Lucille Ball Biography: Lucille Desiree Ball was an American actress and comedian who was born in Jamestown, New York, on August 6, 1911. She starred in the popular television programme “I Love Lucy.” As an entertainer and businesswoman in the entertainment industry, Ball broke barriers for women. Today, we recognise Ball’s accomplishments in her honour.
Lucille Ball Birthday
On August 6, 1911, Lucille Desiree Ball was born in Jamestown, New York. Her father, Henry Durrell “Had” Ball, passed away when she was three years old, and her mother, Désirée Evelyn “DeDe” Ball, was a single parent who worked multiple jobs; consequently, her grandparents reared her and her brother. She was an enthusiastic adolescent who desired to “make some noise” and was always willing to assume responsibility for her younger brother and siblings. She enrolled in a New York City drama school but was sent home for being “too timid.”
In 1932, she returned to New York City to resume her acting career, and she supported herself by working for Carnegie and as the Chesterfield cigarette lady once again. She began performing on Broadway as a chorus member under the name Diane (often spelt Dianne) Belmont, but this did not last. After an uncredited performance as a Goldwyn Girl in the 1933 film “Roman Scandals” starring Eddie Cantor and Gloria Stuart, Ball moved to Hollywood permanently. After signing with R.K.O. Radio Pictures, she made a few minor appearances, including “Top Hat” (1935). She eventually secured prominent roles in B-movies and, occasionally, a nice part in an A-film, such as in “Stage Door” (1937) or “The Big Street” (1942). Ball made her Broadway début in “Too Many Girls” in 1940, where she met and fell in love with Desi Arnaz, who played one of her character’s four bodyguards. Ball contracted with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s, but he was never a major star there. Ball, like numerous other aspiring actors, engaged in radio labour to supplement their income and gain recognition. 1942’s “The Big Street” starred Lucy alongside Henry Fonda.
When Ann Sothern declined the role in “DuBarry Was a Lady” (1943), MGM producer Arthur Freed cast Sothern’s closest friend, Lucille Ball, in the role. Ball portrayed herself in the 1943 movie “Best Foot Forward.” The 1946 film “Lover Come Back” featured Ball. In 1948, she starred in the radio comedy “My Favourite Husband” as the absent-minded wife of a Midwestern financier. C.B.S. knocked on the door in 1950 and offered to adapt it into a television series. Desi persuaded the network executives to allow him to portray Lucy’s spouse and to transfer the series’ rights and creative control to them in order to begin production on “I Love Lucy,” the most popular and universally admired sitcom of all time. “I Love Lucy” was a star vehicle for Lucille Ball for the majority of its run, and the sitcom dominated U.S. ratings for the majority of its run. The principal ensemble of “I Love Lucy” continued to appear in hour-long specials titled “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” following the 1957 cancellation of the show. On February 8, 1960, she was honoured with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures, and another at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to the arts and sciences of television.
Due to Ball’s inability to recover from illness and complete the play, the 1960 Broadway musical “Wildcat” was compelled to close early following several weeks of returned ticket sales. This musical inspired her performance of “Hey, Look Me Over” with Paula Stewart on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
While filming the Rodgers and Hart stage classic “Too Many Girls” in 1940, Ball met the Cuban-born bandleader Desi Arnaz. When they reconnected the following day, there was an instant rapport. They stopped on November 30, 1940, and were married. Ball filed for divorce in 1944 and was granted an interlocutory decree, but she and Arnaz later reconciled, averting the entry of the final decree. On July 17, 1951, three weeks before her fortieth birthday, Ball gave birth to her daughter, Lucie Désirée Arnaz. Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, also known as Desi Arnaz Jr., was born a year and a half later. They divorced on May 4, 1960, but remained close friends and spoke highly of each other until Arnaz’s death in 1986. The following year, Ball co-starred on Broadway with Keith Andes and Paula Stewart in the musical “Wildcat.” It was the beginning of a thirty-year friendship with Stewart, who introduced Ball to her second spouse, the Borscht Belt comedian Gary Morton, who was thirteen years her junior. Morton stated that he had never seen an episode of “I Love Lucy” due to his busy work schedule, according to Ball. Morton was promptly hired by her production company, where he was instructed in the television business and promoted to producer; he also appeared in a few episodes of her numerous series. The couple owned real estate in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, and Snowmass Village, Colorado. On April 18, 1989, Ball was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles for chest problems. After being diagnosed with a dissecting aortic aneurysm, she had surgery to restore her aorta and a seven-hour replacement of her aortic valve. Ball awoke shortly after dawn on April 26 with severe back pain and lost consciousness; she died at 5:47 a.m. PDT at the age of 77. According to physicians, Ball died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm unrelated to her surgery.
There were three memorial services for Ball. Her ashes were initially interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, where her mother was also interred. In 2002, Ball and her mother were reinterred in Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, per Ball’s request to be buried alongside her mother in the Hunt family plot. In 2007, the ashes of her sibling were also interred there.
Lucille Ball Net Worth, Height
Name | Lucille Desiree Ball |
Nickname | Technicolor Tessie, The First Lady of Television, The Queen of Comedy |
Birth date | August 6, 1911 |
Death date | April 26, 1989 (age 77) |
Height | 5′ 7″ |
Relationship Status | Married |
Net Worth | $80 million |
Lucille Ball Biography: 5 SURPRISE FACTS
During the “Lucy Does the Tango” episode of “I Love Lucy,” in which she dances with a dozen or more eggs concealed in her shirt, she had the longest laugh ever captured on film (65 seconds).
She claimed that a premonition in which Carole Lombard told her to “Give it a try” was the inspiration for “I Love Lucy.”
She was one of the first women to receive the Women in Film Crystal Award in 1977, and she also won the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globes in 1979.
In 1968, she was believed to be the richest woman in television, with estimated revenues of $30 billion.
In 1979, in addition to her acting career, she worked as an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge.