INTRODUCTION

HER STORY

QUOTES

According to Ann Miller, after her first night with Desi, Lucy reported, "It was the best sex I've ever had in my life, and probably will be the best sex I will ever have."

In the days following Lucy's death, thousands of admirers flocked to Hollywood Boulevard to sign a memorial scroll that extended a full block from her designated star on the Walk of Fame.

Gary Morton, Lucy's second husband, was often referred to as "Mr. Balls" or "the man who lights Lucy's cigarettes."

Lucy hated the family label of "Grandma" and insisted on being known as "Nana," which took years off her ego if not her appearance.

Cuban-born Desi Arnaz had a blue-blooded pedigree. His father, Desiderio II, belonged to a rich landowning family and also served in the government. Desi's mother, the former Dolores de Acha, was a belle of high society, the daughter of one of the founders of the company that made world-famous Bacardi rum.

Lucy was obsessed with the game of backgammon. She had a backgammon table in nearly every room of her home and several around the swimming pool in the backyard.

Lucy completed twenty-three years on network television, an industry record. She made 492 regularly scheduled programs, including 179 episodes of I Love Lucy, thirteen of The Lucy and Desi Comedy hour, 156 of The Lucy Show, and 144 of Here's Lucy. If shown nonstop around the clock, the total viewing time would be nearly eleven days.

When the Rolling Stones used an unflattering portrait of her in the gallery of women on the cover of their Some Girls album, Lucille Ball threatened to sue.

Her family nicknamed her "Lucyball," but she preferred to be known as Lucille; her mother told her that the name was French in origin and meant "shining light." She disliked the short form "Lucy" and successfully avoided it for forty years. But after a certain television series debuted in 1951, she was rarely called anything but Lucy.

During the first years of her marriage, Lucy always wore a gold slave bracelet that her husband gave her with the following inscription inside: "My name is Lucille Ball Arnaz. If lost, return me to my master-- Desi."

Her favorite flowers were red and white carnations.

One of her trademarks was the blazing red hair. What she would have looked like if she stopped dyeing her hair is anybody's guess, but there seemed slight chance of that happening. To protect herself from running out, she had pounds of henna stored in a disaster-proof safe, enough to last her to age 110 at least. The dye was imported from Egypt and reputed to be manufactured from the same formula that Cleopatra used in ancient times..

Philip Morris was the first sponsor of I Love Lucy. Amusingly, in real life, Lucy had been a chain smoker of a competing brand since her modeling days as a Chesterfield Girl. When the chairman of Philip Morris found out, he was furious and made Desi promise that if Lucy must continue smoking Chesterfields, she should at least carry them inside Philip Morris packages. Desi soon tired of making the changeover every morning, so he refrained one day just to see if Lucy would notice the difference. When she didn't, Desi stopped switching, but Lucy went on believing that she was puffing Chesterfields.

Asked to compare her two husbands, Lucy once said, "Gary is more home-oriented, truly concerned with the welfare of his family. Desi talked a lot about the value of the family, but he did nothing about it. He gave us many houses to live in, but he was never home to share them with us."

Lucy often said that her deceased friend Carole Lombard kept turning up in her dreams to offer marvelous advice.

For Lucy's twenty-ninth birthday, Desi gifted her with a diamond-encrusted heart-shaped lapel watch. It eventually served as the model for the logo used in the opening titles of I Love Lucy.

In the late 1920s, she became seriously ill. Some accounts list the ailment as severe fatigue and malnutrition; another rendition had her the victim of an auto accident; yet another suggested the possibility that she may have had an abortion that went bad or even given birth to a child.

A television network employee who worked with the legend described her thus, "If she doesn't know you, she's cold as ice. Naturally, you feel you know her, and you love her, as a result of the Lucy shows. But it's a shock to realize she's not the childlike Lucy character she plays. She's diamond-hard, extremely bright, and extremely cautious with people."

By the time of The Lucy Show, Ball was increasingly dictatorial on the studio set. Sometimes she was brutal to guest stars, even to such legendary figures as Joan Crawford, who appeared on the teleseries in February 1968. Joan was rehearsing a Charleston number for the episode. A displeased Ball stalked over to Crawford and growled, "You got into the movies as a Charleston dancer and you can't dance. I can't believe it. We'll try this one more time and if it doesn't work, it's out!" She then ordered the Oscar winner, "Come on, let's do it again." Still dissatisfied, Lucy Snarled, "This number is out!" A shattered Crawford retreated to her dressing room, where she collapsed on the floor in tears..

Appeared on the cover of TV Guide a record 34 times, She shared the cover of the very first issue of TV Guide with her newborn, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz VI.  A pristine copy of this rare April 3, 1953 issue can cost upward of $ 2,000.

She was superstitious about birds and wouldn't buy anything with a print of a bird, nor would she stay in a hotel room with bird pictures or bird wallpaper.

In 1951-1952 "I Love Lucy" changed the Monday-night habits of America. Between 9:00 and 9:30 pm, taxis disappeared from the streets of New York. Telephone calls across the nation dropped sharply during that half hour, as well as the water flush rate, as whole families sat glued to their seats.

In the early 30's she turned to modeling but this career was short-lived as she got severely ill and spent nearly two years recuperating.

In 1942 luck was on her side when she was moved to the lofty MGM Studios where MGM transformed her into a glamorous red-head  and showcased her in "Du Barry was a Lady."

In December 1991 a full-size statue of Lucille was unveiled at the Television Academy's Hall of Fame Court in North Hollywood.

In 2001 the United States Postal Service issued a solo Lucille Ball Stamp as part of its "Legends of Hollywood Series."

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 Factor company.

Had it stipulated in her "I Love Lucy" contract that Vivian Vance, her co-star who played Ethel Mertz, be 20 pounds heavier than her at all times so she would look good.

She entered a dramatic school in New York, but while her classmate Bette Davis received all the raves, she was sent home.

Henry Fonda was deeply in love with her. The two were "very close" during the filming of "Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)".