Inside Lucille Ball's Tragic Life

Apr 07 2021

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There are few American stars as famous — or as impactful on their medium of choice — as Lucille Ball. She brought joy to countless fans, but behind the scenes, her life was full of tragedy. Here's the inside story on the not-so-funny side of America's favorite comedian, Lucille Ball. According to Lucille Ball's autobiography Love, Lucy, the comedian was born to parents Henry and Desiree Ball in western New York in 1911. They moved to Montana and then on to Michigan, where Henry, an electrician and lineman, found work with telephone company Michigan Bell. But Lucille's life would take a tragic turn before she was even old enough to go to school. After her father came down with influenza, a severe winter storm hit their suburban Detroit neighborhood and Henry braved the snow to climb poles and fix broken lines. According to Charles Higham's The Real Life of Lucille Ball, he then contracted typhoid fever, forcing the family to live under quarantine to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. After a temperature spike and a series of symptoms, Lucille's father died in February 1915. She was only three years old at the time. A few years after Henry's death, Desiree remarried metal polisher Ed Peterson, and the family moved to Celoron, New York, into a house with young Lucille's grandparents. Watch the video for more about Lucille Ball's Tragic Life. #LucilleBall #Television #Actors Early tragedy | 0:00 Traumatic incident | 1:08 Tough Hollywood start | 2:04 Marriage to Desi Arnaz | 2:58 Addiction in family | 4:03 FBI investigation | 5:10 Flopped movie career | 6:15 Sitcom failure | 6:59 Sudden death | 7:48