'I Love Lucy': Lucille Ball's Career In Memoriam

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Lucille Ball

Born August 6, 1911, American actress Lucille Ball was destined for success! At the age of 12, Lucille would discover her passion for acting and by the age of 14 had enrolled in the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts studying alongside another big name actress, Bette Davis. Despite receiving harsh criticism from her teachers, Lucille was determined to make it big and would begin modeling before getting her start on Broadway in 1932!

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'Stage Door'

While Lucille managed to snag chorus work on Broadway, breaking into the acting scene would prove to be harder than she anticipated. Intent on building up her resume, Lucille would move to Hollywood in the early 1930s gaining small parts in films such as Three Little Pigskins (1934) and Top Hat (1935). 1937 would finally bring the larger role Lucille was seeking as an aspiring actress in Stage Door. Performing alongside her distant cousin Ginger Rogers and the famed Katharine Hepburn would begin to gain her the attention she desired!

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'Room Service'

Lucille Ball's next role would come with 1939's film adaptation of the comedy play Room Service. As a "Marx Brothers" film, the role wouldn't thrust Lucille into the spotlight, but would gain her more recognition within Hollywood leading to her rising title as the "Queen of B Movies".

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'Five Came Back'

By 1939 Lucille Ball had starred in a number of successful B movies, melodrama Five Came Back among them! While she was gaining recognition, B movies weren't quite paying the bills and Lucille would also pick up radio work to help supplement her income. During the 1930s Ball would become a regular on shows like The Phil Baker Show and The Wonder Show.

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'Dance, Girl, Dance'

1940 would be a pivitol year for Lucille Ball. Along with starring in two hit musicals Dance, Girl, Dance and Too Many Girls, Ball would fall in love with Too Many Girls co-star Cuban actor Desi Arnaz. Not wasting anytime the two eloped by the year's end and would embark on a relationship that would see it share of both ups and downs!

'Lured'

By the late 1940s Lucille Ball had risen as the star she had always dreamed of becoming. One of her biggest roles of the 1940s came as a taxi dancer in 1947 murder mystery film Lured and primed her to take on her next big project...

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'I Love Lucy'

After starring on the hit CBS radio show My Favorite Husband, CBS asked Lucille Ball to adapt the series for television. Insistent on starring alongside her husband Desi Arnaz, CBS was originally reluctant until watching the success of the pair's vaudeville act. CBS finally agreed to air the show on television as I Love Lucy and the show would become a huge success running for six seasons and producing a number of sequel series like The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy.

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'The Long, Long Trailer'

Having created a television dynasty, power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were all anyone could talk about in the 1950s! During filming breaks for I Love Lucy the pair would take on not just one but two feature films together, The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and this next film...

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'Forever, Darling'

Fans just couldn't get enough of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's on-screen chemistry in films like Forever, Darling (1956). However, while Lucille and Desi were playing a power couple on screen, they were suffering in their relationship off-screen. In 1960 Lucille filed to divorce Ball, claiming their real relationship was nothing like their marriage on-screen. Despite their rough marriage, the pair did share two children together and would remain good friends until Arnez's death in 1986.

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'The Facts of Life'

Lucille Bell's next big film would come in 1960 with five time Academy Award nominated romantic comedy The Facts of Life. Starring alongside Bob Hope, Lucille was absolutely spectacular in this Melvin Frank production, even winning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress!