THE OLD BOYS’ CLUB of Hollywood got a run for its money when Ball became the first female studio president.
A Former Ingenue Writes Her Own Script in Male-Dominated Hollywood LUCILLE BALL: INDUSTRY TRAILBLAZER
attention of silent-movie star Buster Keaton, who mentored her in the art of props and pratfalls. Anything the boys did, she could do too if she got the opportunity. And she often made her own opportunities. Later, Ball flexed her power by refusing to settle for anyone but Desi to play her husband in I Love Lucy , even though the network was unsettled by the idea of a “mixed marriage.” Together they insisted that her second pregnancy be acknowledged on the show. She was known as a taskmaster on set, so concerned with perfecting every CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
starlets who provided eye candy for the studio’s films from 1930 until 1955 . Competing with budding movie stars like Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable and Jane Wyman taught Ball that beauty was not simply an asset in Hollywood — it was a requirement. “She was just another pretty girl in a long blonde wig trying to figure out how to stand out in a crowd,” says her daughter, Lucie Arnaz. “If there was a part no one else wanted, she would raise her hand and say, I’ll do it. I’ll be the girl with the mud on her face if that’s the way to get noticed — and she was right.” Ball’s comic turns attracted the
A glamorous celebrity who built a landmark business, originated an enduring television character, created hundreds of jobs and made a mountain of money, Lucille Ball continuously broke barriers for women. She became famous bringing screwball comedy to television as a housewife with a hankering for a career of her own. After becoming one of the most successful stars on television and breaking corporate Hollywood’s glass ceiling, she went on to create two more sitcoms in which she played women making their own way in a man’s world. Ball’s show-business career began as a Goldwyn Girl, a member of a group of
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