Lucille Ball’s Mother Once Sent Her to Live With Her 2nd Husband’s Parents After Her Husband’s Death—Here’s Why
07.03.2022 - 21:07
/ stylecaster.com
She may be a Hollywood icon, but to Lucille Ball’s parents, she was just their daughter. Lucille—whose full name is Lucille Désirée Ball—was born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York, to Henry Durrell Ball and Desiree Evelyn Hunt. (Her middle name was inspired by her mother’s first name.)
She started acting at the age of 12 years old when her stepfather encouraged her to audition for his Shriner’s chorus line. In 1926, Lucille enrolled at the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts in New York City (where Bette Davis was also a student). Lucille said in a later interview that “all I learned in drama school was how to be frightened.” In 1940, Lucille met her future husband, Desi Arnaz, while filming the stage show, Too Many Girls. The couple married that same year.
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In 1948, Lucille was cast as Liz Cooper, a wacky wife in the CBS Radio comedy show, My Favorite Husband. The show ran for 148 episodes. After the success of My Favorite Husband, Lucille was asked by CBS to develop it for television, which she agreed if she could work with her real-life husband, Desi. Unimpressed by the pilot episode, CBS turned down a show with Lucille and Desi, which led them to hit the road as a vaudeville act in which Lucille played a zany housewife who tried to get into her husband’s show. After the success of the tour, CBS greenlit I Love Lucy, which went on to run for more than 100 episodes and be one of the most-watched shows in TV history.
Lucille and Desi’s marriage was portrayed in the 2021 movie Being the Ricardos, in which Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem starred as the couple. The film was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. In an interview with Extra in December 2021,