Lucille Ball

This is a beta version of NNDB

Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball AKA Lucille Desiree Ball

Born: 6-Aug-1911
Birthplace: Jamestown, NY
Died: 26-Apr-1989
Location of death: Los Angeles, CA
Cause of death: Aneurysm
Remains: Buried, Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, NY

Gender: Female
Religion: Baptist [1]
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor
Party Affiliation: See Note [2]

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: I Love Lucy

[1] Born into a Baptist family, her parents were married by Reverend Charles D. Reed of the Calvary Baptist Church. Ball "remarried" Desi Arnaz in a Catholic ceremony June 19th, 1949 but she herself never converted to the faith. For a short time also Ball attended Marble Collegiate Church (Dutch Reform), run by Norman Vincent Peale, but never considered herself a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. In her own words, "It was a beautiful ceremony and I believed in it. At the time, I seriously intended to become a Catholic. I took instruction for a long time, but lost the inspiration when I realized that Catholicism did not seem to help Desi in his life." Her second husband, Gary Morton, was a Jew. See Stefan Kanfer, Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball (2003).

[2] Registered as a Communist in 1936 to placate her grandfather.

Father: Henry Durrell Ball ("Had", d. 1915 typhoid fever)
Mother: Desiree Evelyn Hunt
Boyfriend: Alexander Hall (film director, broken engagement)
Husband: Desi Arnaz (m. 30-Nov-1940, div. 4-May-1960, one daughter, one son)
Daughter: Lucie Arnaz (actress, b. 17-Jul-1951)
Son: Desi Arnaz, Jr. (actor, b. 19-Jan-1953)
Husband: Gary Morton (m. 19-Nov-1961, until her death)

Columbia Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
RKO Radio Pictures under contract
Endorsement of Philip Morris
Endorsement of Liggett Group Chesterfield cigarettes (1949-52)
Endorsement of General Electric 1952
Sgt. Pepper Lonely Heart
Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame
Emmy 1953 for Best Comedienne
Emmy 1956 for I Love Lucy
Emmy 1967 for The Lucy Show
Emmy 1968 for The Lucy Show
Hollywood Walk of Fame 6436 Hollywood Blvd. (motion picture)
Hollywood Walk of Fame 6104 Hollywood Blvd. (television)
Kennedy Center Honor 1986
National Women's Hall of Fame
Open Heart Surgery
Miscarriage multiple
Stroke May-1988
Paralyzed
Risk Factors: Arthritis, Smoking, Aviophobia

TELEVISION
Here's Lucy Lucille Carter (1968-74)
The Lucy Show Lucy Carmichael (1962-68)
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour Lucille Ball (1957-60)
I Love Lucy Lucy Ricardo (1951-57)

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Mame (27-Mar-1974)
Yours, Mine and Ours (24-Apr-1968)
A Guide for the Married Man (25-May-1967)
Critic's Choice (13-Apr-1963)
The Facts of Life (14-Nov-1960)
Forever, Darling (9-Feb-1956)
The Long, Long Trailer (18-Feb-1954)
Fancy Pants (19-Jul-1950)
Easy Living (8-Oct-1949)
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (20-Sep-1949)
Sorrowful Jones (5-Jun-1949)
Lured (28-Aug-1947)
Easy to Wed (11-Jul-1946)
The Dark Corner (9-Apr-1946)
Ziegfeld Follies (8-Apr-1946)
Without Love (22-Mar-1945)
Meet the People (21-Apr-1944)
Thousands Cheer (13-Sep-1943) Herself
Du Barry Was a Lady (13-Aug-1943)
Best Foot Forward (29-Jun-1943) Herself
The Big Street (13-Aug-1942)
Too Many Girls (8-Oct-1940)
Dance, Girl, Dance (30-Aug-1940)
Five Came Back (23-Jun-1939)
Beauty for the Asking (10-Feb-1939)
Room Service (30-Sep-1938)
Having Wonderful Time (1-Jun-1938)
Go Chase Yourself (22-Apr-1938)
Stage Door (8-Oct-1937)
Follow the Fleet (20-Feb-1936)
Chatterbox (17-Jan-1936)

Is the subject of books:
Lucille, 1995, BY: Kathryn Brady
Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, 1993, BY: Coyne Steven Sanders and Tom Gilbert

Author of books:
Love, Lucy (1996, memoir)

Appears on postage stamps:
USA, Scott #3523 (34 cents, self-adhesive, issued 6-Aug-2001)

New!
NNDB MAPPER Create a map starting with Lucille Ball

Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile