She has been known as “The Queen of Comedy,” and “The First Lady of Television,” but we all know her as simply Lucy.
Lucille Desiree Ball was born in Jamestown, New York in 1911, and was a “Goldwyn Girl” in Hollywood in the early 1930s. For the rest of the decade, Lucy honed her comedic skills, and in 1940, she began the most memorable and powerful partnership in television history, when she married Cuban bandleader Desiderio Arnaz. Lucy and Desi remained married for 20 years, and in that time built a TV empire, producing and starring in the hit TV sitcom “I Love Lucy”, based on a comedy radio program Lucy had starred in, called “My Favorite Husband”. Eventually, Lucy became the first woman to own her own film studio, along with Desi, called “Desilu”. The venture (later sold to Paramount) made Lucy and Desi multi-millionaires.
If you believe urban legends, Lucy also helped with the war effort, albeit inadvertently. It was rumored (though never proven) that she aided the authorities during WWII, when she reported picking up Morse-coded Japanese radio signals via the metal fillings in her teeth.
Lucille Ball passed away in 1989, at the age of 77.
