Before Ms. Ball became an actress, her career actually had her start out as a model. Her modeling career was really successful until she struggled with sicknesses such as rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis which caused her to stop modeling for almost two years! Lucille bounced back, however, and started gaining small rolls in films which then later turned into lead roles. Ball ended up being so successful in the "B-Movie" community that she was nicknamed "Queen of the B's."
It wasn't until 1948 when Lucille stared in the hit sit-com "I Love Lucy"and the rest as they say is history.... LITERALLY! She became the first female in television history to be the head of a production company. The show also became the first sit-com to be shot live in front of a studio audience. Lastly, even though the show lasted only six seasons, it is still being shown on television to this day which makes it the longest syndicated show in history! According to tvguide.com in 2011, almost 40 million people watch "I Love Lucy" every year!
What really makes Lucille a legend in the industry was her ability to make anyone laugh! Whether is was her voice, her facial expressions or her wild antics, her main goal in every episode of "I Love Lucy" was to make the audience smile. Lucy's talent radiates with every episode and has helped those who were having a bad day to turn their frowns upside-down. In my opinion, no one on earth did that better than Lucille Ball.
Tyler, as an AVID Lucy fan, I love this post! When I watch episode re-runs on TV Land, I can't help but be inspired by what an amazing actress she was and even more at what an amazing person she was. As you said, what made her unique was her inevitable ability to make anyone and everyone laugh. I watch the show alone and LAUGH OUT LOUD, simply because she is such a nut! She would do anything to please her audience and get them laughing. One of my favorite episodes was where she added too much baking soda and yeast to the bread she was making, and the loaf just kept coming out of the oven.
ReplyDeleteI truely belive that television was so different and so much more wholesome back then. Today, a show would do well to even touch the level of humor and fanbase that the Lucy clan achieved. She was remarkable and I love that she is immortalized with the record breaking re-runs!
This is an excellent topic! I still watch this show if it's on. I did not know any of this information about Lucy's background and how she got started. It's hard to imagine her not becoming the Lucy Ricardo that she did. This show was such an amazing hit and still airs TV to this day with plenty of viewers! I love Lucy was truly a show that captured that essence of the era. Without this show something valuable would be missing from our media history. I wish the cast story had a happier ending behind the curtain, but we learned from that as well. Very informative post!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I never really indulged myself into the I Love Lucy hype, but this post makes me second guess that. I might have to check it out.
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