Lucille Ball
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
202
Gender
Female
Birthday
1911-08-06
Day of death
1989-04-26 (77 years old)
Place of Birth
Jamestown, New York, USA
Lucille Ball
Biography
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy. One of the most popular and influential stars in America during her lifetime, with one of Hollywood's longest careers, especially on television, Ball began acting in the 1930s, becoming both a radio actress and B-movie star in the 1940s, and then a television star during the 1950s. She was still making films in the 1960s and 1970s. Ball received thirteen Emmy Award nominations and four wins. In 1977 Ball was among the first recipients of the Women in Film Crystal Award. She was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1979, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986 and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1989. In 1929, Ball landed work as a model and later began her performing career on Broadway using the stage name Dianne Belmont. She appeared in many small movie roles in the 1930s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures. Ball was labeled as the "Queen of the Bs" (referring to her many roles in B-films). In 1951, Ball was pivotal in the creation of the television series I Love Lucy. The show co-starred her then husband, Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz, the Ricardos' landlords and friends. The show ended in 1957 after 180 episodes. They then changed the format a little - lengthening the time of the show from 30 minutes to 60 minutes (the first one went 75 mins), adding some characters, altering the storyline somewhat, and renaming the show from "I Love Lucy" to "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", which ran for three seasons (1957–1960) and 13 episodes. Ball went on to star in two more successful television series: The Lucy Show, which ran on CBS from 1962 to 1968 (156 Episodes), and Here's Lucy from 1968 to 1974 (144 episodes). Her last attempt at a television series was a 1986 show called Life with Lucy - which failed miserably after 8 episodes aired although 13 were produced. Ball met and eloped with Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz in 1940. On July 17, 1951, almost 40 years old, Ball gave birth to their first child, Lucie Désirée Arnaz. A year and a half later, Ball gave birth to their second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, Jr. Ball and Arnaz divorced on May 4, 1960. On April 26, 1989, Ball died of a dissecting aortic aneurysm at age 77. At the time of her death she had been married to her second husband, standup comedian and business partner Gary Morton, for twenty-eight years.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show
The Merv Griffin Show
I Love Lucy
The Carol Burnett Show
Dinah!
The Lucy Show
The Dick Cavett Show
What's My Line?
This Is Your Life
The Bob Hope Show
Intimate Portrait
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
The Ed Sullivan Show
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter — Volume 1
Showbiz Goes to War
The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter — Volume 2
The Jack Benny Program
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
The Danny Kaye Show
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Here's Lucy
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
Joy of Living
What Now, Catherine Curtis?
Biography: Bob Hope: America's Entertainer
Donny & Marie
Broadway Bill
Entertainment Tonight
The Kennedy Center Honors
Password
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
The Flip Wilson Show
A Star Is Born World Premiere
The Affairs of Annabel
All Star Party for Clint Eastwood
Lucy Moves to NBC
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Annabel Takes a Tour
Yours, Mine and Ours
A Guide for the Married Man
Thousands Cheer
Swing It
Moulin Rouge
Look Who's Laughing
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
That Girl from Paris
Easy Living
Forever, Darling
Startime
Miss Grant Takes Richmond
Next Time I Marry
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Room Service
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Life with Lucy
Mame
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
Body Language
Stone Pillow
Without Love
Fancy Pants
Lured
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
The Bob Hope Chevy Show
Bunker Bean
The Bowery
Ann-Margret: From Hollywood with Love
The Emmy Awards
Chatterbox
Panama Lady
Trumbo
The Ann Sothern Show
Winterset
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Du Barry Was a Lady
Roberta
Blood Money
Follow the Fleet
Kid Millions
Five Came Back
Three for Two
The Practice
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Roman Scandals
The Long, Long Trailer
The Big Street
Carnival
Fugitive Lady
Bottoms Up
The Farmer in the Dell
Easy to Wed
A Woman of Distinction
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed
A Love Letter to Jack Benny
That's Dancing!
Murder at the Vanities
The Magic Carpet
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution
E! True Hollywood Story
The Dark Corner
Top Hat
That's Entertainment! III
Stage Door
Beauty for the Asking
Nana
Swing Out, Sweet Land
Treffpunkt New York
A Beverly Hills Christmas
Meet the People
The Facts of Life
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
The Pearl Bailey Show
The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
The Ed Wynn Show
Seven Days' Leave
The Big Parade of Comedy
Lucy and Desi
A Night at the Biltmore Bowl
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
Having Wonderful Time
The Funny World of Lucy, Volume 1
Valley of the Sun
Salute to Stan Laurel
The Affairs of Cellini
Dance, Girl, Dance
NBC Sunday Showcase
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
My Darling Vivian
Hooray for Love
This Is Bob Hope...
Old Man Rhythm
Carol + 2
I Dream Too Much
The Fuller Brush Girl
The Three Musketeers
Lucy Gets Lucky
Ziegfeld Follies
Lucy in London
Two Smart People
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Three Little Pigskins
Night of 100 Stars II
Bob Hope's Love Affair with Lucy
General Foods Opening Night
Go Chase Yourself
The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years
Judy Garland: By Myself
One Live Ghost
The Whole Town's Talking
Critic's Choice
The Marines Fly High
The Jack Benny Birthday Special
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
Too Many Girls
His Old Flame
Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
All Star Party for Lucille Ball
Lover Come Back
Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
Television: The First Fifty Years
Sorrowful Jones
Don't Tell the Wife
That's Right – You're Wrong
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Dummy Ache
So and Sew
I'll Love You Always
Ellis in Freedomland
Classic TV Bloopers Uncensored
Best Foot Forward
G.I. Journal
Lucy Calls the President
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Women I Love: Beautiful But Funny
Her Husband's Affairs
Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration
Twelve Crowded Hours
Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special
Lucy's Really Lost Moments
Cher... and Other Fantasies
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Muss 'em Up
Shirley MacLaine: Gypsy in My Soul
Carnival Nights
Jealousy
Hold That Girl
Foolish Hearts
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
Pioneers of Primetime
Men of the Night
Perfectly Mismated
Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Behind the Evidence
