Lucille Ball

Actress

• Born: August 6, 1911
• Birthplace: Jamestown, New York
• Died: April 26, 1989
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

American actor-entertainer

Starring in the television series I Love Lucy during the 1950’s, Ball established herself as that medium’s most popular comedic actress. After the series ended, Ball purchased outright the show’s production company, Desilu Productions, and became its president, the first woman to head a Hollywood studio since Mary Pickford in the 1920’s and later.

Areas of achievement Television, film, theater and entertainment, business and industry

Early Life

Lucille Ball was born in the small town of Celoron, New York, a suburb of Jamestown. Her father, Henry Durrell Ball, was a telephone lineman for the Bell Company, while her mother, Désirée “DeDe” Hunt, was often described as a lively and energetic young woman. Henry Ball’s job required frequent transfers, and within three years after her birth, Lucille had moved from Jamestown to Anaconda, Montana, and then to Wyandotte, Michigan. While DeDe Ball was pregnant with her second child, Frederick, Henry Ball contracted typhoid fever and died in February, 1915.

At least one biographer has suggested that the grief associated with the loss of her father drove Lucille into playacting. Whether true or not, Ball’s recollections of early childhood were, for the most part, happy. She and her brother lived with doting grandparents and a strong, independent mother. Her grandfather, Fred Hunt, was an eccentric socialist who enjoyed the theater. He frequently took the family to local vaudeville shows and encouraged young Lucy to take part in both her own and school plays.

At the age of fifteen, Ball dropped out of high school, and with her mother’s approval, enrolled in the John Murray Anderson/Robert Milton School of the Theater in New York City. Among her fellow students was Bette Davis. At this stage in Ball’s life, she was hopelessly beyond her element. Nervous and shy in a large city she hated, Ball lasted only six weeks at the school and returned to Celoron.

Ball later returned to New York and, despite a bout with potentially crippling rheumatoid arthritis, worked as a model with dress designer Hattie Carnegie. Her only significant success came when she was chosen by Liggett and Myers to promote cigarettes as “the Chesterfield Girl.” Ball’s entrance into the film industry came about fortuitously, when she accidentally ran into Sylvia Hahlo, a local theatrical agent, while walking up Broadway one day. Hahlo informed Ball of an opportunity to appear in the new Eddie Cantor film, Roman Scandals (1933), produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Ball auditioned and was hired as one of the twelve “Goldwyn Girls.” It was a small part, that of a slave girl, and it would be many years after her work in B-pictures before she would achieve celebrity status, but Ball had found Hollywood.

Life’s Work

During Ball’s first years in Hollywood, she progressed from bit parts to featured roles, though rarely in major films. Indeed, over time Ball became known as a “Queen of the B’s.” Despite her talent, it was quite possible that she might never have progressed beyond that level had she not met Cuban vocalist and bandleader Desi Arnaz.

Arnaz was born in 1917, in Cuba, where his father was mayor of Santiago, an important seaport city. The Arnaz family was wealthy, and Desi was reared in relative luxury until the political revolution of 1933. Following his father’s imprisonment, Desi Arnaz and his family fled to the United States. Desi worked his way through numerous menial jobs (including one in which he cleaned bird cages) before joining bandleader Xavier Cugat as a vocalist. In 1939, he came to Hollywood. It was on the set of RKO Studios, during the filming of Too Many Girls (1940), that Ball and Arnaz met; they were married on November 30, 1940.

The Ball-Arnaz marriage was tempestuous, to say the least. The two were from vastly different cultures and backgrounds. Unlike her television personality, Ball was conservative in nature and uncomfortable when not among friends. Arnaz had a more outgoing personality, with a fondness for both liquor and women.

Following Arnaz’s Army service, Arnaz and Ball established their home on a five-acre site in Chatsworth, California (in Los Angeles County), which they called Desilu. The same appellation would later be applied to the studio they established. The early years of their marriage were marked by long periods of separation as their careers progressed in different directions. By the late 1940’s, Ball had become established as a bona fide star, but she rarely appeared in roles that showcased the full range of her comedic talents. As an “aging” star in her thirties, she was constantly in danger of early replacement by up-and-coming younger actresses. Arnaz, meanwhile, was frequently on the road with his band, only rarely seeing Ball. Both wanted children and a stable family life but found this goal impossible to achieve while they were apart.

In 1948, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) decided to produce a situation comedy on radio called My Favorite Husband. The premise of the show was that the housewife would be a scatterbrained, clumsy type who constantly would find herself in trouble. Ball was signed for the part and immediately established herself in the role. The series ran until March, 1951, by which time Ball was recognized as an astute, if sometimes abrasive, actress in the area of physical comedy. By that time, Ball and Arnaz had made the jump into television.

In 1950, CBS decided to develop a television series based on Ball’s radio performance. Ball pressured the studio to cast Arnaz in the role of husband, a suggestion that met with strong opposition. Though Ball and Arnaz had appeared together on the Ed Wynn show in December, 1949, the network’s major objection was the belief the public would not accept a Latin bandleader as her husband. Ball’s answer was direct: “We ARE married!” To overcome the network’s reservations, Ball suggested that she and Arnaz embark on a personal summer tour to highlight their act. In June, 1950, they premiered successfully in Chicago, proving their point. To compound their happiness, it became apparent Ball was pregnant. It was also during this period that the couple formed Desilu Productions, parent company for their studios.

With success came tragedy. In July, Ball suffered a miscarriage. After a period of recuperation, she and Arnaz returned to the stage with their act. The success of the tour finally convinced CBS to go ahead with a series, and in early 1951, preparations began. Ironically, Ball again became pregnant, delivering a healthy girl, Lucie Arnaz, in July.

Disagreements over the nature of the filming convinced Ball and Arnaz to purchase and develop their own studios. One of the most significant changes was their decision to use 35mm film, rather than the lesser quality kinescope medium, to record the show. In addition to providing working conditions more familiar to Ball and Arnaz and allowing them to work in Hollywood instead of producing live shows in New York, the use of 35mm film enabled the preservation of the earliest shows for posterity. William Frawley and Vivian Vance were added to the cast, and the first filming of the I Love Lucy series took place on September 8, 1951.

I Love Lucy ran from October 15, 1951, the first televised show, to September 24, 1961. The original first-run episodes lasted for six years, with primetime reruns and numerous “specials” aired through 1961. At its peak, it was the highest rated show on television. One of the best-known episodes involved the birth of Little Ricky Ricardo an episode that aired on the same night that Ball gave birth to her real son. Sadly, the marriage between Ball and Arnaz barely survived the end of the series. The day after the final show was filmed in March of 1960, Ball filed for divorce. Despite the end of their marriage, Ball and Arnaz never lost their love and respect for each other.

Following the demise of their series, Ball purchased Arnaz’s shares of Desilu Productions in 1962, becoming the first woman to head a Hollywood studio since Mary Pickford many years before. After her subsequent marriage to comedian Gary Morton, Ball named him vice president of the studios. Although Arnaz possessed a wealth of business acumen and made most of the financial and production decisions connected with founding and expanding the Desilu studios facts rarely recognized by those familiar only with his typecast acting role on I Love Lucy Ball continued to maintain the quality of programming associated with the studio. Although high-budget shows such as Mission: Impossible and Star Trek escalated costs to the studio, the quality of the studio’s output remained high throughout the years of Ball’s tenure as president.

Ball began a role on her own television series in 1962, The Lucy Show. The premise of the show, which also included Vance, was Ball as a widow with two children. Rather than Arnaz as the foil, Gale Gordon played the long-suffering male. Despite what eventually became a tiring plot, the show remained popular for much of its twelve-year run (including title and character changes), at one point being the highest rated show on television.

Desilu Productions was sold to the large Gulf + Western Industries in 1967, severing Ball’s connection with the company. Despite her wealth, Ball was uncomfortable with the idea of retiring from show business. The film production of Mame (1974) was designed as a starring vehicle to revive Ball’s film career, but it was a critical and financial disappointment. Ball continued to work sporadically on television, appearing in specials and even making an attempt at a new series in 1986. Sadly, an aging Ball found it difficult to attempt the kind of “serious” physical comedy at which she had once excelled, and she recognized that to do so would result in a caricature of herself. The sitcom, Life with Lucy, was canceled soon after its debut.

In December of 1986, Arnaz died after a lengthy battle against cancer; Ball was one of the last people to speak with him. In May, 1988, Ball suffered a stroke, becoming partially paralyzed. Continuing her recuperation, she developed heart problems. After undergoing heart surgery, she died suddenly on April 26, 1989.

Significance

When I Love Lucy premiered during the 1951-1952 television season, only fifteen million television sets were to be found in American homes. Three years later, that number had doubled. In that time, Ball had become established as the most popular female comedian on television, and arguably the most popular female practitioner of physical comedy in the first half-century of prime-time television. Ball was not herself an inherently funny person; she looked at acting as a serious profession and “worked” at physical comedy. However, Ball had an inherent ability to observe a situation and, by exaggeration of normal behavior, could present a routine that struck an observer with comedic overtones. It was a rare performer who could do so, while at the same time retaining the situation as one that was within the realm of possibility.

There is no question Ball had her faults and her detractors. At times, she exhibited anger and pettiness. Nevertheless, Ball could also recognize ability in those with whom she worked, and she felt secure enough in her position to allow her staff to do the jobs for which they were hired. Despite her well-publicized battles with Arnaz, she always recognized his importance to their careers, and Arnaz in turn never failed to give Ball credit where deserved. Most important perhaps, Ball recognized the importance of hard work in attaining success in one’s career, and she was always willing to give help to aspiring performers who were dedicated to working hard as well.

Further Reading

Andrews, Bart. Lucy & Ricky & Fred & Ethel. Rev. ed. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1985. An outstanding biography of the characters from I Love Lucy. Includes a description of each individual show and special from the series. The volume provides a concise description of the lives and careers of both Frawley and Vance.

Arnaz, Desi. A Book. New York: William Morrow, 1976. In his autobiography, Arnaz provides an interesting inside look at Lucille Ball and their lives together. Despite their tumultuous marriage, the couple remained on cordial terms after their divorce.

Ball, Lucille, with Betty Hannah Hoffman. Love, Lucy. Foreword by Lucie Arnaz. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996. A posthumously published memoir, written as a biography after Ball’s death.

Davis, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America’s Leading Lady of Comedy. Cincinnati, Ohio: Emmis Books, 2005. Davis wrote almost all of the episodes of I Love Lucy with Carroll, and the two also wrote for Ball’s subsequent television series. Davis recounts Ball’s television career and her personal experiences working with both Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Higham, Charles. Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986. A well-written biography of Ball with strong emphasis on her early life prior to breaking into film. Contains good description of the first years of the I Love Lucy series.

Kanfer, Stefan. Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Recounts Ball’s life and career, tracing her transformation from an unsophisticated young woman to a brilliant comedian.

Morella, Joe, and Edward Epstein. Forever Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball. Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart, 1986. Not as detailed as some other biographies, but still an excellent study of Ball and Arnaz. Portions of the book cover the lives of their children and how they were affected by their parents’ celebrity status.

Sanders, Covne Steven, and Tom Gilbert. Desilu. New York: William Morrow, 1993. Perhaps the most complete of the Arnaz-Ball biographies. A well-written, detailed study of Arnaz’s and Ball’s lives and careers until their deaths in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Some illustrations, and numerous quotations from contemporaries are included.