Lucille Ball, (born Aug. 6, 1911, Celoron, near Jamestown, N.Y., U.S.—died April 26, 1989, Los Angeles, Calif.), U.S. actress and television star. She performed in films from 1933 and starred in a comedy radio series from 1947. With her bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, she created the very successful television comedy series I Love Lucy (1951–57) and later the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957–60). After their divorce in 1960, Ball appeared in The Lucy Show (1962–68) and Here’s Lucy (1968–74). With her red hair and rasping voice and a comic persona alternately brassy and feminine, she was the preeminent female star of the early decades of television.
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