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Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26,
1989) was an American actress, comedian and star
of I Love Lucy. A 'B-grade' movie star of the
1940s, she became one of the best and most popular
stars in American history.

She was born in Jamestown, New York. After her
father died, Ball was raised by her working mother
and grandparents. In 1925, after a romance with a
local bad boy (Johnny DeVita), Ball decided to
enroll in the John Murray Anderson School for the
Dramatic Arts. There, the shy girl was outshined
by another pupil--Bette Davis. Ball went home a
few weeks later when drama coaches told her that
she "had no future at all as a performer". Two
years later, she witnessed the accidental shooting
of a friend of her brother's, Warner Erikson, who
had gotten in the way of a 22. caliber rifle's
path. Erikson's spinal cord was severed. Her
grandfather was sued and prosecuted. Right then,
Ball decided that she needed to escape her home
environment.

She moved back to New York City in 1930 to become
an actress and had some success as a fashion model
for designer Hattie Carnegie and as the
Chesterfield cigarettes girl. She moved to
Hollywood in 1933 to appear in films. She appeared
in many small movie roles in the 1930s as a
contract player for RKO. She switched to MGM
(after little success at RKO) in the 1940s, but
never achieved great success in films. She was
known in many Hollywood circles as "the B-Movie
queen", sharing the "royalty" honor with
Macdonald Carey, who was designated as her
"king".

In 1940, Ball met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz
while filming the film version of the Rodgers and
Hart stage hit Too Many Girls (Arnaz had starred
in the stage version). The two hit it off
immediately and eloped the same year to much press
attention. However, Arnaz's philandering and
drinking caused problems right from the start.
When he was drafted to the Army in 1942, Ball was
crushed, although Arnaz ended up being classified
for imited service due to a knee injury. As a
result, Arnaz stayed in Los Angeles, organizing
and performing U.S.O. shows for wounded G.I.s
being brought back from the Pacific. Ball,
disgusted at Desi's "screwing everyone in
Birmingham Hospital," filed for a divorce in
1944. Shortly after Ball obtained an interlocutory
decree, however, she got together with Desi again.
In the days before no-fault divorce, if the
parties reconciled and consummated relations
between the period of the interlocutory and final
decrees, the petition was automatically
nullified.

In 1948, Lucille was cast as Liz Cugat (later
"Cooper"), a wacky wife, in My Favorite Husband,
a radio program for CBS. The program was
successful, and CBS asked her to develop it as a
television program. She agreed, but insisted on
working with Arnaz. This show eventually became I
Love Lucy. CBS was initially not impressed with
the pilot episode produced by the couple's Desilu
production company, so the Arnazes toured the road
in a vaudeville act with Lucille as the zany
housewife wanting to get in Arnaz's show. The
tour was a smash and CBS put the show on their
lineup.

In 1953, she was subpoenaed by the House Committee
on Un-American Activities, due to her having
registered to vote in the Communist party in 1936,
at her grandfather's insistence (per FBI
FOIA-released documents).
Contents
[hide]

    * 1 I Love Lucy
          o 1.1 Lucille McGillicuddy
          o 1.2 Clown 'shtick' on I Love Lucy
    * 2 Filmography
    * 3 TV Work
    * 4 Notes
    * 5 External Links



I Love Lucy
Lucille Ball as Lucy, Vivian Vance as Ethel on an
episode of I Love Lucy
Enlarge
Lucille Ball as Lucy, Vivian Vance as Ethel on an
episode of I Love Lucy
Lucy and Ethel try to "Speed it up a little."
Enlarge
Lucy and Ethel try to "Speed it up a little."

I Love Lucy was not only a star vehicle for
Lucille Ball, but a way for her to try to salvage
her marriage to Desi Arnaz, which had become badly
strained, in part by the fact that each had a
hectic performing schedule which often kept them
apart.

Along the way, she created a very early television
sitcom (although the format had existed for
decades in radio, and in fact other TV sitcoms
predated her show), and was among the first stars
to film before a live audience.

From a production aspect, the use of actual film,
as opposed to the inferior-quality kinescope of
other TV shows of the time, made the show far more
visually appealing. The initial decision to use
film was driven by the performers' desire to stay
in Los Angeles. Sponsor Philip Morris didn't want
to show kinescopes to the major markets on the
east coast, so Lucy and Desi agreed to take a pay
cut to finance filming. In return, CBS
relinquished the show rights back to Desilu after
broadcast, not realizing they were giving away a
valuable and durable asset. Desilu made the
millions on ILL rebroadcast through syndication.

Lucy and Desi also hired legendary Czech cameraman
Karl Freund as their director of photography.
Freund had worked for F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang,
shot part of Metropolis, had directed a number of
Hollywood films himself, and knew his business.
For Lucy, Freund developed the three-camera setup,
which became the standard way of shooting
situation comedies. Shooting long shots, medium
shots, and close-ups on a comedy in front of a
live audience demanded discipline, technique, and
close choreography. Among other non-standard
techniques used in filming the show, cans of paint
(in shades ranging from white to medium gray) were
kept on set to 'paint out' innappropriate
shadows and disguise lighting flaws.

On July 17, 1951, after several miscarriages, Ball
gave birth to her first child, Lucie Desiree
Arnaz. Three years later, Ball gave birth to her
second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV. I Love
Lucy was in full swing by this time, and neither
Ball nor Arnaz wanted to take a hiatus for the
pregnancy. They planned to write the pregnancy
into the show's story line, so that Lucy Ricardo
would have her baby around the same time the
Arnazes' own child was born. However, the
networks balked, declaring, "You cannot show a
pregnant woman on television." They also declared
that the word "pregnant" could not be uttered
over the airwaves. Ball and Arnaz consulted a
priest, a rabbi and a pastor about the
appropriateness of their plans, and all three said
that none of it was in any way offensive. Finally,
the network compromised--the pregnancy could be
worked into the scripts--but the word "pregnant"
was still taboo. Instead, the euphemism
"expecting" was substituted, which made for
additional laughs as Arnaz deliberately
mispronounced it as "'spectin'." The birth
made the first cover of TV Guide the same year.

However, these blessings could not alleviate the
pressures on the marriage. By the end of the
1950s, the Desilu company had gotten much bigger,
and Desi was beginning to drink more heavily. On
May 4, 1960, a few weeks after filming the final
episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, the couple
divorced. One of television's greatest marriages
had come to an end. Until his dying day in 1986,
Arnaz would remain the best of friends with Ball.

The following year, Ball married comedian Gary
Morton.

After buying out her ex-husband's share of the
studio, Ball functioned as studio head but
apparently had little direct involvement in
production. For instance, she apparently
completely misunderstood the premise of one of the
company's most (belatedly) famous productions,
Star Trek thinking it was a contemporary drama
about actresses.

Following I Love Lucy, Ball appeared in the
Broadway musical Wildcat, a few more movies
(including Yours, Mine and Ours, and Mame), and
two more sitcoms: The Lucy Show, and later Here's
Lucy both with Gale Gordon. In 1986 she appeared
with Gordon in her final show, Life With Lucy,
which was a critical and commercial flop.

Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989 of a ruptured
aorta and was cremated. Her remains were initially
interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills
Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, but were
later moved by her children, Desi Arnaz, Jr. and
Lucie Arnaz to the Lake View Cemetery, in
Jamestown, New York.


Lucille McGillicuddy

Considered by professional clowns to be one of
their own, Lucile Ball's 'clown character' was
"Lucy Ricardo", (nee "Lucille McGillicuddy" —
an instantly recognizable clown moniker) "Lucy
Ricardo" was a friendly, ambitious and somewhat
naïve housewife who was constantly getting into
trouble of one kind or another.

"Lucy! You got some 's-plainin' to do!" became
a famous cry of Ricky Ricardo. The setup of the
show provided ample opportunities for Ball to
display her skills at clowning and physical
comedy. She is regarded as one of the best, ever,
in the history of film and television at physical
'schtick'.

In the course of the television series, Lucy
shared the screen with numerous famous clowns,
prominent among these were Red Skelton and Harpo
Marx.


Clown 'shtick' on I Love Lucy

Lucy tries to Get into the Act - a recurring and
almost omnipresent theme on the show, was that
"talentless" plain old Lucy the Housewife dearly
desired a chance to perform, as anything: a
dancer, showgirl, clown, singing cowboy — or in
any role. The real joke here is that Lucille Ball,
aside from being regarded as beautiful, was also
quite talented in a variety of performance arts,
as well as being a ground-breaking television
director.

Perhaps the best example of this gag is when Lucy
shows up unannounced at Ricky's club, toting a
clown-modified cello and pretending to be a
musician, asking to speak with "Risky Riskerdoo"
(Ricky Ricardo) this classic includes Lucy winding
the cello's tuning peg as if it were a watch (to
the accompaniment of ratcheting sounds) and
shooting the cello's bow at Ricky's backside.

Lucy in the Candy Factory - ("Speeeeeeed it Up a
little!!") Lucy and Ethel attempt to get jobs —
for which they are demonstrably unprepared — the
classic candy-gobbling scene in this episode is an
American cultural icon.

The Mirror Gag - now a classic improvisational
acting exercise (with Harpo Marx), in which Lucy,
dressed as Harpo Marx encounters the real Harpo
while hiding in the kitchen doorway. Perplexed at
what he sees he confronts his reflection and Lucy
is forced to mimick his every move.

The Stranger with a Kind Face (aka 'Slowly I
turned' or 'Niagara Falls!') in which a veteran
clown introduces Lucy Ricardo to some basics of
the clown art, and is schooled in this classic
(and at that time quite familiar) vaudevillian
routine ... complete with 'seltzer bottles' (a
familiar clown prop) and slapstick.

Vita-meata-vege-min - "Do you poop out at
parties? Are you unpopular? Well, the answer to
all your troubles is in this little bottle!",
"And, it's so tasty too!" Mrs. Ricardo as a
slick television 'huckster' pitching a
foul-tasting and alcoholic concoction (amusingly,
Lucille the actress quite enjoyed the taste)...
the 'gag' being that, aside from tasting bad and
having a name which only a clown would embrace,
the product contained alcohol in large quantities,
and in numerous repeated rehearsals prior to the
live spot, Lucy gradually and inexorably becomes
half-crocked... with the inevitable hilarious
result, made only the more funny by the
alliterative, tongue twisting product name and
pitch. "Do you pop out at parties? Are you
unpoopular? Well, the answer to all your troubles
is in this bittle lottle!"

Lucy Tries to Meet the Famous Star - another
recurring theme, many popular stars were eager to
appear on the show, and hilarity ensues in
countless episodes as a result of the character,
Lucy's obsession with fame and the famous.

The Cousin Ernie story arc. Lucy receives a letter
informing her that her "Best Friend's
Roommate's Cousin's Middle Boy" — of whom she
has never heard — is coming to visit from "Bent
Fork, Tennessee". 'Cousin Ernie' (immaculately
played by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford) is a
stereotypical Country Boy in the Big City, in awe
of the sophistication (as he perceives it) of his
new hosts. Cousin Ernie and the citizens of Bent
Fork and its environs are encountered several
times during the course of the show's life.

The Singing Jailbreak This episode is part of the
Hollywood story arc. Ricky, Lucy, Fred, and Ethel
participate in a square dance called by Cousin
Ernie to escape a Bent Fork, Tennessee jail in the
course of which the sheriff and his two Rubenesque
daughters are tied up with a handy piece of rope.
Then Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel make their escape
to continue their cross country venture.


Filmography

    * The Bowery (1933)
    * Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933)
    * Blood Money (1933)
    * Roman Scandals (1933)
    * Moulin Rouge (1934)
    * Nana (1934)
    * Hold That Girl (1934)
    * Bottoms Up (1934)
    * The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
    * Murder at the Vanities (1934)
    * Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
    * Pefectly Mismated (1934) (short subject)
    * Kid Millions (1934)
    * Men of the Night (1934)
    * Broadway Bill (1934)
    * Jealousy (1934)
    * Three Little Pigskins (1934) (short
subject)
    * Fugitive Lady (1934)
    * Behind the Evidence (1935)
    * His Old Flame (1935) (short subject)
    * Carnival (1935)
    * The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
    * Roberta (1935)
    * I'll Love You Always (1935)
    * A Night at the Biltmore Bowl (1935) (short
subject)
    * Old Man Rhythm (1935)
    * Top Hat (1935)
    * The Three Musketeers (1935)
    * I Dream Too Much (1935)
    * Chatterbox (1936)
    * Muss 'em Up (1936)
    * Follow the Fleet (1936)
    * The Farmer in the Dell (1936)
    * Bunker Bean (1936)
    * Dummy Ache (1936) (short subject)
    * Swing It (1936) (short subject)
    * So and Sew (1936) (short subject)
    * One Live Ghost (1936) (short subject)
    * Winterset (1936)
    * That Girl from Paris (1936)
    * Don't Tell the Wife (1937)
    * There Goes My Girl (1937) (scenes deleted)
    * Stage Door (1937)
    * Joy of Living (1938)
    * Go Chase Yourself (1938)
    * Having Wonderful Time (1938)
    * The Affairs of Annabel (1938)
    * Room Service (1938)
    * Annabel Takes a Tour (1938)
    * Next Time I Marry (1938)
    * Beauty for the Asking (1939)
    * Twelve Crowded Hours (1939)
    * Panama Lady (1939)
    * Five Came Back (1939)
    * That's Right - You're Wrong (1939)
    * The Marines Fly High (1940)
    * You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940)
    * Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
    * Too Many Girls (1940)
    * A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)
    * Look Who's Laughing (1941)
    * Valley of the Sun (1942)
    * The Big Street (1942)
    * Seven Days' Leave (1942)
    * Best Foot Forward (1943)
    * Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
    * Thousands Cheer (1943)
    * Meet the People (1944)
    * Without Love (1945)
    * Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)
(Cameo)
    * Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
    * The Dark Corner (1946)
    * Two Smart People (1946)
    * Lover Come Back (1946)
    * Easy to Wed (1946)
    * Lured (1947)
    * Her Husband's Affairs (1947)
    * Sorrowful Jones (1949)
    * Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
    * Easy Living(1949)
    * A Woman of Distinction (1950) (Cameo)
    * Fancy Pants (1950)
    * The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
    * The Magic Carpet (1951)
    * I Love Lucy (1953) (unreleased) (A movie,
which includes a handful of ILL episodes with
actors playing audience members. It has rare
footage of Desi Arnaz warming up the audience and
introducing the cast. The film was finally shown
at the 2002 Lucy-Desi Convention.
    * The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
    * Forever, Darling (1956)
    * The Facts of Life (1960)
    * Critic's Choice (1963)
    * All About People (1967)(short subject)
(narrator)
    * A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
    * Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
    * Mame (1974)



TV Work

    * I Love Lucy (1951-1957)
    * The I Love Lucy Christmas Show (1956)
    * The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960)
    * The Lucy Show (1962-1968) (also executive
producer)
    * The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour (1964)
    * Lucy in London (1966)
    * Here's Lucy (1968-1974)
    * Happy Anniversary and Goodbye (1974)
    * A Lucille Ball Special: Lucy Gets Lucky
(1975)
    * The Lucille Ball/Jackie Gleason Special:
Three for Two (1975)
    * What Now, Catherine Curtis? (1976)
    * Lucy Calls the President (1977)
    * Stone Pillow (1985)
    * Life with Lucy (1986) (canceled after 12
episodes were filmed; only eight ever aired)



Notes
Lucille Ball
Enlarge
Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz founded Desilu
Productions.

There are Lucille Ball museums located in the
Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios
Florida theme parks.


External Links

    * The Lucy Lounge
    * The Lucy Shows
    * Lucille Ball Online
    * Find A Grave - Lucille Desiree Ball

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

image:Lucyheadshot.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Lucille
Ball (1911~1989)
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 –
April 26, 1989) was an United States|American
actor|actress, comedian and star of I Love Lucy. A
'B-grade' movie star of the 1940s, she became one
of the best and most popular stars in American
history.  

She was born in Jamestown, New York. After her
father died, Ball was raised by her working mother
and grandparents. In 1925, after a romance with a
local bad boy (Johnny DeVita), Ball decided to
enroll in the
John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts.
There, the shy girl was outshined by another
pupil--Bette Davis. Ball went home a few weeks
later when drama coaches told her that she "had no
future at all as a performer". Two years later,
she witnessed the accidental shooting of a friend
of her brother's, Warner Erikson, who had gotten
in the way of a 22. caliber rifle's path.
Erikson's spinal cord was severed. Her grandfather
was sued and prosecuted. Right then, Ball decided
that she needed to escape her home environment.

She moved back to New York City in 1930 to become
an actress and had some success as a fashion model
for designer Hattie Carnegie and as the
Chesterfield cigarettes girl. She moved to
Hollywood in 1933 to appear in films. She appeared
in many small movie roles in the 1930s as a
contract player for RKO. She switched to MGM
(after little success at RKO) in the 1940s, but
never achieved great success in films. She was
known in many Hollywood circles as "the B-Movie
queen", sharing the "royalty" honor with Macdonald
Carey, who was designated as her "king".

In 1940, Ball met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz
while filming the film version of the Rodgers and
Hart stage hit Too Many Girls (Arnaz had starred
in the stage version). The two hit it off
immediately and eloped the same year to much press
attention. However, Arnaz's philandering and
drinking caused problems right from the start.
When he was drafted to the Army in 1942, Ball was
crushed, although Arnaz ended up being classified
for limited service due to a knee injury. As a
result, Arnaz stayed in Los Angeles, organizing
and performing U.S.O. shows for wounded G.I.s
being brought back from the Pacific. Ball,
disgusted at Desi's "screwing everyone in
Birmingham Hospital," filed for a divorce in 1944.
Shortly after Ball obtained an interlocutory
decree, however, she got together with Desi again.
In the days before No fault divorce|no-fault
divorce, if the parties reconciled and consummated
relations between the period of the interlocutory
and final decrees, the petition was automatically
nullified. 

In 1948, Lucille was cast as Liz Cugat (later
"Cooper"), a wacky wife, in My Favorite Husband, a
radio program for CBS. The program was successful,
and CBS asked her to develop it as a television
program. She agreed, but insisted on working with
Arnaz. This show eventually became I Love Lucy.
CBS was initially not impressed with the pilot
episode produced by the couple's Desilu production
company, so the Arnazes toured the road in a
vaudeville act with Lucille as the zany housewife
wanting to get in Arnaz's show. The tour was a
smash and CBS put the show on their lineup.

In 1953, she was subpoenaed by the House Committee
on Un-American Activities, due to her having
registered to vote in the Communist party in 1936,
at her grandfather's insistence (per FBI
FOIA-released documents).

== I Love Lucy ==
Image:LucyEthel_I_Love_Lucy.jpg|thumb|right|230px|
Lucille Ball as Lucy, Vivian Vance as Ethel on an
episode of I Love Lucy
image:chocolate_factory1.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Luc
y and Ethel try to "Speed it up a little."
I Love Lucy was not only a star vehicle for
Lucille Ball, but a way for her to try to salvage
her marriage to Desi Arnaz, which had become badly
strained, in part by the fact that each had a
hectic performing schedule which often kept them
apart.

Along the way, she created a very early television
Situation comedy|sitcom (although the format had
existed for decades in radio, and in fact other TV
sitcoms predated her show), and was among the
first stars to film before a live audience.  

From a production aspect, the use of actual film,
as opposed to the inferior-quality kinescope of
other Television|TV shows of the time, made the
show far more visually appealing.  The initial
decision to use film was driven by the performers'
desire to stay in Los Angeles.  Sponsor Philip
Morris didn't want to show kinescopes to the major
markets on the east coast, so Lucy and Desi agreed
to take a pay cut to finance filming.  In return,
CBS relinquished the show rights back to Desilu
after broadcast, not realizing they were giving
away a valuable and durable asset.  Desilu made
the millions on ILL rebroadcast through Television
syndication|syndication.

Lucy and Desi also hired legendary Czech cameraman
Karl Freund as their director of photography. 
Freund had worked for F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang,
shot part of Metropolis (1927 movie)|Metropolis,
had directed a number of Hollywood films himself,
and knew his business.  For Lucy, Freund developed
the three-camera setup, which became the standard
way of shooting situation comedies.  Shooting long
shots, medium shots, and close-ups on a comedy in
front of a live audience demanded discipline,
technique, and close choreography.  Among other
non-standard techniques used in filming the show,
cans of paint (in shades ranging from white to
medium gray) were kept on set to 'paint out'
innappropriate shadows and disguise lighting
flaws.

On July 17, 1951, after several miscarriages, Ball
gave birth to her first child, Lucie Arnaz|Lucie
Desiree Arnaz. A year and a half later,  Ball gave
birth to her second child, Desi Arnaz,
Jr.|Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV. I Love Lucy was in
full swing by this time, and neither Ball nor
Arnaz wanted to take a hiatus for the pregnancy.
They planned to write the pregnancy into the
show's story line, so that Lucy Ricardo would have
her baby around the same time the Arnazes' own
child was born; however, the network balked,
declaring, "You cannot show a pregnant woman on
television." They also declared that the word
"pregnant" could not be uttered over the airwaves.
Ball and Arnaz consulted a priest, a rabbi and a
minister about the appropriateness of their plans,
and all three said that none of it was in any way
offensive. Finally, the network compromised--the
pregnancy could be worked into the scripts--but
the word "pregnant" was still taboo. Instead, the
euphemism "expecting" was substituted, which made
for additional laughs as Arnaz deliberately
mispronounced it as "'spectin'." The birth made
the first cover of TV Guide the same year. 

However, these blessings could not alleviate the
pressures on the marriage. By the end of the
1950s, the Desilu company had gotten much bigger,
and Desi was beginning to drink more heavily. On
May 4, 1960, a few weeks after filming the final
episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, the couple
divorced. One of television's greatest marriages
had come to an end. Until his dying day in 1986,
Arnaz would remain the best of friends with Ball.

The following year, Ball married comedian Gary
Morton.

After buying out her ex-husband's share of the
studio, Ball functioned as studio head but
apparently had little direct involvement in
production.  For instance, she apparently
completely misunderstood the premise of one of the
company's most (belatedly) famous productions,
Star Trek thinking it was a contemporary drama
about actresses.

Following I Love Lucy, Ball appeared in the
Broadway musical Wildcat, a few more movies
(including Yours, Mine and Ours, and Mame),  and
two more sitcoms: The Lucy Show, and later Here's
Lucy both with Gale Gordon. In 1986 she appeared
with Gordon in her final show, Life With Lucy,
which was a critical and commercial flop.

Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989 of a ruptured
aorta and was cremation|cremated.  Her remains
were initially interred in the Forest Lawn -
Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles,
California, but were later moved by her children,
Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Lucie Arnaz to the Lake View
Cemetery, in Jamestown, New York.

=== Lucille McGillicuddy ===

Considered by professional clowns to be one of
their own, Lucile Ball's 'clown character' was
"Lucy Ricardo", (nee "Lucille McGillicuddy"
— an instantly recognizable  clown moniker)
"Lucy Ricardo" was a friendly, ambitious and
somewhat naïve homemaker|housewife who was
constantly getting into trouble of one kind or
another.  

"Lucy! You got some 's-plainin' to do!" became a
famous cry of Ricky Ricardo.  The setup of the
show provided ample opportunities for Ball to
display her skills at clowning and physical
comedy. She is regarded as one of the best, ever,
in the history of film and television at physical
'schtick'.

In the course of the television series, Lucy
shared the screen with numerous famous clowns,
prominent among these were Red Skelton and Harpo
Marx.

=== Clown 'shtick' on I Love Lucy ===
Lucy tries to Get into the Act - a recurring and
almost omnipresent theme on the show, was that
"talentless" plain old Lucy the Housewife dearly
desired a chance to perform, as anything:  a
dancer, showgirl, clown, singing cowboy — or
in any role.  The real joke here is that Lucille
Ball, aside from being regarded as beautiful, was
also quite talented in a variety of performance
arts, as well as being a ground-breaking
television director.  

Perhaps the best example of this gag is when Lucy
shows up unannounced at Ricky's club, toting a
clown-modified cello and pretending to be a
musician, asking to speak with "Risky Riskerdoo"
(Ricky Ricardo) this classic includes Lucy winding
the cello's tuning peg as if it were a watch (to
the accompaniment of ratcheting sounds) and
shooting the cello's bow at Ricky's backside.
 
Lucy in the Candy Factory - ("Speeeeeeed it Up a
little!!") Lucy and Ethel attempt to get jobs
— for which they are demonstrably unprepared
— the classic candy-gobbling scene in this
episode is an American cultural icon.

The Mirror Gag - now a classic improvisational
acting exercise (with Harpo Marx), in which Lucy,
dressed as Harpo Marx encounters the real Harpo
while hiding in the kitchen doorway. Perplexed at
what he sees he confronts his reflection and Lucy
is forced to mimick his every move.

The Stranger with a Kind Face (aka 'Slowly I
turned' or 'Niagara Falls!') in which a veteran
clown introduces Lucy Ricardo to some basics of
the clown art, and is schooled in this classic
(and at that time quite familiar) vaudevillian
routine ... complete with 'seltzer bottles' (a
familiar clown prop) and slapstick.

Vita-meata-vege-min - "Do you poop out at parties?
Are you unpopular? Well, the answer to all your
troubles is in this little bottle!", "And, it's so
tasty too!" Mrs. Ricardo as a slick television
'huckster' pitching a foul-tasting and alcoholic
concoction (amusingly, Lucille the actress quite
enjoyed the taste)... the 'gag' being that, aside
from tasting bad and having a name which only a
clown would embrace, the product contained alcohol
in large quantities, and in numerous repeated
rehearsals prior to the live spot, Lucy gradually
and inexorably becomes half-crocked... with the
inevitable hilarious result, made only the more
funny by the alliterative, tongue twisting product
name and pitch. "Do you pop out at parties? Are
you unpoopular? Well, the answer to all your
troubles is in this bittle lottle!"
   
Lucy Tries to Meet the Famous Star - another
recurring theme, many popular stars were eager to
appear on the show, and hilarity ensues in
countless episodes as a result of the character,
Lucy's obsession with fame and the famous.

The Cousin Ernie story arc.  Lucy receives a
letter informing her that her "Best Friend's
Roommate's Cousin's Middle Boy" — of whom
she has never heard — is coming to visit
from "Bent Fork, Tennessee". 'Cousin Ernie'
(immaculately played by Tennessee Ernie
Ford|"Tennessee" Ernie Ford) is a stereotypical
Country Boy in the Big City, in awe of the
sophistication (as he perceives it) of his new
hosts.  Cousin Ernie and the citizens of Bent Fork
and its environs are encountered several times
during the course of the show's life.

The Singing Jailbreak 
This episode is part of the Hollywood story arc.
Ricky, Lucy, Fred, and Ethel participate in a
square dance called by Cousin Ernie to escape a
Bent Fork, Tennessee jail  in the course of which
the sheriff and his two Rubenesque daughters are
tied up with a handy piece of rope. Then Ricky,
Lucy, Fred and Ethel make their escape to continue
their cross country venture.

==Filmography==
*The Bowery (1933)
*Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933)
*Blood Money (1933)
*Roman Scandals (1933)
*Moulin Rouge (1934)
*Nana (1934)
*Hold That Girl (1934)
*Bottoms Up (1934)
*The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
*Murder at the Vanities (1934)
*Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
*Pefectly Mismated (1934) (short subject) 
*Kid Millions (1934)
*Men of the Night (1934)
*Broadway Bill (1934)
*Jealousy (1934)
*Three Little Pigskins (1934) (short subject) 
*Fugitive Lady (1934)
*Behind the Evidence (1935)
*His Old Flame (1935) (short subject) 
*Carnival (1935)
*The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
*Roberta (1935)
*I'll Love You Always (1935)
*A Night at the Biltmore Bowl (1935) (short
subject) 
*Old Man Rhythm (1935)
*Top Hat (1935)
*The Three Musketeers (1935)
*I Dream Too Much (1935)
*Chatterbox  (1936)
*Muss 'em Up (1936)
*Follow the Fleet (1936)
*The Farmer in the Dell (1936)
*Bunker Bean (1936)
*Dummy Ache (1936) (short subject) 
*Swing It (1936) (short subject) 
*So and Sew (1936) (short subject) 
*One Live Ghost (1936) (short subject) 
*Winterset (1936)
*That Girl from Paris (1936)
*Don't Tell the Wife (1937)
*There Goes My Girl (1937) (scenes deleted)
*Stage Door (1937)
*Joy of Living (1938)
*Go Chase Yourself (1938)
*Having Wonderful Time (1938)
*The Affairs of Annabel (1938)
*Room Service (1938)
*Annabel Takes a Tour (1938)
*Next Time I Marry (1938)
*Beauty for the Asking (1939)
*Twelve Crowded Hours  (1939)
*Panama Lady (1939)
*Five Came Back (1939)
*That's Right - You're Wrong (1939)
*The Marines Fly High (1940)
*You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940)
*Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
*Too Many Girls (1940)
*A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)
*Look Who's Laughing  (1941)
*Valley of the Sun (1942)
*The Big Street (1942)
*Seven Days' Leave (1942)
*Best Foot Forward (1943)
*Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
*Thousands Cheer (1943)
*Meet the People (1944)
*Without Love (1945)
*Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) (Cameo)
*Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
*The Dark Corner (1946)
*Two Smart People (1946)
*Lover Come Back (1946)
*Easy to Wed (1946)
*Lured (1947)
*Her Husband's Affairs (1947)
*Sorrowful Jones (1949)
*Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
*Easy Living(1949)
*A Woman of Distinction  (1950) (Cameo)
*Fancy Pants (1950)
*The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
*The Magic Carpet (1951)
*I Love Lucy (1953) (unreleased) (A movie, which
includes a handful of ILL episodes with actors
playing audience members. It has rare footage of
Desi Arnaz warming up the audience and introducing
the cast. The film was finally shown at the 2002
Lucy-Desi Convention.
*The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
*Forever, Darling (1956)
*The Facts of Life (1960)
*Critic's Choice (1963)
*All About People (1967)(short subject) (narrator)
*A Guide for the Married Man (1967) 
*Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
*Mame (1974)

==TV Work==
*I Love Lucy (1951-1957)
*The I Love Lucy Christmas Show (1956)
*The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960)
*The Lucy Show (1962-1968) (also executive
producer)
*The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour (1964)
*Lucy in London (1966)
*Here's Lucy (1968-1974)
*Happy Anniversary and Goodbye (1974)
*A Lucille Ball Special: Lucy Gets Lucky (1975)
*The Lucille Ball/Jackie Gleason Special: Three
for Two (1975)
*What Now, Catherine Curtis? (1976)
*Lucy Calls the President (1977)
*Stone Pillow (1985)
*Life With Lucy|Life with Lucy (1986) (canceled
after 12 episodes were filmed; only eight ever
aired)

==Notes==
image:Lucy portrait.jpg|thumb|left|Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz founded Desilu
Productions.

There are Lucille Ball museums located in the
Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando
Resort|Universal Studios Florida theme parks.

==External Links==
* http://lucylounge.suddenlaunch2.com The Lucy
Lounge
* http://www.tvparty.com/movlucy.html The Lucy
Shows
* http://www.lucilledesireeball.com/index.html
Lucille Ball Online
*
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&G
Rid=50 Find A Grave - Lucille Desiree Ball