She was named Lucille Désirée Ball at birth, used the stage name Diane Belmont, married an Arnaz and a Morton but the only name we really need? Lucy. To talk about her life from its roots in upstate New York to her legacy as an American icon–we’re going to need a couple episodes.
1945 glamour and darker hair! Yankee Army Weekly
Lucille was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, NY to Henry and Désirée Ball who quickly moved her to Montana and then Michigan where Henry found work. But by age five her father had died and her mother took her back to Jamestown right before her little brother, Fred was born. She had a bit of a bounce-around childhood: some of the time she lived with her maternal grandparents, some with her step-grandparents and some of it in a big multi-generational house with her mom, step-dad, brother, aunt, cousin and grandfather.
Grandpa Hunt’s big house in Celoron, NY. Courtesy 59Lucylane.com
Lucille started her long climb to stardom with teenage years as a bobbed-wild girl, a quick, failed trip to a New York City drama school and attempts at live theater and chorus lines. She finally found her people (and steady work) as a dress model for Hattie Carnegie in New York City.
It’s always ” Bette, Bette, Bette…”
A high profile job as a cigarette ad model led to her first step on the ladder of success in Hollywood! Her six- week contract as a showgirl morphed to six months then a year. While she always considered the Jamestown area ” home” she was able to move her family to the sunshine of California.
“The Goldwyn Girls” That’s her! First of many uncredited or bit parts for Lucille
Of course we go into a lot more detail in the show- her Adventures in Hair Color, her successful steps forward and her crushing steps backward, her family dynamics, people who gave her a boost up the ladder, and little bits of trivia along the way. Lucille’s was no overnight stardom story–she worked HARD and SMART for years and took as many jobs as she could, learning and honing her comedic and acting skills along the way.
Don’t smoke, Kids. Flickr
Speaking of not paying one’s dues…although Lucille had dated (for networking or fun…who are we to judge? But we do talk about it) nothing prepared her for the whirlwind and electric romance with a young, new-to-show-business Cuban musician with a flashy smile and big personality named Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III–“Desi” for short. “Lucy” was his nickname for Lucille and passion, in all it’s incarnations, ruled their relationship. In no time they had eloped and settled into married life.
And separated life.
And almost divorced life.
And, many times, reconciliation life.
Lucille’s career went up, then down…until a stint on a very popular radio show led to a chance at a CBS TV show for her. But she wanted to work with Desi (heck, she wanted to know where Desi was all the time.) CBS said America wouldn’t believe an interracial couple were really married (uh, duh? They had been married for almost 10 years. America can’t be that dumb.) (Don’t answer that.)
Lucille and Richard Denning in My Favorite Husband
The two came up with a strategy to prove that America would not only believe they were a couple (the easy part) but they would adore and be highly entertained by them (the trickier part.) While they were creating that environment across the country in live shows, they were also trying to create a family. And, because this is how life works out, Lucille gave birth shortly after they filmed the pilot for I Love Lucy, to their first child, Lucie Désirée Arnaz (creative with the names, right?)
Movie career- check!
Marriage and family-check!
Launch herself into history? Come back for Part Two and we’ll talk about all that.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
Most of the media recommendations will be on the shownotes for Part Two, but we thought you might enjoy these that are relevant to Part One:
The ranch house with the coveted orange and avocado trees is no more…but this post on the San Fernando Valley blog has a very thorough search for it and a TON of pictures that you’re going to want to see.
And here is the original pilot, it didn’t air but sold the show to Phillip Morris and proved that–oh. shock.– they are believable as a married couple and funny as all heck.
Once a season we take a historical look at a fictional woman and this season we have to get in the Way, Way, Way Back Machine to follow the life of Mulan.
Mulan as depicted in He Dazi’s album Gathering Gems of Beauty
The story of Mulan goes back a whole lot farther than 1998 when the Disney version introduced her from their very tall, very American stage–the origins of her story go back into SINGLE DIGIT AD. Fact or folktale? More than likely Mulan was not a real person but that’s admit since her story is beloved in China. She could have been real, but her story has been told so many times and for so many years that if she didn’t really exist we can Velveteen Rabbit her to life?
We wrap up our short series of “women who ran for the US Presidency before Hillary Clinton” with Shirley Chisholm!
Photo Credit: John O’Halloran, US News & World Report
Shirley St. Hill was born in 1924 in Brooklyn, NY to Charles and Ruby St. Hill. Her parents were both immigrants from the West Indies and they made a painful decision to send Shirley and two of her sisters to live their early youth on her grandmother’s farm in Barbados.
Shirley’s education was solid: prestigious Girl’s High in Brooklyn, Bachelors degree in Sociology with a minor in Spanish from Brooklyn College, Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbia… she was smart, she was quick, she was well spoken, well read and well, she had a dynamic personality wrapped in a very petite frame.
Belva Lockwood, pioneer in the field of law, and second woman candidate for President.
We continue our series of Presidential candidates with Belva Lockwood, the woman who many regard as the first “legitimate” female nominee for the office. You be the judge; certainly, her age and employment history are a contrast to Victoria Woodhull, (covered here), whose earlier campaign, in 1872, was tainted by scandal (and marred by not meeting the age requirement of 35).
This woman had it all together, but it hadn’t come easily!
Belva Bennett Lockwood was born in 1830 on a farm in upstate NY. She paid for and arranged her own education, but family pressure drove her to marriage rather than college.
Being widowed at 22 changed the course of her life; teaching, college, law school, and finally the groundbreaking milestone of being the first woman to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
Belva was not only a pioneer herself, but sponsored other trailblazers to the Court..
Then, in 1884, Belva Lockwood ran as the Equal Rights party’s candidate for President. She was no fool; the Presidency was a long shot, but the impact on society would be undeniable. She took the inevitable backlash in stride, saying that being featured in a political cartoon was an accomplishment in itself.
You have to be famous in the first place to be mocked in the national media!
A halfhearted attempt at the office in 1888 ended her quest for elected office, but her reputation was such that several Presidents, many educational institutions, and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee all relied on her advice.
Her portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.
Belva’s example had been an inspiration for women to move into a sphere that had been denied them. (A convention of female lawyers she chaired in 1893 had over 200 attendees.)
Belva Lockwood died in 1917, having forged a path of education, advocacy, and determination for generations to follow.
When asked if there would ever be a woman President, Belva said:
If a woman demonstrates that she is fitted to be president, she will someday occupy the White House. It will be entirely on her own merits, however. No movement will place her there simply because she is a woman. It will come if she proves herself fit for the position.
Listen to the audio for her life in detail!
Here are the books Beckett recommended:
“Ballots For Belva” by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
“Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President” by Jill Norgren
The closing song is “Keep on the Path” by The Mystery Body.
Marie faced life after Pierre Curie died with two children, more than just a touch of radiation exposure and a desire to use science to help all humanity but she also had a lot of non-science drama on the horizon.
Nobel portrait, circa 1911
Brief recap: Polish born genius navigates an early life filled with heartache and challenges to pursue one of academics and science in Pre-WWI Paris. She finds love, builds a family and when her partner in love and work, Pierre, dies in a horrible accident everything seems to be crashing down on her. Details on Part One, you should go listen.
Back in her Poland Manya days. L-R: Manya, Papa, Bronya and poor, 2nd place Hela.
