's star pupilBette Davis,” Ball later recalled. The school finally wrote her mother“Lucy's wasting her time and ours. She's too shy and reticent to put her best foot forward.”
She remained in New York Cityhoweverand by 1927Ballwho had started calling herself Diane Belmontfound work as a modelfirst for fashion designer Hattie Carnegieand thenafter overcoming a debilitating bout of rheumatoid arthritisfor Chesterfield cigarettes.
In the early 1930sBallwho had dyed her chestnut hair blondemoved to Hollywood to seek out more acting opportunities. Work soon followedincluding a stint as one of the 12 “Goldwyn Girls” to promote the 1933 Eddie Cantor flick Roman Scandals. She landed a role as an extra in the Ritz Brothers film The Three Musketeersand then in 1937 earned a sizable part in Stage Doorstarring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers.
Movies and TV
Ball went on to appear in more than 70 movies during her long careerincluding a string of second-tier films in the 1940s that garnered her the unofficial title “The Queen of B Movies.” One of the earliest onesDanceGirlDance (1940)introduced her to a handsome Cuban bandleader named Desi Arnazwho she met on the RKO Pictures lot. The two appeared together in Ball's next filmToo Many Girlsand before the year was outthe pair fell madly in love and married.
At MGM’s urgingBall dyed her hair red in 1942 to stand out in Technicolor. The following yearshe debuted her now iconic hair in the musical comedy Du Barry Was a Lady. By the end of the decadehoweverBall’s movie career had become stagnantand she found herself frustrated that she wasn’t landing the kinds of starring roles she'd always dreamed about. As a resultshe moved away from film and tried her hand at broadcastingand it wasn't long before Ball landed a lead part in the radio comedy My Favorite Husband. The program caught the attention of CBS executiveswho wanted her to recreate something like it on the small screen. Ballthoughinsisted it include her real-life husbandsomething the network clearly wasn't interested in seeing happen. So Ball walked awayand with Desi put together an I Love Lucy–like vaudeville act and took it on the road. Success soon followedas did a contract from CBS.
I Love Lucy
From the startBall and Arnaz knew exactly what they wanted from the network. Their demands included the opportunity to create their new program in Hollywood rather than New Yorkwhere most TV was still being shotbut the biggest hurdle centered on the couple's preference to shoot on film rather than the less expensive kinescope. When CBS told them it would cost too muchBall and Arnaz agreed to take a pay cut. In return they would retain full ownership rights to the program and run it under their newly formed production companyDesilu Productions.
In October 1951I Love Lucy made its debutand to the television viewing audience across the countryit was immediately apparent this was a sitcom like no other. Bombastic and daringthe showwhich co-starred Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Lucy and Desi's two best friendsset the stage for a generation of family-related sitcoms to come. The program included story lines that dealt with marital issueswomen in the workplaceand suburban living.
And in perhaps one of the most memorable TV episodes everI Love Lucy touched on the theme of pregnancywhen Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky on January 191953—the same day the real-life Lucy delivered her son Desi Jr. by cesarean.
As the title of the show indicatedBall was the star. While she could at times downplay her hard workshe was a perfectionist. Contrary to perceptionrarely was anything ad-libbed. It was routine for the actress to spend hours rehearsing her antics and facial expressionsand her groundbreaking work in comedy paved the way for future stars like Mary Tyler MoorePenny Marshalland Cybill Shepherd.
Her genius did not go unrecognized. During its six-year runI Love Lucy's success was unmatched. For four of its seasonsthe sitcom was the No. 1 show in the country. In 1953the program captured an unheard-of 67.3 audience sharewhich included a 71.1 rating for the episode that featured Little Ricky's birth—a turnout that surpassed the television audience for President Eisenhower's inauguration ceremonies. Ball’s time on the show earned her several Emmy Award nominationsincluding two wins for Best Comedienne and Best Actress in a Continuing Performance.
The Lucy Show and Here’s Lucy
While I Love Lucy ended in 1957Desilu Productions continued onproducing more television hits like Our Miss BrooksMake Room for DaddyThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe UntouchablesStar Trek and Mission: Impossible.
Following her divorce from Arnaz in 1960Ball bought out her former husband and took over Desilu Productionsmaking her the first woman to run a major television production studio. She eventually sold the company to Gulf-Western in 1967 for $17 milllion.
More acting work followedincluding another sitcomThe Lucy Showwhich ran from 1962 to 1968and won her two Emmys for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series. Ball soon followed up with Here's Lucy from 1968 to 1973. Both achieved a modest level of successbut neither captured the magic that had defined her earlier program with Arnaz. But Ball had already made a huge impact on the world of comedy and the television industry in general that was widely recognized.
In 1971she became the first woman to receive the International Radio and Television Society's Gold Medal. In addition there were four Emmysinduction into the Television Hall of Fame and recognition for her life's work from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She also won the Golden Globes’ honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1979 for outstanding contributions to the entertainment world.
In 1985Ball strayed from her comedic background to take on a dramatic role as a homeless woman in the TV movie Stone Pillow. While it was hardly a smash hitshe earned some praise for her performance. Most criticsthoughwanted to see her return to comedyand in 1986she debuted a new CBS sitcomLife With Lucy. The program earned its star $2.3 million but not much of an audience. It was canceled after just eight episodes.
Ex-Husband Desi Arnaz and Kids
Shortly after meeting on the set on the RKO lotBall married bandleader Desi Arnaz in November 1940eloping in GreenwichConnecticut. For the carefulcareer-minded Ballwho had periodically been romantically linked to a series of older menArnaz was something completely different. He was fieryyoungand had a reputation as a ladies' man. Friends and colleagues guessed the romance between the apparently mismatched entertainers wouldn't last a year.
Ball seemed drawn to Arnaz's sparkand while he did support her career ambitionshis sometimes did stray romantically from the marriage. In 1944Ball filed for divorceciting Arnaz’s alcohol abuse and infidelity. Howeverthey soon reconciledand even renewed their vows in 1949.
Ball and Arnaz welcomed their first childa daughter named Luciein July 1951. Seeking to spend more togetherthey hit a gold mine when they were cast in I Love Lucywhich aired that October. Two years laterBall gave birth to the sonDesi Jr.January 1953. Despite their successtheir TV show put a noticeable strain on their marriageand they eventually divorced in 1960.
Ball soon remarried comedian Gary Morton in 1961who became an active stepfather to her children. The couple remained together until her death in 1989.
Death
In April 1989Ball suffered a heart attack and underwent emergency open-heart surgery to repair a ruptured aorta. While the surgery appeared successful at firstshe died of cardiac arrest a week later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 261989. She was 77 years old. Ball is widely considered a pioneering actor and comedian who broke gender and creative barriers and revolutionized the television industry.
Quotes
- A lot of the really beautiful girls didn't want to do some of the things I did—put on mud packs and scream and run around and fall into pools ... I didn't mind getting messed up. That's how I got into physical comedy.
- I was very happy being 'Queen of the B's.' Actuallythat's one of my problems. I'm very happy in my nice little ruts.
- I'm not funny. What I am is brave.
- I was always stage-struck. I would recite speeches at the drop of ... anything.
- All I learned in drama school was how to be frightened.
- I must have done something rightbut I cannot be as great as everyone's said. So I'll just accept a third of the complimentsgratefully.
- My idea of getting high was a Coca-Cola and an aspirin.
- Perhaps my willingness to be knocked off a twenty-foot pedestal or shot down a steamship funnel goes back to my earliesthappiest days with my father. I knew he was going to catch me. I wasn't going to get hurt.
- Most comedy success stems from long-standing inferiority complexesand I had mine.
- I liked being an innovatorbut people told us we were crazythat we were committing career suicide. I didn't listen... I liked creating a show from scratch.
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