Lucille Desiree Ball was born in Jamestown, New York
on August 6, 1911. Her father died when she was four and her mother later remarried. She began studying drama at age 15. She supported herself in Manhattan as a model and a poster girl. Her first modeling break came when she became one of the 1933 "Chesterfield Girls." This led to her first Hollywood role as one of the Goldwyn Girls in the Eddie Cantor film, "Roman Scandals." She signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1934. She starred in such films as "Room Service," "Stage Door,"
and "Sorrowful Jones." Lucy met Desi on the set of an RKO picture in 1940. Beginning in 1948, she decided to try radio and starred on the radio show, "My Favorite Husband." It lasted for three years. "I Love Lucy" was a very successful show. They purchased RKO studios, which they renamed Desilu Productions. Lucy and Desi ended "I Love Lucy" in 1957. After a stint on broadway with Wildcat, Lucy returned to television in two hit shows, "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy." In 1961, Lucy married Gary Morton, a nightclub comedian. She starred in two final feature films: "Yours, Mine and Ours" in 1968 and "Mame" in 1974. She portrayed a homeless woman in a television movie in 1985, "Stone Pillow." The following year she was on the sitcom, "Life with
Lucy." In 1984, she was among the first seven stars inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Her last tv appearance was with Bob Hope on the 1989 telecast of the Academy Awards. On April 26, 1989, Lucy died unexpectedly of a ruptured aorta.
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