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 television
history.
She was born in Jamestown, New York
and after her father died, was raised by her working
mother and grandparents.
She moved to New York City to become
an actress and had some success as a fashion model
and chorus 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 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 1948, she was cast as a wacky wife
in "My Favorite Husband", a radio program.
The program was successful, and CBS asked her to develop
it as a television program. She agreed, but insisted
on working with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.
This show became I Love Lucy.
I Love Lucy
"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 been badly strained by the fact that each had
a hectic performing schedule.
Along the way, she pioneered the television
sitcom, and was among the first stars to film before
a live audience.
From a production aspect, the use
of actual film during production, instead of making
just an inferior-quality kinescope as most other TV
shows did at the time, paved the way for rebroadcast
through syndication.
In filming I Love Lucy, Desi Arnaz
pioneered the '3-camera setup', now a standard in
television. 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.
Following "I Love Lucy",
Ball appeared in "The Lucy Show" which was
later renamed "Here's Lucy." In 1986 she
appeared in "Life With Lucy", which was
a critical and popular flop.
Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989
and was interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills
Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, but was 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, of course, "Lucy Ricardo", (nee "Lucille
McGillicuddy" - an instantly recognizable'clown
'monikker') "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
accomaniment 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 epidode
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?", "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, 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.
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 Ricky, Lucy,
Fred, and Ethel--as well as Cousin Ernie--have a songfest
to cover the sounds they are making, cutting the bars
on Lucy's jail cell... in a scene that takes place
in the tiny Bent Fork Tennessee jail. The 'blowoff'
of the scene is a square dance called by Cousin Ernie
in the course of which the sheriff and his two Rubenesque
daughters are tied up with a handy piece of rope.
source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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