Monday inspiration:

One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
~ Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball, Yank Army Weekly, 1945

When I think of Lucy, I have to smile. The first image that comes to mind is the chocolate factory! For a woman who brought smiles and laughter to so many millions of people, you might think optimism was natural. But her real life was far from an easy ride.

To think that this illustrious career all started with dating a gangster. Not what you might think, though! It was to get teenage Lucy away from said gangster boyfriend that her mother shipped her off to drama school in New York. (Hmm… that wouldn’t have been my first choice as a destination to get away from gangsters. Guess it worked for her though!)

So off to drama school she went. And after a couple of weeks, they sent her home again, saying she “had no future at all as a performer”. A lesser woman might have given up then, but Lucy was determined to prove them wrong.

A couple of years later, she was back in New York, got into modeling, and then onto the stage. That didn’t go so well, either, as she was hired and then fired by a number of Broadway shows. Some people would have given up then, but not Lucy.

She moved to Hollywood, and got into movies. She was in plenty of movies, but never very successful, and became known as “queen of the B’s“. After playing a wacky wife on a radio show, CBS approached her to develop it into a TV role. She agreed, but only if hubby Desi Arnaz could co-star. That was too much for 1948 studio execs — a redhead / Cuban family? Not quite white-bread enough for them, so they refused. A lot of people would have caved in here, and gone quietly along with it. Not Lucy.

The two filmed the pilot episode on their own, under DesiLu Productions. Studio was still not impressed. Then she and Desi took their show on the road, touring the US doing a vaudeville act. It was such a success that the studio eventually gave her what she wanted, and put I Love Lucy on the air.

Her personal life wasn’t easy, either. After eloping with Cuban band leader Desi Arnaz in 1940, the marriage was up and down. Lucy filed for divorce in 1944, but then they reconciled. After several miscarriages, they eventually had 2 children together, before divorcing for good in 1960.

Her second child turned into another fight with the TV studio. I Love Lucy was a major hit at the time, and Ball and Arnaz wrote the pregnancy into the season. CBS disapproved, insisting that a pregnant woman could not be shown on TV, nor could they say the word “pregnant”. Huh? I mean, I suppose the networks could pretend that sex never existed, but there were pregnant women all over the country, walking around in broad daylight, in full view of the neighbors. What’s to hide?

Anyway, CBS had to get approval from “several religious figures” before allowing the pregnancy storyline. They still couldn’t say the word “pregnant”, but got by with “expecting” instead. The show was a success, and the birth made the first-ever cover of TV Guide.

This is just the thumbnail sketch of a truly remarkable woman - TV and movie star, and head of a major production studio. She achieved these things with that optimism she talked about. If she had lost faith in herself and given up in the difficult times, the world would have missed out on a lot of happiness.

I’ll let Lucy wrap it up at the chocolate factory.

For more on this inspirational woman, see Wikipedia: Lucille Ball

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Lucille Ball is my idea of an exciting and inspirational Adventurous Wench. She lived life her way, in spite of the people who told her she couldn’t, and the people who said she wasn’t good enough. She didn’t stay within the “good girl” lines — she broke the rules, and thereby changed the rules. I’m sure she gave some studio exec’s ulcers, but by doing so, she made the world a better place. I can only hope to model some of her perseverance, strength, sense of humor, and indomitable spirit. And I’m staying away from assembly lines!