Lucille Ball
...ifornia where they bought a house. All that was missing from the house was a name. They tried many names but finally came to a decision on Desilu (80-1). From 1947 to 1951 Lucille starred on a radio series called “My Favorite Husband” (Ball #3 n.p.g.). The show started out being named “Mr. and Mrs. Cugat: The Record of a Happy Marriage”. But there were a few changes and the main characters’ names changed from Mr. and Mrs. Cugat to Liz and George Cooper, and the name of the show changed to “My Favorite Husband” (Kanfer 105-6). In 1950 Lucille was to begin work on two different movies when she found out that she was pregnant for the fourth time. The first three pregnancies ended in miscarriages (119). In 1951 Jess Oppenheimer, one of the writers for “My Favorite Husband,” made a pitch to CBS. She wanted to take the radio show to prime-time television but executives warned that the public was not ready for a Latino to be in a family role and that Lucille was far to attractive to be accepted as a housewife (120-1). The cigarette company, Phillip Morris was to be the sponsor for “I Love Lucy.” There would be thirty-nine episodes in the 1951-1952 season. This was the first season of the show. After the season was up Phillip Morris would have the option to continue the series or to cancel its sponsorship. “I Love Lucy” was to air on Monday nights at nine (125). The show would be produced in Hollywood so that Lucille could continue her film career. Desi and Lucille created a production studio, Desilu, which would own fifty percent of the program (122). And on October 15, 1951 at nine pm, ”I Love Lucy” debuted on CBS (138). In the spring of 1952 CBS learned just how popular the program had become. For the first time in the history of television, a regularly scheduled TV program was being welcomed into ten million homes (147). At the age of forty-one, Lucy was pregnant again. Since the baby would be born by caesarian section, there was no mystery of the date of birth. Obstetricians scheduled the date of the event for January 19, 1953 (154). On January 19, 1953 at 8:15 pm Lucille gave birth to Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, forty-five minutes before she gave birth to little Ricky on “I Love Lucy” (160-1). Without notice, in 1956, Phillip Morris announced that it would not renew its sponsorship of “I Love Lucy.” Never before had a sponsor walked away from a top-rated show. General Foods was persuaded to fill the gap – after all the show was still number one, with an audience of millions (181). When Lucille and Desi decided that they wanted a divorce they tried to break it to their kids easily. Lucy said: “I have to tell you that Mommy and Daddy are not getting along and I know the unhappiness you see is affecting you. And I want you to know that it has nothing to do with you. We love you very much” (212). Lucille and Desi finally divorced in 1960 after being married for twenty years. A couple of months later she met Gary Morton (227). On November 19, 1961, Lucille and Gary Morton exchanged vows at Marble Collegiate Church (230). Almost a year after Lucy and Gary married, Desi abruptly left Desilu Productions, the company that he founded (237). Lucy then borrowed three million dollars from the bank and bought Desi’s share, which was fifty-two percent of the total stock (238). Since Lucy was the vice president she then became the President of the company. She was the first woman to own her own film studio, as the head of Desilu Productions (Maltin). In 1967, Lucy sold Desilu Productions to Gulf and Western Industries for seventeen million. She got to keep ten million for herself (biography). In 1984, the Television Hall of Fame made Lucille Ball the first female ind...