Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy. One of the most popular and influential stars in America during her lifetime, with one of Hollywood's longest careers, especially on television, Ball began acting in the 1930s, becoming both a radio actress and B-movie star in the 1940s, and then a television star during the 1950s. She was still making films in the 1960s and 1970s. Ball received thirteen Emmy Award nominations and four wins. In 1977 Ball was among the first recipients of the Women in Film Crystal Award. She was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1979, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986 and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1989. In 1929, Ball landed work as a model and later began her performing career on Broadway using the stage name Dianne Belmont. She appeared in many small movie roles in the 1930s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures. Ball was labeled as the "Queen of the Bs" (referring to her many roles in B-films). In 1951, Ball was pivotal in the creation of the television series I Love Lucy. The show co-starred her then husband, Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel and Fred Mertz, the Ricardos' landlords and friends. The show ended in 1957 after 180 episodes. They then changed the format a little - lengthening the time of the show from 30 minutes to 60 minutes (the first one went 75 mins), adding some characters, altering the storyline somewhat, and renaming the show from "I Love Lucy" to "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", which ran for three seasons (1957–1960) and 13 episodes. Ball went on to star in two more successful television series: The Lucy Show, which ran on CBS from 1962 to 1968 (156 Episodes), and Here's Lucy from 1968 to 1974 (144 episodes). Her last attempt at a television series was a 1986 show called Life with Lucy - which failed miserably after 8 episodes aired although 13 were produced. Ball met and eloped with Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz in 1940. On July 17, 1951, almost 40 years old, Ball gave birth to their first child, Lucie Désirée Arnaz. A year and a half later, Ball gave birth to their second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, Jr. Ball and Arnaz divorced on May 4, 1960. On April 26, 1989, Ball died of a dissecting aortic aneurysm at age 77. At the time of her death she had been married to her second husband, standup comedian and business partner Gary Morton, for twenty-eight years.
206 acting credits · 2 directing credits
Acting · 206
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
The Carol Burnett Show
1967
The Lucy Show
1962
I Love Lucy
1951
What's My Line?
1950
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Omnibus
1967
Intimate Portrait
1993
Here's Lucy
1968
Dinah!
1974
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
The Jack Benny Program
1950
The Bob Hope Show
1950
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
This Is Your Life
1952
The Flip Wilson Show
1970
MGM Parade
1955
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
1969
Body Language
1984
Entertainment Tonight
1981
The Danny Kaye Show
1963
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
Donny & Marie
1976
The Emmy Awards
1949
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
1957
Life with Lucy
1986
Password
1961
The Ann Sothern Show
1958
NBC Sunday Showcase
1959
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
1987
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
The Practice
1976
The Pearl Bailey Show
1971
Top Hat
1935
The Ed Wynn Show
1949
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
1988
Treffpunkt New York
1961
Yours, Mine and Ours
1968
Stage Door
1937
A Guide for the Married Man
1967
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
Ziegfeld Follies
1945
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
Mame
1974
My Darling Vivian
2020
Critic's Choice
1963
Lured
1947
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1998
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution
2024
Stone Pillow
1985
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter — Volume 2
2001
Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration
2015
The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter — Volume 1
2001
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1945
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
2023
The Whole Town's Talking
1935
The Dark Corner
1946
The Affairs of Cellini
1934
Five Came Back
1939
Swing Out, Sweet Land
1970
Easy Living
1949
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
That's Dancing!
1985
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017
Joy of Living
1938
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
2004
A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music
2025
Room Service
1938
The Fuller Brush Girl
1950
Roberta
1935
Dance, Girl, Dance
1940
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
The Long, Long Trailer
1954
That's Entertainment! III
1994
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976
Too Many Girls
1940
Roman Scandals
1933
The Bowery
1933
Winterset
1936
The Big Street
1942
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
1976
Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
1975
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
1968
Forever, Darling
1956
Moulin Rouge
1934
Miss Grant Takes Richmond
1949
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
Broadway Bill
1934
Thousands Cheer
1943
Bunker Bean
1936
Lucy and Desi
2022
Classic TV Bloopers Uncensored
2011
Best Foot Forward
1943
Lucy in London
1966
Follow the Fleet
1936
Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
2000
Without Love
1945
Showbiz Goes to War
1982
Kid Millions
1934
Carnival
1935
Annabel Takes a Tour
1938
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
1941
The Three Musketeers
1935
Cher... and Other Fantasies
1979
Ellis in Freedomland
1952
Sorrowful Jones
1949
The Affairs of Annabel
1938
Biography: Bob Hope: America's Entertainer
2003
Fancy Pants
1950
Judy Garland: By Myself
2004
Blood Money
1933
Bottoms Up
1934
Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special
1970
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
All Star Party for Lucille Ball
1984
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed
2023
Next Time I Marry
1938
Two Smart People
1946
That's Right – You're Wrong
1939
This Is Bob Hope...
2017
That Girl from Paris
1936
I Dream Too Much
1935
Lover Come Back
1946
Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie
1993
Three Little Pigskins
1934
Three for Two
1975
Having Wonderful Time
1938
Don't Tell the Wife
1937
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
1974
Easy to Wed
1946
Nana
1934
Murder at the Vanities
1934
Her Husband's Affairs
1947
The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years
1993
Valley of the Sun
1942
Panama Lady
1939
Salute to Stan Laurel
1965
Jealousy
1934
Meet the People
1944
The Facts of Life
1960
The Magic Carpet
1951
NBC: The First Fifty Years
1976
Go Chase Yourself
1938
Old Man Rhythm
1935
A Beverly Hills Christmas
1987
The Bob Hope Chevy Show
1956
Muss 'em Up
1936
Seven Days' Leave
1942
Fugitive Lady
1934
Women I Love: Beautiful But Funny
1982
Behind the Evidence
1935
Look Who's Laughing
1941
The Farmer in the Dell
1936
Beauty for the Asking
1939
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
2016
His Old Flame
1935
Dummy Ache
1936
The Marines Fly High
1940
Carol + 2
1966
Lucy Calls the President
1977
A Woman of Distinction
1950
Bob Hope's Love Affair with Lucy
1989
Hold That Girl
1934
Men of the Night
1934
Carnival Nights
1968
Lucy Gets Lucky
1975
Chatterbox
1936
The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour
1964
I Love Lucy: The Movie
1953
Lucy Moves to NBC
1980
G.I. Journal
1944
Shirley MacLaine: Gypsy in My Soul
1976
The Jack Benny Birthday Special
1969
The Funny World of Lucy, Volume 1
1997
I'll Love You Always
1935
You Can't Fool Your Wife
1940
All Star Party for Clint Eastwood
1986
Twelve Crowded Hours
1939
General Foods Opening Night
1963
What Now, Catherine Curtis?
1976
Swing It
1936
Hooray for Love
1935
A Night at the Biltmore Bowl
1935
One Live Ghost
1936
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
1933
So and Sew
1936
Ann-Margret: From Hollywood with Love
1969
Lucy's Really Lost Moments
1956
Foolish Hearts
1935
Pioneers of Primetime
2005
Perfectly Mismated
1934
A Love Letter to Jack Benny
1981
The Lucy-Desi Milton Berle Special
—
A Tribute to Lucy
1989
