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| Lucille Desiree Ball was born August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Setting her mind on becoming an actress early, she left high school at age 15, and with her mother's blessing, enrolled in John Murray Anderson Drama School in New York City. Though she auditioned repeatedly, Ball was told she had no talent, and was never accepted to the school. With no experience behind her and very few acting roles for women available, Ball took a job as a model, using the name Diane Belmont. Moderately successful, Ball became an Earl Carrol showgirl and began modeling for popular fashion designer, Hattie Carnegie. Carnegie chose Ball to be the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl in 1933. The position won her national exposure for the first time, and caught the attention of Hollywood. Lucille Ball's first role was an appearance in Eddie Cantor's musical, "Roman Scandals" in 1933. Ball continued to audition for movies, and caught bit parts in low budget feature films like, "Blood Money" in 1933 and "Kid Millions" the following year. The success of her first roles would lead to bigger and better parts. Ball would appear in over 60 films by the late 1940s, including feature films starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Bob Hope. In 1962, encouraged by fans, Ball reintroduced Lucy to TV, as she starred in "The Lucy Show." It would run successfully for 6 years, and feature her real life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., and former co-star, Vivian Vance. When "The Lucy Show" went off the air, Ball wasted no time in reformatting the show and starring in yet another series based on the same character. "Here's Lucy," was instantly picked up by the networks and ran on prime time through 1974. It was during this same time when Ball spread her wings and began performing outside the lines of comedy. She won rave reviews for her appearance on Broadway in 1961s, "Wildcat." On the heels of that success, Ball teamed with Bob Hope for two feature films and co-starred with Henry Fonda in the critically acclaimed, "Yours, Mine and Ours." Though she played a ditzy, wild hearted redhead, in real life, Ball was nothing of the kind. In 1967, she sold Desilu Productions for $17 million, netting some $10 million. Ball remarried in 1968, taking Gary Morton as her second husband. Morton, a former comedian, worked with Ball to help create "Lucille Ball Productions." In the late 70s and early 80s, Ball made only sporadic appearances on TV, usually as the guest star. In 1985, she portrayed a New York homeless woman in the TV film, "Stone Pillow." The following year, at the age of 75, she debuted "Life with Lucy," a half hour comedy series. It aired for only two months before being cancelled. Lucille Ball spent much of the rest of her life out of the spotlight. Her last public appearance was at the 1989 Academy Awards. One week after undergoing open heart surgery, on April 26, 1989, Lucille Ball suffered a ruptured aorta and died. She was 77 years old. Ball is survived by two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. |
| Excerpts of this biography were taken from different articles, no copyright infringement is intended. |
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