Remembered as a dizzy sitcom redhead with show business aspirations, Lucille Ball was, in fact, a show business powerhouse and television pioneer. Throughout her teen years, Ball tried unsuccessfully to launch her show business career, finally landing a spot as a Ziegfeld Girl. She launched her Hollywood career as one of the Goldwyn Girls, but she moved out from the crowd of starlets to starring roles. With I Love Lucy, she and husband Desi Arnaz pioneered the 3-camera technique now the standard in filming TV sitcoms, and the concept of syndicating TV programs. She was also the first woman to own her own film studio as the head of Desilu.



Mame (1974): $250,000+10% net profits
Yours, Mine and Ours (1968): 50% of the net profits (co-producer)
A Guide for the Married Man (1967): $10,000 for two days work.
The Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball (1962): $100,000
The Long, Long Trailer (1953): $125,000
The Magic Carpet (1951): $85,000
"I Love Lucy" (1951): $3,500 per episode
Two Smart People (1946): $1,750/week
The Big Street (1942): $3,500/week
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941): $12,500
Too Many Girls (1940): $1,500/week
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940): $3,500/week
Go Chase Yourself (1938): $2,000/week
Don't Tell the Wife (1937): $2,000/week
Top Hat (1935): $50/week

Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award posthumously in 1990. A comment from a member of the preview audience of Follow the Fleet (1936) about bit-player Ball: "You might give the tall gum chewing blonde more parts and see if she can't make the grade - a good gamble." Mother of Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. Was the first woman to own her own film studio. She signed her first promotional agreement with Max Factor in 1935 and again in 1942. Of all the stars, she had the longest association with the Max Factor company. Lucy and her son, Desi Arnaz Jr., appeared together on the very first cover of "TV Guide" magazine in 1953. During the 1933 filming of Roman Scandals (1933), young Lucille Ball, portraying a slave girl, needed to have her eyebrows entirely shaved off. They never grew back. Lucy and Desi Arnaz began "I Love Lucy" (1951) in the hopes of saving their crumbling marriage. She put her Chesterfield cigarettes in a Philip Morris package to please her sponsor (of the "I Love Lucy" (1951) show). Was one of the 20 original "Goldwyn Girls", along with Virginia Bruce; Ann Dvorak; Paulette Goddard and Betty Grable. Second cousin of actress Suzan Ball. Was known for a while as Dianne Belmont back when she was a model. Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2002. One of her last television appearances was in 1989 on the 62nd Academy Awards, with Bob Hope, announcing the nominations and winner of Best Picture. Filed for a divorce from husband Desi Arnaz, the day following the last day of filming "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1957). [3 March 1960] Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 35-37. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387. While still contemplating whether to do the "I Love Lucy" (1951) shows, she claimed that in her dream, Carole Lombard came to her and told her to "Give it a whirl". Disliked any false form of a bird, she preferred to see them in person so she banned all pictures of birds from her house and any hotel room she was staying in. First cousin of Cleo Morgan, though they were raised as sisters. Related by marriage to Vanda Barra. Suffered a miscarriage with her and Desi Arnaz's first child in 1942. Suffered third miscarriage in 1950 with husband Desi Arnaz. She was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609-1675), left England on the ship "Lyon's Whelp" for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorsetshire, England. William, along with his 2 brothers, helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the Revolutionary War and 2 of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island. Lucy and Desi Arnaz were married at the Byram River Beagle Club in Connecticut in 1940. Not long after the Arnazes bought their house on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, it was featured in an episode of "I Love Lucy" (1951) (the one where Richard Widmark guest stars and she climbs over the fence to pick a grapefruit). The day she first met Desi Arnaz, she had a black eye and a torn dress from filming a fight scene for Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) and he didn't find her at all attractive until they met again later in the day when she had changed into her own clothes and makeup. His oft-quoted first impression of her extraordinary beauty was "That's a hunk o' woman". Was once known as the "Chesterfield Girl" because she was the spokesmodel for Chesterfield cigarettes. When they were first married in 1940, Desi Arnaz had to give Lucy a ring from a drugstore because all jewelry stores were closed. She wore it for the rest of their marriage. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 63-66. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. In Italy, her films were often dubbed by Lidia Simoneschi or Wanda Tettoni, notably in the hilarious The Long, Long Trailer (1953). She was occasionally dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta, Dhia Cristiani, Rina Morelli and Renata Marini (in Stage Door (1937)). In 1966 it was reported in an annual stockholder's meeting that her salary as President of Desilu Productions (1962-1967) was $100,000. Her acting fees for 1966 were $130,172. In 1962 she purchased Desi Arnaz's holdings in Desilu holdings for $3 million, as he wanted to retire to his horse ranch in Corona, CA, and lead a more stress-free life. Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" bu Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004). Her 1960 divorce from Desi Arnaz was quite amicable. They divided their $20 million television empire equally, each retaining 25% Desilu stock (282,800 shares),she got the homes in Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, and Desi got the beach house in Del Mar, California and his Horse Ranch in Corona, California. In addition they agreed to joint custody of their children with him paying $450/month child support. When Ball lived at 1000 N. Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, Jack Benny lived at 1002 N. Roxbury Drive. Appears on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Early Television Memories issue with Vivian Vance, as Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz, in a scene from "I Love Lucy: Job Switching (#2.1)" (1952). The stamp was issued 11 August 2009. Became very good friends with Actress Maureen O'Hara during the making of 'Dance Girl, Dance' and continue being friends till Ball's death. O'Hara was with Lucille when Lucille first met her husband Desi Arnaz.