Young Lucille Ball had always wanted to become an actress. Her determination saw her through many hardships, losses, and poverty.
It wasn’t an easy childhood for the young Lucille, but her perseverance and desire saw the Jamestown, NY native soon grace modeling scenes and eventually finding work as an actress. The I Love Lucy star lived quite the life and her rise to stardom is a fascinating story.
Read on to learn more about the famous redhead:
1. Ball and her husband went on a road tour to convince producers to sign them
Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz persuaded CBS by putting together a vaudeville show in 1950.
The couple toured America, spending $5,000 of their own money to put together a 30-minute pilot. They then showed it to the studio and the rest is history.
2. Ball left film for radio
In the 1930s and ’40s, Ball took small parts in several radio shows. When her movie contract with MGM ended, she turned to radio, landing a part on a program called “My Favorite Husband” in 1947.
Ball kept the role for four years and that laid the groundwork for Lucy Ricardo. CBS wanted to turn the successful program into a television series after seeing its success.
Ball wanted her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, to co-star alongside her even though the studio doubted that a relationship between an American woman and a Cuban man would sell. The couple got their way in the end.
3. Ball and Arnaz met on a movie set
Arnaz met Ball in 1940 during the filming of the movie adaption of “Too Many Girls.”
A whirlwind of romance and elopement a few months later led their friends to believe the relationship wouldn’t last.
4. The couple eventually divorced
The star couple divorced in 1960, but the marriage still proved beneficial for their careers.
5. Buster Keaton helped Ball develop her comedic timing
RKO and MGM limited Ball to minor roles, meaning her career never really advanced under either studio. It was with Columbia Pictures that Lucille Ball’s career took off, thanks to Buster Keaton.
Keaton helped Ball with her timing, even demonstrating how to perform physical comedy with the aid of props at times without getting hurt.
Keaton would even visit Ball on set, offering advice and suggestions when he could.
6. Carole Lombard was a good friend and mentor
Ball met Carole Lombard when they both worked for RKO. Carole Lombard was one of RKO’s top female stars and was also capable of playing comedic roles.
Ball saw her as a role model, and soon the two became friends. Ball even told people that Lombard would visit her in her dreams after Lombard passed away.
7. Ginger Rogers’ mother was one of Ball’s mentors
Ball and Ginger Rogers started a friendship when they met on set for the 1935 film “Roberta.”
Rogers then introduced Ball to her mother, Lela, who was a trainer for young actresses at RKO. Ball went on to say that Lela was the first one to see her “as a clown with glamour.”
Ball went on to learn about the industry thanks to Lela. Afterward, she got better roles and her career grew significantly.
8. Her audition for “Gone with the Wind” didn’t go so well
Lots of actresses auditioned for the role of Scarlett O’Hara when producer David O. Selznick began casting for Gone with the Wind. Ball knew she wasn’t right for the part but agreed when the studio asked her to audition.
She went through six weeks of Southern dialect coaching, but when the day of her audition came, her car stalled thanks to a sudden downpour. Ball walked six blocks, arriving in the studio with her makeup and hair color running.
Selznick’s assistant gave Ball a sweater and a glass of brandy letting her sit by the fire of Selznick’s office. When he arrived, Ball, under the influence of the brandy cried, “I ain’t Scarlett O’Hara. I’m Lucille Ball, and I want to go home.”
She didn’t get the part, but Ball remembered Selznick commenting, “You were very interesting.”
9. MGM changed her hair color
In the early 1940s, MGM studio hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff had Ball change her hair color from brown to red shortly after the actress signed with them.
According to Stefan Kanfer’s “Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball,“ Ball thought the color change was “a nuisance.”
The 1943 film “Du Barry Was a Lady” introduced audiences to Ball’s new hair color, earning her the nickname, “Technicolor Tessie.”
10. Ball moved to Hollywood when offered a small role
Agent Sylvia Hahlo noticed a young Lucille Ball in a 1933 Chesterfield ad and thought Ball would be a perfect chorus girl for Samuel Goldwyn. Hahlo offered Ball the part when a girl dropped out prompting Ball to move to Hollywood.
Over the next two years, Ball took on small roles in films under Columbia Pictures. Ball set herself apart from other actresses with her comedic skills.
A 1934 Three Stooges short, “Three Little Pigskins,” had Ball take a shot of seltzer up her nose.
11. A possible case of rheumatoid arthritis halted her modeling career
Ball developed pneumonia in New York City after overworking herself as a model. She became feverish during a fitting, with intense pain in her legs that had doctors diagnosing her with rheumatoid arthritis. Ball went back home to Upstate New York for some much-needed rest.
But doctors may have misdiagnosed Ball since, at the time, there were no advanced tests to chart the inflammatory condition. Ball’s pain disappeared after a few years and there were no joint deformities usually caused by arthritis.
It may have been rheumatic fever, which also causes joint pain.
12. Chesterfield used her image for their products
Ball spent some time as a model, occasionally posing for painters and photographers. A man who once painted Ball in a chiffon dress eventually sold the painting to Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1933.
Ball soon became the face of the brand. With her face appearing everywhere, agents finally took notice of the future starlet.
13. Ball changed her name to get better jobs
The name was said to have been inspired by the famous Belmont Park horse racing track in Long Island.
Ball even bleached her hair platinum blonde just to match what was popular at the time.
Of course, we know none of that lasted.
14. The name change landed her some early modeling gigs
She began modeling hats for Hattie Carnegie on Seventh Avenue which allowed her to make $35 a week.
Ball also did some work posing for commercial illustrators and photographers when she could.
15. Her teachers thought she didn’t have talent
Ball enrolled in the John Murray Anderson School for Dramatic Arts in New York at the age of 15. She always wanted to become an actress but the school repeatedly suggested that she find another course to study. The school couldn’t see her talent.
Her mother even received a letter saying, “Lucy’s wasting her time and ours. She’s too shy and reticent to put her best foot forward.”
A young Bette Davis was one of Ball’s classmates, which led to her being shy and less confident. Ball said, “I was a tongue-tied teenager spellbound by the school’s star pupil.”
She never gave up. Ball worked as a waitress before finally landing a part in a stage production of Rio Rita in 1927.
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