Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball was admired all over the world by millions of people. Even though Lucy Richardo always wanted to be in the show biz, the funny, real life Lucille Ball was an incredibly successful actress in movies and on TV. Ball started acting when she was fifteen (Jameson 1). She appeared in seventy two movies in her lifetime (Lucille Ball 9).

Ball was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown New York (Lucille Ball 1). Her father died when she was only three years old (Lucille Ball 2). She spent the first few years of her life in poverty (Lucille Ball 4). After her father died she had to go live with her step dad's parents because he did not like kids (Lucille Ball 4). When she moved back in with her parents, she convinced her mother to let her attend an acting school in New York City (Lucille Ball 5). The school teacher told her mother that she was wasting her money and time (Lucille Ball 5).

On November 30th 1940, Ball married the love of her life, Desi Arnaz (Marvis 47). She had her first child, Lucie Desiree Arnaz, on July 17th 1951 (Marvis 65). On January 19th, 1953, she had her second child, Desi the Fourth, by cesarean (Marvis 67). Ball and Arnaz made an episode of I Love Lucy that featured Ball's pregnancy with Desi the fourth (Marvis 67). After she had the baby she received over thirty thousand congratulatory letters from her fans (Marvis 67). Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1962 (Lucille Ball 20).Although, they still remained friends even after they separated (Marvis 71). Two years later, in 1962, she remarried to comedian Gary Morton. (Lucille Ball 19). Ball received custody of Lucie and Desi the fourth after the divorce. Desi said after the divorce "I Love Lucy was much more than the name of a popular TV show" it was his everlasting feelings for Lucille Ball (Marvis 73).

Ball's most popular show I Love Lucy made its debut on October 15th, 1951(Lucille Ball 14). By the spring of 1952, I Love Lucy had become the number one TV show in the nation (Marvis 66). In February 1953 I Love Lucy received its first Emmy from the Academy of Television (Marvis 67). The show was produced in front of a live audience because she was better in front of an audience where she could see their facial expressions and play it for all it was worth (Marvis 66). The show ended in 1957 (Lucille Ball 19). Ball and Arnaz produced one hundred seventy nine episodes of I Love Lucy (Marvis 69). Arnaz said as soon as the show started he wanted to quit because "Desilu had become a monster" (Marvis 71).

In 1957, Ball bought the production studio Radio Keith Orpheum (RKO) and renamed it Desilu (Jameson 1). In 1958, Desilu produced approximately two hundred seventy hours of filmed television entertainment (Marvis 71). Before they bought the studio, Desilu was the name of Ball and Arnaz's home (Marvis 61). The studio produced some of the most successful series in history, including, The Untouchables (Jameson