Lucille Ball

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Lucille Ball

	Lucille Ball has made significant and positive contributions to the country with her comedy. Many consider her America's best female actress. Kathleen Brady, in fact, says, "Lucille Ball is one of the greatest performing artists America has produced" (ix). Throughout her career, Ball has not only been a comedienne, but also a superb businesswoman, an excellent role model, and has won numerous awards.

	Lucille Ball's major contribution has been as a comedienne. Not only was she the star of the world renowned television show, I Love Lucy, but she has also performed on radio, in films, and even on Broadway. Ball had an extraordinary personality. "In short, Lucille Ball's unique brand of wacky physical comedy made her the queen of TV. . ." (Dziemianowicz 54). Her hit television show, I Love Lucy, was one of the most watched television shows of all time. The success of I Love Lucy was due mostly to Ball's comic brilliance (Zoglin 188). "With near perfect timing, and a genius for sightgags, red-haired Ball careened through nineteen episodes of the original sitcom as a ditzy housewife" (Biography 1). Her show was so successful and popular that, "the 1953 episode on which she gave birth to 'Little Ricky'. . . was said to attract more viewers than the concurrent inauguration of President Dwight D Eisenhower" (Biography 1). Her impact was so great that even today, everyone knows that "Lucy Ricardo, of course, achieved eternal life" (Brady 342).

Prior to her television success, she also had much success on her radio show My Favorite Husband. The show was a comedy based on based on "the delightful stories of Isobel Scott Rorick's gay, sophisticated Mr. & Mrs. Cugat, starring Lucille Ball with Richard Denning" (Brady 159). The show soon became a hit, thanks to Ball's humor. "Just before Christmas 1948. . . General Foods agreed to sponsor My Favorite Husband to promote Jell-o" (Brady, 160)

In addition to radio success, Ball was also a wonderful actress. Ball was not discovered as an actress until she acted in the films Dance Girl, Dance, and The Big Street. When she did act in these movies, she played minor, serious roles. So when she was discovered, people didn't even know how funny she was but the world would soon find out.

When Ball finished with her weekly...

... middle of paper ...

...great, that even after her death, Lucille Ball is watched all over the country. The most popular I Love Lucy episodes are still shown on television to this day. Obviously, this shows that Lucille Ball has made significant, positive contributions to the world. "So what if Lucille Ball's haircolor came out of a bottle? As a comic genius, she was a natural" (Dziemianowicz 53).

Works Cited

"Ball, Lucille." Biography.com. April 1999. Biography. 15 April 1999 <http://www.biography.com/cgi-bin/biomain.cgi>.

"Ball, Lucille." Current Biography. 1978 ed. Ed. Charles Moritz. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1978: 32-35.

"Ball, Lucille." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. 1998: 472-473.

Brady, Kathleen. Lucille. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

Dziemianowicz, Joe. "Our Favorite Redhead." Macall's October 1996: 53-54.

Lucy-A Tribute. MCA.com. 29 April 1999. <http://www.mca.com/unicity/attractions/lucy.html>.

"100 Years of Great Women." ABCNEWS Special. ABC. 30 April 1999.

Zoglin, Richard. "Lucille Ball: The First Lady of Comedy Brought us Laughter as Well as Emotion Truth." Time June 1998: 188-191.

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