
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
