Red hair and blue eyes
Originally interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, Court of Remembrance. In 2003, she was re-interred in the Ball family plot in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, New York.
Was the first woman to own her own film studio as the head of Desilu Productions.
Was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Died the morning of April 26, 1989, the fifty-sixth birthday of her friend Carol Burnett. That afternoon Burnett received the flowers that Ball had ordered for her birthday.
She was fired from working at an ice cream store because she kept forgetting to put bananas in banana splits.
TV Guide picked her as the greatest TV star of all time.
Was known for a while as Dianne Belmont back when she was a model.
Pictured on a 34¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 6 August 2001.
Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.
Her favorite movie she made was The Big Street (1942). Up to her dying day, she resented AMPAS for not recognizing her performance in the movie by including her for an Academy Award nomination.
Felt that she did not deserve the title of "Queen of Comedy" and felt that it belonged to her idol, Carole Lombard.
She was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609-1675), left England on the ship "Lyon's Whelp" for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorsetshire, England. William, along with his 2 brothers, helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the Revolutionary War and 2 of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island.
Her 1960 divorce from Desi Arnaz was quite amicable. They divided their $20 million television empire equally, each retaining 25% Desilu stock (282,800 shares), she got the homes in Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, and Desi got the beach house in Del Mar, California and his Horse Ranch in Corona, California. In addition, they agreed to joint custody of their children with him paying $450/month child support
Mother of Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.
That is a sad story, about Lucille dying on Carol Burnett's birthday, and Carol receiving the flowers after her death.
ReplyDeleteTruly a remarkable woman, to accomplish so much in what was a male-dominated industry.