Biography of lucy ball videos

Her autobiography, Love Lucy , has received many good reviews. She wrote it in the early s, but it was not published until Hope you enjoy the unit study! Share your favorite episode below! Skip to content. Who Was Lucille Ball? Newest Products. Complete the Form:. About Us. Our Math Program. Our Spelling Program. Overcoming initial challenges, Ball's determination led her to take on early roles in films, paving the way for her eventual rise to fame.

Lucille Ball's journey in Hollywood began when she moved to Los Angeles in the early s. Struggling to break into the acting scene, she initially garnered attention as a model, showcasing her talent for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie. Her resilience shone through when she overcame a debilitating bout of rheumatoid arthritis, allowing her to leap into the acting world.

As the decades progressed, Ball appeared in numerous films, amassing an impressive filmography. Despite being dubbed the "Queen of B Movies" for her work in the mids, Ball was determined to elevate her career. This ambition eventually led her to radio comedy, where she starred in "My Favorite Husband". The transition into broadcasting opened new doors, leading to her iconic role in the groundbreaking television series "I Love Lucy", which would redefine her career and the television landscape.

Lucille Ball's legacy is indelibly linked to her groundbreaking sitcom, "I Love Lucy", which debuted on October 15, , and revolutionized American television. Co-starring with her husband Desi Arnaz, the show showcased an innovative blend of humor and relatable family issues that resonated deeply with viewers. With unforgettable episodes and characters, Lucy's antics earned the show an unmatched audience share of The show's unparalleled success paved the way for an entire generation of sitcoms and established Ball as a leading force in comedy.

Beyond "I Love Lucy", Ball demonstrated her prowess in both acting and television production, significantly influencing the industry. Following the show's conclusion, she maintained her presence with successful sitcoms like "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy", although none matched her initial triumph. Lucy Ball's success in a male-dominated industry helped pave the way for greater female representation in television and film.

Her groundbreaking work challenged traditional gender roles and demonstrated that women could succeed as both performers and business leaders. Lucy's influence is still felt today, as more women take on leadership roles in the entertainment industry and beyond. Her legacy serves as a reminder of the importance of diversity and inclusion in media, and her contributions continue to inspire women to pursue their passions and break barriers.

Lucy Ball's impact on female representation is a significant aspect of her enduring legacy. Lucy Ball's work remains relevant in , as audiences continue to find joy and inspiration in her performances. Her ability to connect with viewers through humor and storytelling transcends time, making her work as impactful today as it was when it first aired.

The themes and messages explored in "I Love Lucy" continue to resonate with audiences, highlighting the timeless nature of her work. Lucy's dedication to her craft and her commitment to excellence set a standard for future generations of performers. Her work continues to be celebrated and studied, ensuring that her legacy will endure for years to come.

Lucy Ball's influence extends beyond television and comedy; she is a significant figure in pop culture. Her iconic red hair, distinctive voice, and memorable catchphrases have become ingrained in the cultural lexicon. Lucy's image is instantly recognizable, and her impact on fashion, beauty, and entertainment is still felt today. Her ability to capture the hearts of audiences and leave a lasting impression is a testament to her enduring appeal.

Her mother was unhappy with the relationship, and hoped the romance, which she was unable to influence, would burn out. After about a year, her mother tried to separate them by exploiting Ball's desire to be in show business. Ball later said about that time in her life, "All I learned in drama school was how to be frightened. In the face of this harsh criticism, Ball was determined to prove her teachers wrong and returned to New York City in That same year, she began working for Hattie Carnegie as an in-house model.

Carnegie ordered Ball to bleach her brown hair blond, and she complied. Her acting forays were stilled at an early stage when she became ill with rheumatic fever and was unable to work for two years. In , she moved back to New York City to resume her pursuit of an acting career, where she supported herself by again working for Carnegie [ 35 ] and as the Chesterfield cigarette girl.

Using the name Diane sometimes spelled Dianne Belmont, she started getting chorus work on Broadway, [ 36 ] but it did not last. Ball was hired — but then quickly fired — by theater impresario Earl Carroll from his Vanities , and by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Her first credited role came in Chatterbox in She also appeared in several Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers RKO musicals: as one of the featured models in Roberta , as the flower shop clerk in Top Hat , and in a brief supporting role at the beginning of Follow the Fleet In , she landed the role she hoped would lead her to Broadway, in the Bartlett Cormack play Hey Diddle Diddle , a comedy set in a duplex apartment in Hollywood.

The play premiered in Princeton, New Jersey , on January 21, , with Ball playing the part of Julie Tucker, "one of three roommates coping with neurotic directors, confused executives, and grasping stars, who interfere with the girls' ability to get ahead". Cormack wanted to replace him, but producer Anne Nichols said the fault lay with the character and insisted the part needed to be rewritten.

Unable to agree on a solution, the play closed after one week in Washington, D. Like many budding actresses, Ball picked up radio work to supplement her income and gain exposure. In , she appeared regularly on The Phil Baker Show. There began her year professional relationship with the show's announcer, Gale Gordon. The Wonder Show lasted one season, with the final episode airing on April 7, In , Ball starred in Dance, Girl, Dance [ 42 ] and appeared as the lead in the musical Too Many Girls , where she met and fell in love with Cuban band leader Desi Arnaz , who played one of her character's four bodyguards in the movie.

Ball signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the s, but never achieved major stardom there. In , Ball portrayed herself in Best Foot Forward. In , she appeared in the murder mystery Lured as Sandra Carpenter, a taxi dancer in London. She agreed, but insisted on working with her real-life husband, Arnaz. CBS executives were reluctant, thinking the public would not accept an Anglo-American redhead and a Cuban as a couple.

CBS was initially unimpressed with the pilot episode, produced by the couple's Desilu Productions company. The pair went on the road with a vaudeville act, in which Lucy played the zany housewife, who wants to get into a Cuban band leader's Arnaz's show. Their relationship had become badly strained, in part because of their hectic performing schedules, which often kept them apart, but mostly due to Desi's attraction to other women.

For the production of I Love Lucy , Ball and Arnaz wanted to remain in their Los Angeles home, but prime time in Los Angeles was too late to air a major network series live on the East Coast; broadcasting live from California would have meant giving most of the TV audience an inferior kinescope picture, delayed by at least a day. Instead, the couple offered to take a pay cut to finance filming on better-quality 35 mm film, on the condition that Desilu would retain the rights of each episode once it aired.

CBS agreed to relinquish the post-first-broadcast rights to Desilu, not realizing they were giving up a valuable and enduring asset. I Love Lucy dominated U. An attempt was made to adapt the show for radio [ 51 ] using the "Breaking the Lease" episode in which the Ricardos and Mertzes argue, and the Ricardos threaten to move, but find themselves stuck in a firm lease as the pilot.

The resulting radio audition disc has survived, but never aired. A scene in which Lucy and Ricky practice the tango , in the episode "Lucy Does The Tango", evoked the longest recorded studio audience laugh in the history of the show — so long that the sound editor had to cut that section of the soundtrack in half. After I Love Lucy ended its run in , the main cast continued to appear in occasional hour-long specials under the title The Lucy—Desi Comedy Hour until Along the way, Ball created a television dynasty and achieved several firsts.

She was the first woman to head a TV production company, Desilu, which she had formed with Arnaz. After their divorce in , she bought out his share and became a very actively engaged studio head. She was quoted as saying, "You cannot teach someone comedy; either they have it or they don't. The Broadway musical Wildcat ended its run early when producer and star Ball could not recover from a virus and continue the show after several weeks of returned ticket sales.

She appeared on the Dick Cavett show in and discussed her work on I Love Lucy , and reminisced about her family history, the friends she missed from show business, and how she learned to be happy while married. She also told a story about how she helped discover an underground Japanese radio signal after accidentally picking up the signal on the fillings in her teeth.

In , she had signed a deal with NBC under Fred Silverman 's watch after 28 years of working with CBS in order to deal with new comedy specials, but only one was aired as part of an agreement. In , Ball became a friend and mentor to Carol Burnett. Ball was rumored to have offered Burnett a chance to star on her own sitcom, but in truth, Burnett was offered and declined Here's Agnes by CBS executives.

She instead chose to create her own variety show due to a stipulation that was on an existing contract she had with CBS. Ball sent flowers every year on Burnett's birthday.

Biography of lucy ball videos

Aside from her acting career, Ball became an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge in During the s, Ball attempted to resurrect her television career. In , she hosted a two-part Three's Company retrospective , showing clips from the show's first five seasons, summarizing memorable plotlines, and commenting on her love of the show.

In , Lucille Ball and Gary Morton partnered to set up a film and television production house at 20th Century Fox that encompassed film and television productions as well as plans to produce plays. Ball starred in a dramatic made-for-TV film about an elderly homeless woman, Stone Pillow , which received mixed reviews, but had strong viewership.

In May , Ball was hospitalized after suffering a mild heart attack. When Ball registered to vote in , she listed her party affiliation as Communist, as did her brother and mother. To sponsor the Communist Party 's candidate for the California State Assembly 's 57th District , Ball signed a certificate stating, "I am registered as affiliated with the Communist Party.

Roosevelt 's fundraising campaign for the March of Dimes. Wheeler in Hollywood and gave him sealed testimony. She stated that she had registered to vote as a Communist "or intended to vote the Communist Party ticket" in at her socialist grandfather's insistence. Her testimony was forwarded to J. Edgar Hoover in an FBI memorandum:. Ball stated she has never been a member of the Communist Party "to her knowledge" A review of the subject's file reflects no activity that would warrant her inclusion on the Security Index.

Reusing the line he had first given to Hedda Hopper in an interview, he quipped:. The only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that is not legitimate. They connected immediately, and eloped on November 30, , two months after the film opened. Although Arnaz was drafted into the Army in , he was classified for limited service due to a knee injury.

Ball filed for divorce in , obtaining an interlocutory decree; however, she and Arnaz reconciled, precluding the entry of a final decree. Ball's necessary and planned caesarean section in real life was scheduled for the same date that her television character gave birth. CBS insisted that a pregnant woman could not be shown on television, nor could the word "pregnant" be spoken on-air.

After approval from several religious figures, [ 84 ] the network allowed the pregnancy story line, but insisted that the word "expecting" be used instead of "pregnant" Arnaz garnered laughs when he deliberately mispronounced it as "spectin ' ". The episode aired on the evening of January 19, , with 44 million viewers watching Lucy Ricardo welcome little Ricky, while in real life Ball delivered her second child, Desi Jr.

The birth made the cover of the first issue of TV Guide for the week of April 3—9, By the end of the s, Desilu had become a large company, causing a good deal of stress for both Ball and Arnaz. Her real-life divorce indirectly found its way into her later television series, as she was always cast as an unmarried woman, each time a widow. It marked the beginning of a year friendship with Stewart, who introduced Ball to second husband Gary Morton , a Borscht Belt comic 13 years her junior.

According to Ball, Morton claimed he had never seen an episode of I Love Lucy due to his hectic work schedule. She immediately installed Morton in her production company, teaching him the television business and eventually promoting him to producer; he also played occasional bit parts on her various series. Letters regarding her marriage to Morton were published: "Boy, did I pick a winner!

Ball was outspoken against the relationship her son had with actress Patty Duke. Later, commenting on when her son dated Liza Minnelli , she said: "I miss Liza, but you cannot domesticate Liza. She was diagnosed with a dissecting aortic aneurysm and underwent a 7-hour surgery to repair her aorta and successfully install an aortic valve replacement.

Shortly after dawn on Wednesday, April 26, while still in the hospital, Ball awoke with severe back pain, then lost consciousness; [ 97 ] she died at a. Three memorial services were held for Ball. In , Ball's and her mother's remains were re-interred at the Hunt family plot at Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York, in accordance with Ball's wishes to be buried near her mother.

Ball received many tributes, honors, and awards throughout her career and posthumously. On February 8, , she was given two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : at Hollywood Boulevard, for contributions to motion pictures ; and at Hollywood Boulevard, for her contribution to the arts and sciences of television. Acting on advice given to her by Norman Vincent Peale in the early s, Ball collaborated with Betty Hannah Hoffman on an autobiography that covered her life until Her former attorney found the manuscript, postmarked , while going through old files.

He sent it and the tapes of interviews, conducted by Hoffman and used to write the manuscript, to Lucie Jr. The part of the event focused on Ball was particularly poignant, as Desi Arnaz, who was to introduce Lucy at the event, had died from cancer just five days earlier. Friend and former Desilu star Robert Stack delivered the emotional introduction in Arnaz's place.

It featured clips of shows, facts about her life, displays of items she owned or that were associated with her, and an interactive quiz. It remained open until August 17, On August 6, , the United States Postal Service honored what would have been Ball's 90th birthday with a commemorative stamp as part of its Legends of Hollywood series. Ball appeared on 39 covers of TV Guide, more than any other person, including its first cover in with her baby son, Desi Arnaz Jr.

In , it named I Love Lucy the second-best television program in American history, after Seinfeld. On August 6, , Google's homepage showed an interactive doodle of six classic moments from I Love Lucy to commemorate what would have been Ball's th birthday. Since , a statue of Ball has been on display in Celoron, New York, that residents deemed "scary" and not accurate, earning it the nickname "Scary Lucy".

Ball was a well-known gay-rights supporter, stating in a interview with People : "It's perfectly all right with me. Some of the most gifted people I've ever met or read about are homosexual. How can you knock it? Ball has been portrayed or referenced numerous times in other media. In , it was announced that Ball would be played by Cate Blanchett in an untitled biographical film, to be written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.