Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York.
When she realized how badly she wanted to be an actress, she left high school at age 15 and enrolled in John Murray Anderson Drama School in New York City. Amazingly enough, she was told that she had no talent and wasn’t accepted to the school. (Someone had the last laugh and it wasn’t them!)
With no experience at all, Lucille became as a model, using the name Diane Belmont. She went on to become an Earl Carrol showgirl and began modeling for popular fashion designer, Hattie Carnegie. Carnegie chose Ball to be the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl in 1933. This was the golden opportunity that gained her enough national attention to catch Hollywood’s eye.
Her first role was in Eddie Cantor’s musical, “Roman Scandals” in 1933. Although it was very brief, she finally had her foot in the door. That’s all she needed, after all, because once inside the door she changed television forever.
Ball continued to audition for movies, and caught bit parts in low budget feature films like, “Blood Money” in 1933 and “Kid Millions” the following year. The success of her first roles would lead to bigger and better parts. Ball would appear in over 60 films by the late 1940s, including feature films starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Bob Hope.
Joi
Out of Bounds
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