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As stars and producers, Lucy and Desi (shown with kids Desi Jr. and Lucie Arnaz) were a power couple on both sides of the "I Love Lucy" cameras. They split in 1960 after 20 years of marriage. For more pics go to Classic Hollywood Romances![lucy_2]()
Backstage at a benefit, 1948 For more pics go to Classic Hollywood Romances![lucy_3]()
Lucy and Desi (third from the right) sign autographs outside the theater, Feb. 5, 1956. For more pics go to Ed Sullivan: 40 Incredible Guests![lucy_4]()
"I Love Lucy" proper ended in 1957, but the characters carried over into "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," a series of occasional specials. For more pics of Lucy go to I Love Lucy: Life On Set![lucy_5]()
Husband and wife consult. For more pics of Lucy go to I Love Lucy: Life On Set![lucy_6]()
Lucy and Desi in costume as painters for a scene. "I don't suppose that hard work, discipline, and a perfectionist attitude toward my work did me any harm," Ball wrote in Love, Lucy. "And when life seemed unbearable, I learned to live in my imagination, and to step inside other people's skins--indispensable abilities for an actress." For more pics of Lucy go to I Love Lucy: Life On Set![lucy_7]()
Oh, dear. For more pics of Lucy go to I Love Lucy: Life On Set![lucy_8]()
Lucille Ball on CBS' radio show "Suspense." For more pics go to Classic Stars On The Radio![lucy_9]()
Lucille Ball, 31, strikes a seductive pose in 1942, after years of paying dues as a model, showgirl, and B-movie starlet, and a decade before becoming a TV comedy icon on "I Love Lucy." For more pics go to Sexiest Showbiz Redheads: The Women![lucy_10]()
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball strike familiar poses as they survey their new empire, the Desilu Studios, in 1958. The camera set-up behind them is actually one of Lucy and Desi's greatest innovations. When they started "I Love Lucy" in 1951, most TV shows were produced live in New York, captured on low-quality kinetoscopes, then re-aired on the West Coast. The Arnazes insisted on working in Hollywood and shooting their show in advance on film. They invented the three-camera staging so they could shoot from multiple angles and distances simultaneously while performing the show before a live audience in the studio. The couple also got CBS to let them keep the filmed episodes, which ended up making them a fortune in syndication before re-runs had become commonplace. The three camera set-up became the standard for shooting sitcoms (and it remains today), and it began the shift of TV production from New York to Hollywood. For more pics go to Lucille Ball: Unpublished Photos![lucy_11]()
In 1958, on the set of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"--a collection of occasional lavish specials that followed the adventures of the Ricardos and the Mertzes after "I Love Lucy"--Ball does a comedy bit as a wisecracking clerk. As in real life, the fictional Lucy seemed to have tried every job in the want ads in the hope of eventually becoming famous and successful. Watching her fail spectacularly every week (even as the actress who played her showed off her unparalleled comic skills) made Lucy Ricardo a success--at becoming one of TV's most unforgettable characters. For more pics go to Lucille Ball: Unpublished Photos![lucy_12]()
As a teen, Ball worked as a model, touting everything from designer couture to cigarettes. But at 19, she was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis and couldn't work for two years. Once she recovered, she began working as an actress on Broadway, and a decade and a half later, she was in Hollywood. Here, Ball looks cautiously over her shoulder at the future in this outtake from John Florea's 1942 photo essay on the entertainer, which touted her as being on the brink of fame after a decade of kicking around Hollywood. (This photo, like all the others in this gallery, has never before been published--all are gems left on the cutting room floor as the magazine edited down its features). At the time of this portrait, Ball was in the midst of shooting her first major lead in "DuBarry Was a Lady," playing the role made famous by Ethel Merman in Cole Porter's hit Broadway musical. Florea also photographed her dancing on the set and bouncing on a trampoline; as it turned out, she had to spend another decade doing fancy footwork before she would vault into immortality on TV. For more of the unpublished pics go to Lucille Ball: Unpublished PhotosLucille Ball: Celebrating Her 100th Birthday
Lucille Ball was born August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New YorK. Saturday is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the television legend.
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- Lucille Ball: Celebrating Her 100th Birthday
