Career Lucille Ball

1 career

1.1 teenage years , career
1.2 hollywood
1.3 love lucy , desilu

career
teenage years , career

in 1925, ball, 14, started dating johnny devita, 21-year-old local hoodlum. dede unhappy relationship, unable influence daughter end it. expected romance burn out in few weeks, did not happen. after year, dede tried separate them using lucille s desire in show business. despite family s meager finances, arranged lucille go john murray anderson school dramatic arts in new york city, bette davis fellow student. ball later said time in life, learned in drama school how frightened. ball s instructors felt not successful in entertainment business, , not afraid in front of her, criticism ball did not enjoy hearing.

ball determined prove teachers wrong , returned new york city in 1928. among other jobs, landed work fashion model hattie carnegie. career thriving when became ill rheumatoid arthritis, , unable work 2 years. moved new york city in 1932 resume pursuit of career actress , supported herself again working carnegie , chesterfield cigarette girl. using name diane (sometimes spelled dianne) belmont, started getting chorus work on broadway, work not lasting. ball hired – fired – theatre impresario earl carroll, vanities, , florenz ziegfeld, touring company of rio rita.

hollywood

after uncredited stint goldwyn girl in roman scandals (1933), starring eddie cantor , gloria stuart, ball moved permanently hollywood appear in films. appeared in many small movie roles in 1930s contract player rko radio pictures, including two-reel comedy short 3 stooges (three little pigskins, 1934) , movie marx brothers (room service, 1938). can seen 1 of featured models in fred astaire , ginger rogers film roberta (1935), briefly flower girl in top hat (1935), , in brief supporting role @ beginning of follow fleet (1936), astaire-rogers film. ball , ginger rogers, distant maternal cousins, played aspiring actresses in film stage door (1937).

in 1936, landed role hoped lead broadway, in bartlett cormack play hey diddle diddle, comedy set in duplex apartment in hollywood. play premiered in princeton, new jersey, on january 21, 1937, ball playing part of julie tucker, 1 of 3 roommates coping neurotic directors, confused executives, , grasping stars interfere girls ability ahead . play received reviews, problems existed, chiefly star, conway tearle, in poor health. cormack wanted replace him, producer, anne nichols, said fault lay character , insisted part needed reshaped , rewritten. 2 unable agree on solution. play scheduled open on broadway @ vanderbilt theatre, closed after 1 week in washington, dc, when tearle became gravely ill.

ball signed metro-goldwyn-mayer in 1940s, never achieved major stardom appearance in studio s films. known in many hollywood circles queen of b s  – title held fay wray – starring in number of b-movies, such 5 came (1939). many budding actresses, ball picked radio work earn side income, gain exposure. in 1937, appeared regularly on phil baker show. once considered , auditioned role of scarlett o hara gone wind (1939), vivien leigh got part, winning academy award best actress role.

when completed run in 1938, ball joined cast of wonder show starring jack haley (best remembered tin woodman in wizard of oz, 1939). here began 50-year professional relationship gale gordon, served show announcer. wonder show lasted 1 season, final episode airing on april 7, 1939. mgm producer arthur freed purchased broadway hit musical play dubarry lady (1943) ann sothern, when sothern turned down part, choice role awarded ball, in real life sothern s best friend. in 1946, ball starred in lover come back. in 1947, appeared in murder mystery lured sandra carpenter, taxi dancer in london.

i love lucy , desilu

a scene love lucy episode lucy goes scotland , 1956



with john wayne in love lucy, 1955

in 1948, ball cast liz cugat (later cooper ), wacky wife, in favorite husband, radio program cbs radio. program successful, , cbs asked develop television. agreed, insisted on working real-life husband, cuban bandleader desi arnaz. cbs executives reluctant, thinking public not accept all-american redhead , cuban couple. cbs not impressed pilot episode produced couple s desilu productions company, couple toured road in vaudeville act lucy zany housewife wanting in arnaz s show. tour great success, , cbs put love lucy lineup. love lucy show not star vehicle lucille ball, way try salvage marriage arnaz, had become badly strained, in part because both had hectic performing schedules kept them apart due desi s attraction other women.

along way, created television dynasty , reached several firsts . ball first woman in television head of production company: desilu, company arnaz , formed. after divorce, ball bought out arnaz s share of studio, , proceeded function active studio head. desilu , love lucy pioneered number of methods still in use in television production today such filming before live studio audience number of cameras, , distinct sets adjacent each other. during time, ball taught 32-week comedy workshop @ brandeis-bardin institute. ball quoted saying, cannot teach comedy; either have or don t.

ball , arnaz wanted remain in los angeles home, time zone logistics made broadcast norm impossible. prime time in l.a. late @ night on east coast air major network series, meaning majority of tv audience seeing not inferior picture of kinescopes, seeing them @ least day later.

sponsor philip morris did not want show day-old kinescopes major markets on east coast, yet neither did want pay cost filming, processing, , editing require, pressuring ball , arnaz relocate new york city. ball , arnaz offered take pay cut finance filming, on condition company, desilu, retain rights film once aired. cbs relinquished show rights desilu after initial broadcast, not realizing giving away valuable , durable asset. in 1957, cbs bought rights $1,000,000 ($8.53 million in today s terms), provided ball , arnaz down payment purchase of former rko pictures studios, became desilu studios.

i love lucy dominated ratings in united states of run. (an attempt made adapt show radio; cast , writers adapted memorable breaking lease episode – in ricardos , mertzes fall out on argument, ricardos threaten move, stuck in firm lease – radio audition disc never aired, has survived.) scene in lucy , ricky practice tango, in episode lucy tango , evoked longest recorded studio audience laugh in history of show; long, sound editor had cut particular part of soundtrack in half. during show s production breaks, lucy , desi starred in 2 feature films: long, long trailer (1954) , forever, darling (1956). after love lucy ended run in 1957, main cast continued appear in occasional hour-long specials under title lucy–desi comedy hour until 1960.

desilu produced several other popular shows, such untouchables, star trek, , mission: impossible. studio sold $17,000,000 ($122 million in today s terms) , merged paramount pictures in 1967.