Career Highlights |
||
Actor Credits
FilmographyTV Shows/SeriesHere`s Lucy (Lucille Carter) [1968 - 1974] The Lucy Show (Lucy Carmichael) [1962 - 1968] The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (Lucy Ricardo) [1957 - 1960] I Love Lucy (Lucy Ricardo) [1951 - 1957] Literature/PublicityBooks AuthoredLove, Lucy [1996] Biography (Print)Lucille (Kathryn Brady) [1995] Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (Coyne Steven Sanders and Tom Gilbert) [1993] |
||
Lucille Ball Biography |
||
|
Lucille Ball was close friends with Betty Grable, Ginger Rogers, Carole Lombard, and Barbara Pepper. Lucille was born a brunette. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz created the "I Love Lucy," show in hopes of saving their crumbling marriage. Lucille was six years older than Desi. Felt the title Queen of Comedy belong to her idol and good late friend Carole Lombard. Was tutored in comedy by Buster Keaton. When Lucy and Desi were first married in 1940, Desi had to give Lucy a ring from the drugstore because all jewelry stores were closed. She wore it the rest of their marriage.
|
||
Trivia |
||
Trivia and QuotesTrivia In 1958, in order to raise funds for their various investments, she and Desi Arnaz took Desilu public on the NYSE at $10 per share. She at Desi each retained 25% of the company, while each selling 25%. She took her $2,500,000 windfall, paid $600,000 in capital gains taxes and, always frugal, invested the remainder into bonds and securities. Her 1960 divorce from Desi Arnaz was quite amicable. They divided their $20 million television empire equally, each retaining 25% Desilu stock (282,800 shares),she got the homes in Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, and Desi got the beach house in Del Mar, California and his Horse Ranch in Corona, California. In addition they agreed to joint custody of their children with him paying $450/month child support. In 1962 she purchased Desi Arnaz`s holdings in Desilu holdings for $3 million, as he wanted to retire to his horse ranch in Corona, CA, and lead a more stress-free life. In 1966 it was reported in an annual stockholder`s meeting that her salary as President of Desilu Productions (1962-1967) was $100,000. Her acting fees for 1966 were $130,172. In 1968 she was reported to be the richest woman in television, having earned an estimated $30 million. In July 1967 she sold Desilu Productions, consisting of 36 sound stages, 2000 employees and 62 acres adjacent to Paramount, to Gulf + Western Industries for $17 million. She received $10 million in Gulf + Western stock for her 60% of Desilu, the remaining $7 million being distributed to 3878 stockholders. Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" bu Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004). When her subsequent series "The Lucy Show" (1962) and "Here`s Lucy" (1968) became popular, Jess Oppenheimer, a co-creator of "I Love Lucy" (1951) alleged that her character Lucy Carmichael/Carter was in fact Lucy Ricardo re-named and threatened to sue. Rather than go to court, she settled for $220,000. Was in frail health following a heart attack in May 1988. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 63-66. New York: Charles Scribner`s Sons, 1999. Her biological father died when she was three years old. Her younger brother, ;Fred Ball (II)` (1915-2007), moved from their hometown of Jamestown, NY, to join Lucy in Hollywood in the 1930s. Fred often accompanied Desi Arnaz`s band on tour during the 1940s and 1950s, and was also on the Board of Directors of Desilu Productions. In later years Fred and his wife Zo operated a motel in Cottonwood, AZ, where he died. Fred also shared the same birthday as his niece Lucie Arnaz. In Italy, her films were often dubbed by Lidia Simoneschi or Wanda Tettoni, notably in the hilarious The Long, Long Trailer (1953). She was occasionally dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta, Dhia Cristiani, Rina Morelli and Renata Marini (in Stage Door (1937)). Is portrayed by Frances Fisher in Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter (1991) (TV). The original Desilu was her and Desi Arnaz`s ranch in Chatsworth, CA. They used the same method of naming it that Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford`s did when they named their estate "Pickfair". Was once known as the "Chesterfield Girl" because she was the spokesmodel for Chesterfield cigarettes. Was tutored in comedy by Buster Keaton. When they were first married in 1940, Desi Arnaz had to give Lucy a ring from a drugstore because all jewelry stores were closed. She wore it for the rest of their marriage. Comedian John Belushi was a fan of her and knew every detail of her life and career. Is portrayed by Gypsi DeYoung in The Scarlett O`Hara War (1980) (TV) and by Rachel York in Lucy (2003) (TV). Lucy and Desi Arnaz were married a second time in 1946 in a church because his mother believed that the reason they didn`t have children yet was because they were never married in the Catholic Church.
Lucy and Desi Arnaz were married at the Byram River Beagle Club in Connecticut in 1940. Lucy filed for divorce from Desi Arnaz in the 1940s, but didn`t go through with it because they reconciled. Not long after the Arnazes bought their house on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, it was featured in an episode of "I Love Lucy" (1951) (the one where Richard Widmark guest stars and she climbs over the fence to pick a grapefruit). She named herself Diane Belmont after the Belmont racetrack in New York. She was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609-1675), left England on the ship "Lyon`s Whelp" for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorsetshire, England. William, along with his 2 brothers, helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the Revolutionary War and 2 of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island. Suffered third miscarriage in 1950 with husband Desi Arnaz. The day she first met Desi Arnaz, she had a black eye and a torn dress from filming a fight scene for Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) and he didn`t find her at all attractive until they met again later in the day when she had changed into her own clothes and makeup. First cousin of Cleo Morgan, though they were raised as sisters. Had a superstition about the letters A and R, which is why her character was named Lucy RicARdo in "I Love Lucy" (1951); Lucy CARmichael in "The Lucy Show" (1962); Lucy CARter in "Here`s Lucy" (1968) and Lucy BARker in "Life with Lucy" (1986) (she was also married to `Desi ARnaz`). She believed she didn`t have luck in her career until she changed her name to Arnaz. Related by marriage to Sid Gould. Related by marriage to Vanda Barra. Suffered a miscarriage with her and Desi Arnaz`s first child in 1942. Suffered a second miscarriage with her and Desi Arnaz`s second child in 1949. Was of Irish, Scottish, French, and English descent. Disliked any false form of a bird, she preferred to see them in person so she banned all pictures of birds from her house and any hotel room she was staying in. Was Frank Sinatra`s first choice for the role of Laurence Harvey`s mother in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He was only dissuaded when John Frankenheimer took him to see Angela Lansbury in a play. While still contemplating whether to do the "I Love Lucy" (1951) shows, she claimed that in her dream, Carole Lombard came to her and told her to "Give it a whirl". Biography in: "Who`s Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 35-37. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Felt that she did not deserve the title of "Queen of Comedy" and felt that it belonged to her idol, Carole Lombard. Filed for a divorce from husband Desi Arnaz, the day following the last day of filming "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1957). [3 March 1960] Her favorite movie she made was The Big Street (1942). Up to her dying day, she resented AMPAS for not recognizing her performance in the movie by including her for an Academy Award nomination. Measurements: 33-22 1/2 -34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). One of her last television appearances was in 1989 on the 62nd Accademy Awards, with Bob Hope, announcing the nominations and winner of Best Picture. Pictured on a 34¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 6 August 2001. Stricken by rheumatoid arthritis early in her modeling career and spent 2 years re-learning how to walk. Was known for a while as Dianne Belmont back when she was a model.
For many years during their marriage, Lucy and Desi Arnaz hid the fact that she was six years older then him by splitting the difference in their ages. She (born in 1911) said she was born in 1914 and he (born in 1917) also said he was born in 1914. Before her movie career, Lucille was a model at Hattie Carnegie`s in New York. She mainly modeled heavy fur coats, because she was startlingly thin as a young lady. Born at 5:00 pm. Died the morning of April 26, 1989, the fifty-sixth birthday of her friend Carol Burnett. That afternoon Burnett received the flowers that Ball had ordered for her birthday. During the 1933 filming of Roman Scandals (1933), young Lucille Ball, portraying a slave girl, needed to have her eyebrows entirely shaved off. They never grew back. Lucy and Desi Arnaz began "I Love Lucy" (1951) in the hopes of saving their crumbling marriage. Second cousin of actress Suzan Ball.
She put her Chesterfield cigarettes in a Phillip Morris package to please her sponsor (of the "I Love Lucy" (1951) show). She was fired from working at an ice cream store because she kept forgetting to put bananas in banana splits
TV Guide picked her as the greatest TV star of all time. Was one of the 20 original "Goldwyn Girls", along with Virginia Bruce; Ann Dvorak; Paulette Goddard and Betty Grable. A comment from a member of the preview audience of Follow the Fleet (1936) about bit-player Ball: "You might give the tall gum chewing blonde more parts and see if she can`t make the grade - a good gamble." Born a brunette. During a Barbara Walter`s interview, Jane Fonda claims that her father, Henry Fonda, was deeply in love with Lucille Ball and that the two were "very close" during the filming of Yours, Mine and Ours (1968). Lucy and her son, Desi Arnaz Jr., appeared together on the very first cover of "TV Guide" magazine in 1953. Mother of Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. Once registered as a voter for the Communist party as a favor to her grandfather. Originally interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, Court of Remembrance. In 2003, she was re-interred in the Ball family plot in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, New York. Received the Women`s International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award posthumously in 1990. She signed her first promotional agreement with Max Factor in 1935 and again in 1942. Of all the stars, she had the longest association with the Max Factor company. Was the first woman to own her own film studio. | ||
Contributors |
||
|
This page was last updated by:
|
||
Related Links |
||
 Gold Sites Silver Sites Star Sites Fan Sites
|
||
Related Profiles |
||
Comments
Continue the Conversation