INTRODUCTION

Lucille Ball was a well-known actress, model, radio star, businesswoman, and comedian. In Ball’s autobiography Love, Lucy, she outlines her childhood, personal life, and career ventures. In this autobiography, she portrays herself as more than a career woman by revealing a vulnerable side to her and shares her role as a daughter, wife, friend, and mother. Lucille Ball did not get her big break until she was 40 years old, but the relentless work ethic that she possessed kept her resiliently fighting until her breakthrough (Bitette). Her most memorable role is that of Lucy Ricardo, a ditzy, lovable housewife, on her show I Love Lucy, in which she brightened the lives of its audience and subtly challenged societal stereotypes. Ball’s talent and willingness for physical comedy made her memorable and defined her comedic genius (Brady). Through her character roles and business achievements, Ball paved the way for women in the television industry, created a foundation of themes and ideas widely used in television, and revolutionized the filming format of television shows.

SHAPING INFLUENCES

Family was a huge influence and motivator in Lucille Ball’s life. As a young child, Ball adored her father; he would roughhouse her “as he might with a boy,” but he passed away after contracting typhoid when Ball was “not yet four” (Ball 4-5). Her mother remarried a man, Ed Peterson, and Ball went to live with Ed’s strict, traditional, and disciplinary parents (Ball 8). Although Ball despised this environment when she was younger, the “hard work, discipline, and a perfectionist attitude” carried on to her work (Ball 9-10). Ball was very fond of her maternal grandparents as they instilled “commitment to hard work” and “deep family loyalty” into her (Flint; “Lucille Ball”). Her grandparents did not possess much wealth but provided her with “a richly satisfying family life” (Ball 12). Her beloved grandpa lost everything when charged negligence after being involved in an accidental shooting that paralyzed a little boy (Ball 32-33). This tragic event destroyed her life in Celeron, contributing to her desire to go beyond her home (Ball 35).

Ball’s strong emotions and love for theatre hint to her career as an actress. Ball’s mother found it hard to control her, so she placed her grocery store owner who let her “prance up and down his counter” while she recited pieces and would occasionally receive rewards from customers; this was her “first professional appearance” (Ball 5). Ball was an angsty teenager and would perform “silly” antics for attention, and Bernard Drake, her school principal, labeled her feelings as talent, urging her to the stage (Ball 25). Although a stage career did not occur to Ball until her step-dad, Ed Peterson, took her to watch “the great monologuist Julius Tannen in the Celeron school auditorium,” who played an important part in starting her career (Ball 28). She put on her “first amateur production, Charley’s Aunt” with her friend; it was a success and motivated her to get “musical and dramatic offerings,” (Ball 27-29). To support Ball’s talent, her mother sent her to the John Murray Anderson-Robert Milton for dramatic arts at age 15, but by the end of the term, the school wrote her mother and said that Ball “didn’t have what it takes to be an actress” (Ball 39-40; Norwood). Soon after this rejection, Ball quickly realized she had “to be very strong, very healthy, and damned resilient,” as in this industry one could “be rejected by the greatest possible number of people” (Ball 39-40). The rejection encouraged her to work harder and build up the thick skin needed to survive in the industry. 

Many people in the industry gave Ball a “boost” and helped her succeed (Ball 79). Ed Sedwick was a famous comedy director who taught Ball comedy techniques, like funny facial expressions and handling props (Ball 78-79). Lela Rogers was like a mom to many struggling actresses, including Ball, by tutoring, comforting, and pushing them into opportunities (Ball 72). Rogers believed in Lucy from the first time she saw her and was the first person to see her as “a clown with glamour” (Ball 70-71, 73). These mentors supported Ball’s career and provided her with a safe space, which she needed the most when she was new to the industry (Ball 79).

WORK

Breaking into the television industry was a rocky road for Lucille Ball. After leaving a dramatic school, Ball went by the stage name Diane Belmont and attempted being a chorus girl for Broadway (“Lucille Ball”). She often got fired from shows and people in the industry told her she should give up because “she did not have enough talent.” (“Lucille Ball”). Although the comments did not deter her, a rare kind of arthritis did, and Ball was forced to move back home to Celeron for a couple of years (Ball 46-47, “Lucille Ball”). Ball returned to New York to look for work under her real name; she made her salary posing for coffee, cigarette ads, and commercial illustrators (Ball 53). One day, a freelance painter did an oil portrait of Ball and sold it to Chesterfield cigarettes, leading Ball’s face to appear in billboards “all over town” (Ball 56). While Ball was in front of the Palace theater, a woman recognized her from the billboards and said that Sam Goldwyn was looking for poster girls, which led to her casting in the film Roman Scandals, kicking off her Hollywood career (Ball 56-57, “Lucille Ball”). In the following two decades, Ball had contracts with Columbia, RKO, and MGM, getting good roles in B-movies but went a long time without a “breakout screen role that could launch her career” (“Lucille Ball”).

Ball’s big break occurred when she was 40 years old with her show I Love Lucy (Bitette). The precursor to I Love Lucy was a radio show called My Favorite Husband in which Ball plays Liz Cugat, the “wacky wife” of a midwestern banker who comically attempted to boost his career (Ball 156, 170; Flint). Ball and Arnaz had always wanted to co-star in a series, but CBS rejected Ball’s idea of a domestic comedy between the two of them as CBS did not see him as “the type to play a typical American husband,” but Ball was resilient and made it a condition that Arnaz must be in the comedy alongside her (Ball 156, 167; Brady). During Ball’s fourth month of pregnancy, CBS agreed to “finance a pilot for a domestic television show” starring Ball and Arnaz (Ball 167). The deal almost fell apart when the sponsor of the show insisted that the show should be weekly and done in New York, but Ball and Arnaz refused to move (Ball 169). They decided that the show be filmed live in front of an audience in Los Angeles (Ball 169). The writers from My Favorite Husband were recruited for the show (Ball 168-169). Many of the show’s plots, like constant marriage separations and reconciliations, were based on the real-life marriage of Ball and Arnaz (Ball 178; Norwood). In the show, Desi played Ricky Ricardo, a Latin-American Band leader who was the “level-headed member of the family” and Ball played Lucy Ricardo, an “impulsive, inquisitive, and completely feminine” homemaker who comically tried to break into show business (Ball 168). 

I Love Lucy was an instant success, and over the years accumulated over twenty awards, having five Emmys under its belt (Norwood). The show ran for six years and ranked number one for four years, never dropping below third (“Lucille Ball”). To put the show's influence into perspective, 44 million people viewed the episode in which Lucy had her baby; the presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower the following day received a viewership of 28 million people (Brady). To this day, it holds the record for the most-watched television episode of all time (“Lucille Ball”). The show ended, Ball filmed many spin-offs like The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy, but none could recreate the magic that I Love Lucy possessed (Bitette). Ball continued to receive awards during her lifetime, including inductions into the Television Hall of Fame, four Emmys, the International Radio and Television Society’s Gold Medal (Flint).

Ball also individually succeeded in lucrative business ventures. To produce I Love Lucy, Ball and Arnaz created Desilu Productions together in 1950 (Norwood). The company created iconic television shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show and Star Trek (“Lucille Ball”). After Ball and Arnaz divorced, Ball bought his shares of Desilu Productions for 2.5 million dollars in 1962, making her the first woman CEO and owner of a major studio (Bitette; Flint; Norwood). In 1967, she sold Desilu Productions to Gulf and Western Industries for 17 million dollars (Flint). Ball headed another production company, Lucille Ball Productions, from 1967 till her death (Bitette). 

CRITIQUE

Lucille Ball paved the way for women in the television industry (“Lucille Ball”). Ball broke barriers in the entertainment business like being the first woman to head a major production company, Desilu Productions (Flint; Norwood). This opened up opportunities for women to take up leadership roles in the entertainment industry, as they had “a powerful female figure,” to look up to (“Lucille Ball”). Ball prioritized comedy over glamour throughout her career, something not commonplace in an era of Hollywood where women were expected to act “like a lady” (Ball 51; Bitette). Although women would perform comical stunts in the silent era, the introduction of sounds led to the expectation that actresses were “beautiful and glamorous,” but Ball made physical comedy performed by women more widely accepted (Brady). Ball paved the way “for female comedians like Penny Marshall and Cybill Shepherd” with her self-produced shows and “more than 70 movies” (Bitette). Today, female comedians like Tina Fey and Amy Schumer can “get away with a lot on TV” thanks to the pioneering work of Ball (Bitette). Ball smoothly incorporated themes of women’s liberation with light-hearted comedy and “decades later, physical comedians like Lily Tomlin and Gilda Radner finished what Ball started, turning chaotic energy into a feminist statement” (Millman). Ball is still regarded as “a symbol of feminism” for all she contributed to moving women upwards in the television industry.

Themes, ideas, and concepts from Ball’s hit show I Love Lucy are still applied to television today. The British comedy sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous has the concept of “the basic anarchy of women unbound,” with roles similar to Lucy and Ethel (Millman). The two characters, one being the brains and the other being her dumbed-down friend, plot to grasp their last chance at fame, just as Lucy and Ethel would plot schemes together on I Love Lucy (Millman). The influence of I Love Lucy extends to the ABC sitcom Ellen, starring Ellen DeGeneres (Millman). DeGeneres was similar to Lucy in the way that she tried to break free of society's constraints and had elements of physical comedy that resembled stunts performed on I Love Lucy (Millman). In the show, Ellen struggles to find a romantic partner of the opposite sex, and as this sitcom was created before she came out to the public, the echo of wanting to break free of stereotypes is even more prevalent; Lucy fought gender stereotypes while Ellen fought homophobia (Milman). Will and Grace, a sitcom, has main characters with the same character dynamic as Lucy and Ricky, but the roles are assigned to the opposite gender (Millman). Grace is also a redhead, but Lucy is mirrored by Jack who is “a childless impulsive struggling actor,” just as Lucy was emotionally driven and desperate to break into show business (Millman). Jack is overconfident, boastful, and lovable all at the same time, just like Lucy Ricardo (Millman). There will never be another show exactly like I Love Lucy, but being the comedic masterpiece that it is, manages to influence television 50 years after its closing (Millman). 

Lucille Ball, through ownership of Desilu Productions, revolutionized the method used to film television shows. Before I Love Lucy was filmed, a majority of shows were filmed using one camera and broadcasted live from New York, but the quality was bad and the image was usually fuzzy when shown on the other side of the country (Ball 169; “Lucille Ball”). Instead of one camera, I Love Lucy was filmed with three cameras: one far away, close up, and one at a medium-distance distance (Ball 173). It was one of the first shows filmed and recorded, rather than being broadcasted live, so the quality of the episodes was much higher than before (Flint). “The change eventually led to a shift of television production from New York to Hollywood” (Flint). Desilu Productions started filming in front of a live studio audience, as that was when Ball performed her best, and with three cameras, both of which became “commonplace techniques in television productions” (Norwood). “Ball’s influence made I Love Lucy one of the first television shows to be recorded in the way that became standard in television sitcoms” (“Lucille Ball”).

CONCLUSION

At first glance, Lucille Ball seemed to have a perfect life, with great status and success, but as the layers of her persona unravel through her life story, it is clear that this woman suffered and faced many obstacles throughout her life, yet came back stronger and hurdled over them. It is hard to separate Lucille Ball from her most famous character, Lucy Ricardo of I Love Lucy, yet they are very distinct. Although they were both fiery redheads, Lucy Ricardo was a semi-submissive housewife who did not know independence, while Lucille Ball was an ambitious and career-oriented woman who worked to chase her dreams. In a way, the character Lucy Ricardo was everything that Lucille felt she lacked and could not provide in her real-life marriage to Desi Arnaz (Ball 170). Lucille Ball walked so women in the television industry could run. Lucille Ball will always be an American cultural icon who, even after death, continues to touch the lives and hearts of millions of Americans with her character roles.