Lucille Ball was a self-made woman. While all the other would-be starlets went platinum blonde, she dyed her brunette hair bright red. She shaved her eyebrows for an uncredited movie role as a slave girl, and they never grew back. Her first starring role was as a ditsy housewife in a radio comedy. When CBS approached her about a TV series, she insisted on performing with her husband, Desi Arnaz. She also demanded creative control and a cut of the take. I Love Lucy premiered sixty years ago today and is still the world’s most beloved television sitcom. Lucille Ball eventually built Desilu Productions, which gave birth to The Andy Griffith Show, Mission Impossible, Gomer Pyle USMC, That Girl, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Star Trek. One of my favorite Lucille Ball quotes is: “I’m not funny. What I am is brave.”
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