Lucille Ball (August 6, 1911 - April 26, 1989)

Two of the greatest words in the English language… Lucille Ball!

Lucille Ball worked very hard for everything she ever had. She is probably one of the best examples of the great American success story. As a young child in Jamestown, New York she and her family struggled to make it during very hard times. By the time she made it to Hollywood she was still fighting for her moment in the spotlight. She made her first appearance on film in 1933. Some of her more notable films are:

Stage Door (1937 – with Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers) Too Many Girls (1940 – with Van Johnson and Desi Arnaz) Dance, Girl, Dance (1940 – with Maureen O’Hara) The Big Street (1942 – with Henry Fonda) Du Barry was a Lady (1943 – with Red Skelton) The Dark Corner (1946 – with Clifton Webb and William Bendix) Lured (1947 – with George Sanders and Boris Karloff) Sorrowful Jones (1949 – with Bob Hope) Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949 – with William Holden) Fancy Pants (1950 – with Bob Hope) The Fuller Brush Girl (1950 – with Eddie Albert) The Long, Long Trailer (1953 – with Desi Arnaz) Forever, Darling (1956 – with Desi Arnaz and James Mason) The Facts of Life (1960 – with Bob Hope) Critic’s Choice (1963 – with Bob Hope) Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 – with Henry Fonda and Van Johnson) Mame (1974 – with Beatrice Arthur and Robert Preston) In 1940 she met and fell in love with Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. They married that November. In the late 1930’s she made her first radio appearance on “The Phil Harris Show.” As she went through the 1940’s she was a frequent visitor to the anthology series “Suspense” at one point even co-starring in an episode with Desi Arnaz. She also did guest spots with Abbott and Costello and Edgar Bergen. In 1948, she turned down the lead role in the program “Our Miss Brooks” which later went to her friend Eve Arden. That same year she signed on to play Elizabeth “Liz” Cugat on the domestic comedy “My Favorite Husband” opposite Richard Denning as husband George Cugat. It was on “My Favorite Husband” that she began to assemble the group of writers, producers, actors and directors that would work with her for the rest of her life. Writer/Producer Jess Oppenheimer, writers Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr., actors Gale Gordon, Hans Conried, Bea Benaderet, Shirley Mitchell, Doris Singleton, Elvia Allman, Frank Nelson and Mary Jane Croft all contributed to “My Favorite Husband.” By 1949 Liz and George’s last name was Cooper and “My Favorite Husband” had a regular supporting cast. Bea Benaderet played Liz’s best friend Iris Atterbury, Gale Gordon played Iris’ husband and George’s boss Rudolph Atterbury, Ruth Perrott played Katy, the Cooper’s maid and Hans Conried played neighbor Benjamin Wood. I think that her radio career is something that is often overlooked when her life is discussed. She was marvelous on “Suspense” and certainly wonderful as Liz Cooper on “My Favorite Husband." Her radio voice had incredible power. She was able to create the dramatic edge she needed on “Suspense” and also have that light hearted inviting voice on “My Favorite Husband.” On January 13, 1944 she played Ginger Allen, a dime-a-dance hostess hunted by a serial killer in the episode “Dime a Dance.” On June 22, 1944 she returned to “Suspense” this time playing another chorus girl, GiGi Lewis in the episode “The Ten Grand.” The story involves GiGi losing her purse on the subway only to get it back and find that it has ten thousand dollars in it. She was also an occasional visitor to “The Lux Radio Theatre” playing the leading role in “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and co-starring in such plays as “Fancy Pants” and “The Dark Corner.” On April 12, 1942 she co-starred with Red Skelton in “The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre’s” production of “Tight Shoes.” She also guest starred as herself on “The Abbott and Costello Show” on November 18, 1943. On November 12, 1946 and May 3, 1949 she shared the microphone with Bob Hope on his NBC program. I would love to know what she thought of the time she spent on radio. I have the feeling she would say that it was a valuable and meaningful experience for her. It was while on radio that Lucille discovered how well she worked in front of a live studio audience and it is also where she learned some of the expressions and techniques she would later use on “I Love Lucy.” She also took a great deal of coaching from Buster Keaton who taught her to master her props. In 1951, Ball took the biggest chance of her life when she insisted that Desi Arnaz be cast as her television husband when the program was moved from radio. At first the network executives said no and Lucille and Desi were forced to prove to them that their show could be a success. They took their act on the road and appeared on stage as husband and wife in theaters across the country. The plan worked and they got the show on the air. With the new name “I Love Lucy” and new characters Lucy and Ricky Ricardo the show went on the air on Monday, October 15, 1951 at 9pm. Joining them were Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz, the landlords, best friends, and neighbors of the Ricardos. As Lucy Ricardo she appeared in 180 episodes of “I Love Lucy” not including the pilot that was filmed in March 1951 but didn’t actually air on television until April 1990. She played Lucy Ricardo in 13 episodes of “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show” and in single episodes of “The Bob Hope Show”, “Make Room for Daddy”, “The Ann Sothern Show” and “Sunday Showcase: The Milton Berle Special.” 198 performances as Lucy Ricardo…God Bless them all! Following that she played Lucy Carmichael in 156 episodes of “The Lucy Show” co-starring Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon. She also played Lucy Carmichael in the hour long television special “Lucy Goes to London” in 1966. 144 episodes of “Here’s Lucy” followed between 1968 and 1974. “Here’s Lucy” co-starred Gale Gordon, Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Mary Jane Croft. She also took her “Here’s Lucy” character, Lucy Carter, to visit Danny Thomas and his family on “Make Room for Granddaddy” in 1971. In 1977, she gathered her television family together for one last time. Joining her were Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, Mary Jane Croft and Mary Wickes along with special guests Ed McMahon, Steve Allen and Miss Lillian Carter, then-President Jimmy Carter's mother. The special was called “Lucy Calls the President” and it featured the last time Lucille appeared on camera with everyone mentioned minus Gale Gordon. Some of her other television credits include “The Ed Wynn Show”, “The Jack Benny Program”, “Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre”, “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse”, “The Danny Kaye Show”, “Password”, “What’s My Line?”, “The Dean Martin Show”, “I’ve Got a Secret”, “The Bob Braun Show”, “Toast of the Town”, “The Carol Burnett Show”, “The Flip Wilson Show”, “Dinah’s Place”, “Dinah!”, “The Dick Cavett Show”, “Donny and Marie”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Hour”, “The Mike Douglas Show”, “Entertainment Tonight”, “Password Plus”, “Three’s Company”, “Body Language”, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “Super Password.” Altogether she did ten television specials which not only included “Lucy Goes to London” and “Lucy Calls the President” but also “Lucy Gets Lucky” and “Lucy Moves to NBC.” In 1985 she received rave reviews for her work in the TV movie "Stone Pillow" in which she played a homeless baglady.

To sum up the programs she headlined “My Favorite Husband” – Wonderful! “I Love Lucy” – THE BEST! “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show” – TERRIFIC “The Lucy Show” – AWESOME! “Here’s Lucy” – Had its Moments! “Life with Lucy” – Had its moments, they were few and far between but her magic was still there. Everything you have read above is information that Lucy fans and lovers have read for years. It is information that has been seared into their hearts and into their brains. The truth is there is no way to put a tribute to Lucille Ball into words and have it do her justice. I have tried but I don’t think I’ve succeeded. The woman was magical. She had an aura that just surrounded her…you could feel it every time she came on the screen. She didn’t even have to be doing anything just her presence was enough. She left us nineteen years ago…but I believe that only her physical form left us. Her soul and her spirit are much larger and when they left her body they became a part of all those who love(d) her. The spirit of Lucille Ball lives inside anyone that believes in the richness and the importance of the healing power of love and laughter.