Trivia

When they were married in 1940, Desi Arnaz had to give her a cheap ring from a drugstore because all the jewelry stores were closed. She wore it for the rest of their marriage.

Died the morning of April 26, 1989, the 56th birthday of her friend Carol Burnett. That afternoon Burnett received the flowers that Ball had ordered for her birthday.

She signed her first promotional agreement with Max Factor in 1935 and again in 1942. Of all the stars, she had the longest association with the Max Factor company.

Was awarded two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; for Motion Pictures at 6436 Hollywood Blvd, and for Television at 6100 Hollywood Blvd.

The day she first met Desi Arnaz, she had a black eye and a torn dress from filming a fight scene for Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) and he didn't find her at all attractive until they met again later in the day when she had changed into her own clothes and makeup. His oft-quoted first impression of her extraordinary beauty was "That's a hunk o' woman".

Spent her last day ordering flowers for Carol Burnett. Lucy, for years, would have flowers sent over to Carol's house on her birthday. Lucy passed away the next day, on April 26, 1989, and Carol received the flowers hours after she learned of Lucy's death.

Was the first woman to own her own film studio when she became the head of Desilu Productions.

Felt that she did not deserve the title of "Queen of Comedy" and felt that it belonged to her idol, Carole Lombard.

Ball and Desi Arnaz began I Love Lucy (1951) in the hopes of saving their crumbling marriage.

Her acting mentors were Buster Keaton and Red Skelton.

Stricken by rheumatoid arthritis early in her modeling career, she spent two years re-learning how to walk.

In July 1967 she sold Desilu Productions, consisting of 36 sound stages, 2000 employees and 62 acres adjacent to Paramount, to Gulf+Western Industries for $17 million. She received $10 million in Gulf+Western stock for her 60% of Desilu, the remaining $7 million being distributed to 3878 stockholders. In 1968, after the sale of Desilu, she was reported to be the richest woman in television, having earned an estimated $30 million.

Ball and her son, Desi Arnaz Jr., appeared together on the very first cover of "TV Guide" magazine in 1953.

On March 3, 1960, Ball filed for a divorce from husband Desi Arnaz, the day following the last day of filming The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957). The couple 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 the horse ranch in Corona. In addition, they agreed to joint custody of their children, for which she received $450/month child support. In 1962, she purchased Desi Arnaz's holdings in Desilu holdings for $3 million, as he wanted to retire to his horse ranch and lead a more stress-free life.

She was fired from working at an ice cream store because she kept forgetting to put bananas in banana splits.

Few people recognize her role in the dawn of Star Trek. As head of Desilu, she decided to go ahead with the project against the advice of her advisers. They told her the project would bankrupt her, and -- in the end -- they were right. The cost of Star Trek was a major reason she was forced to sell the company.

Gave birth to her first child, Lucie Desiree Arnaz (Lucie Arnaz) at age 39 on July 17, 1951, via Caesarean section.

The original Desilu was Ball and Arnaz's ranch in Chatsworth, California. They used the same method of naming it that Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford had done when they named their estate "Pickfair".

Ball was six years older than first husband Desi Arnaz, and 13 years older than second husband, Gary Morton. For many years, she and Arnaz obscured this by splitting the difference in their ages. She (born in 1911) said she was born in 1914 and he (born in 1917) also said he was born in 1914.

During the filming of Roman Scandals (1933), Lucy - playing a slave girl - needed to have her eyebrows entirely shaved off. They never grew back.

"TV Guide" picked her as the greatest TV star of all time.

While still contemplating whether to do the I Love Lucy (1951) shows, she claimed that in her dream, Carole Lombard came to her and told her to "Give it a whirl".

Before her movie career, she was a model at Hattie Carnegie's in New York. She mainly modeled heavy fur coats because she was startlingly thin as a young lady.

In 1958 in order to raise funds for their various investments, she and Desi Arnaz took Desilu public on the NYSE at $10 per share. They each retained 25% of the company, with each selling 25%. She took her $2.5-million windfall, paid $600,000 in capital gains taxes and, always frugal, invested the remainder in bonds and securities.

Originally interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, CA, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, Court of Remembrance. In 2003, she was re-interred in the Ball family plot in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, NY.

Contrary to their respective I Love Lucy (1951) personas, in real life Ball was the frugal one while Desi Arnaz was the spendthrift.

Ball and Desi Arnaz were married a second time in 1946 in a church because his mother believed that the couple could not have children because they had not been married in the Catholic Church. (She suffered three miscarriages with husband Desi Arnaz, in 1942, 1949 and 1950.) Their first marriage ceremony, in 1940, was at the Byram River Beagle Club in Connecticut. She filed for divorce from Desi Arnaz in the 1940s but didn't go through with it because they reconciled.

She put her Chesterfield cigarettes in a Philip Morris package to please her sponsor (of the I Love Lucy (1951) show).

A comment from a member of the preview audience of Follow the Fleet (1936) about bit-player Ball: "You might give the tall gum-chewing blonde more parts and see if she can't make the grade -- a good gamble".

In 1966 it was reported in an annual stockholder's meeting that her salary as President of Desilu Productions (1962-67) was $100,000. Her acting fees for 1966 were $130,172.

Had a superstition about the letters A and R, which is why her character was named Lucy RicARdo in I Love Lucy (1951); Lucy CARmichael in The Lucy Show (1962); Lucy CARter in Here's Lucy (1968); Helen North BeARdsley in Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and Lucy BARker in Life with Lucy (1986) (she was also married to 'Desi ARnaz'). She believed she didn't have luck in her career until she changed her name to Arnaz.

Her company, Desilu Productions, produced The Untouchables (1959), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Star Trek (1966), among other series.

During a Barbara Walters interview, Jane Fonda stated that that her father, Henry Fonda, was deeply in love with Ball and that the two were "very close" during the filming of Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).

Her last television appearance (and her last public appearance) was in 1989 on the 62nd Academy Awards, with Bob Hope, announcing the nominations and winner of Best Picture. She died less than a month later.

When she and Desi Arnaz moved to 1000 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, Jack Benny, was their next-door neighbor, residing at 1002 North Roxbury Drive.

Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award posthumously in 1990.

Gave birth to her second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (Desi Arnaz Jr.) at age 41 on January 19, 1953, via Caesarean section.

Pictured on a 34¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 6 August 2001. In 2009, she and Vivian Vance (as Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz in a scene from Job Switching (1952)) were pictured on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Early Television Memories issue, which was issued 11 August 2009.

Was one of 20 original The Goldwyn Girls. Among the others were Virginia Bruce; Ann Dvorak; Paulette Goddard and Betty Grable.

When her subsequent series The Lucy Show (1962) and Here's Lucy (1968) became popular, Jess Oppenheimer, a co-creator of I Love Lucy (1951) alleged that her character Lucy Carmichael/Carter was in fact Lucy Ricardo re-named and threatened to sue. Rather than go to court, she settled for $220,000.

She and Broderick Crawford announced their engagement in 1936. They never got as far as the altar. It was claimed that RKO fronted this story to cover her affair with studio producer Pandro S. Berman, who was married.

In the early part of her career she claimed she was born in Butte, MT, where her father died. Because of that she was nicknamed "Montana".

Mentored not only her own real-life children (Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.), but also such talented performers as Ruth Buzzi, Carol Burnett, and Carole Cook .

Her younger brother, Fred Ball (1915-2007), moved from their hometown of Jamestown, New York to join her in Hollywood in the 1930s. He often accompanied his brother-in-law (Desi Arnaz)'s band on tour during the 1940s and 1950s, and was also on the Board of Directors of Desilu Productions. In later years, Fred and his wife Zo operated a motel in Cottonwood, Arizona, where he died, survived by four children. Fred Ball shared the same birthday as his niece, Lucie Arnaz.

It was at the urging of Roman Scandals (1933) dance director Busby Berkeley that Samuel Goldwyn had her put under contract. The producer initially nixed the idea.

Not long after the Arnazes bought their house on 1000 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, it was first featured in The Tour (1955). Richard Widmark guest-starred and she climbs over the fence to pick a grapefruit from his backyard.

Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.

Was Frank Sinatra's first choice for the role of Laurence Harvey's mother in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He was only dissuaded when John Frankenheimer took him to see Angela Lansbury in a play.

She had a bungalow office suite east of the main Desilu Production offices located on Gower St. (main reception entrance on Gower St.). Cleo Morgan, her first cousin, was her secretary, responsible for scheduling meetings, dealing with clients and agents for Lucy in her capacity as CEO of Desilu. Cleo remained with the Desilu management team the entire period of operation. Bud Brooks was in charge of the Desilu Productions Art department, located in the top floor of the main entrance building.

Ball and Arnaz were mentioned, along with many other celebrities, in Bette Midler's list song, Samedi et Vendredi, on her 1976 album, "Songs for the New Depression".