Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball

Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball
by Kathleen Brady

Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball
List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $13.43
You Save: $6.52 (33%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.36 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Kathleen Brady
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-01
ISBN: 0823089134
Number of pages: 424
Publisher: Billboard Books

Summary of Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball

Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball is an entertaining, informative, scholarly, and fascinating biography of one of the most revered actresses in television history. Moving beyond the typical celebrity bio, author Kathleen Brady separates the actress from Lucy Ricardo, the antic, enduring character she created on I Love Lucy.

Brady is the only biographer to have spent extensive time in Jamestown, New York, Lucille Ball's hometown, where she interviewed Ball's childhood friends. Other interviews for the book included family, employees, Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Milton Berle, Maureen O'Hara, Maxine Andrews of the Andrews Sisters, and the late chairman of CBS Bill Paley. Kathleen Brady's definitive biography presents a human Lucille Ball the fans have never known: the would-be showgirl in New York, fired almost as soon as she was hired because she was too flat-chested and mousy; her great love for Desi Arnaz, their tempestuous marriage, the day she thought she had killed him with a hammer, and the incident that ended their marriage; Lucille as head of Desilu Studios, overriding the advice of her most trusted executives and agreeing to green light the pilots of Star Trek and Mission Impossible; and her run-in with the House on Un-American Activities Committee and fears of being black-listed.

Brady reveals that Lucille Ball's life was a roller coaster, going from disaster to victory and triumph to tragedy. As a young woman, Ball believed that she had to work had to make people like and appreciate her. As a star, she felt she had to work hard to maintain her popularity, and was also conscious that what her fans wanted from her was not herself, but Lucy Ricardo.

Of the first edition of this book, published by Hyperion in 1994, critic Molly Haskell wrote: "It's a beautiful portrait of someone with enormous talent as an entertainer and heartbreaking fragility as a woman. In giving Lucille Ball the serious appraisal she deserves, Kathleen Brady has really gotten behind the scenes and the cameras to provide an invaluable chronicle of several areas and eras of show business."

New to this edition of Lucille is an introductory essay focusing on the place of the character of Lucy Ricardo in the history of comedy, going back to the traditions of the Italian commedia dell'arte and forward to the end of the 20th century. In this essay, Lucille Ball is compared to other key female figures in comedy like Mabel Normand, Mae West, Frannie Brice, Gilda Radner, and Fran Drescher. As the author writes, "Lucille Ball was a revolutionary figure because Lucy Ricardo was the first female character to combine the knock-about physical comedy of vaudeville and music halls (and 15th century carnivals) while being beautiful, feminine, and sweetly appealing." This edition also includes many new photographs from various sources.

Entertainers Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Entertainers Books
El Sid: Saint Vicious ImageEl Sid: Saint Vicious
by David Dalton
Griffin; Published: 1998-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops: $11.95
Moonwalk ImageMoonwalk
by Michael Jackson
Crown Archetype; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.44
Price in other shops: $25.00
High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly ImageHigh Society: The Life of Grace Kelly
by Donald Spoto
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.73
Price in other shops: $16.00
Stand & Deliver: The Autobiography ImageStand & Deliver: The Autobiography
by Adam Ant
Pan Macmillan; Published: 2007-04-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $105.86
San Antonio Rose: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BOB WILLS (Music in American Life) ImageSan Antonio Rose: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BOB WILLS (Music in American Life)
by Charles Townsend
University of Illinois Press; Published: 1986-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.50
Price in other shops: $37.50
Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu ImageOrson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu
by Simon Callow
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops: $18.00
The Basketball Diaries ImageThe Basketball Diaries
by Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1987-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $15.00
Hollywood Animal ImageHollywood Animal
by Joe Eszterhas
Hutchinson; Published: 2004; Paperback; Book
Love, Janis ImageLove, Janis
by Laura Joplin
It Books; Published: 2005-08-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $14.99
A Paper Life CD ImageA Paper Life CD
by Tatum O'Neal
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-10-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $17.77
Price in other shops: $24.95
Similar Books and other products
Yours, Mine and Ours ImageYours, Mine and Ours
MGM; Release date: 2001-03-06; DVD
Best price: $3.63
Price in other shops: $14.98
Lucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America's Favorite Redhead (Faq Series) ImageLucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America's Favorite Redhead (Faq Series)
by Barry Monush, James Sheridan
Applause Theatre and Cinema Books; Published: 2011-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops: $19.99
Meet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple ImageMeet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple
by Rob Edelman, Audrey Kupferberg
Renaissance Books; Published: 1999-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $18.99
Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball ImageLucille: The Life of Lucille Ball
by Kathleen Brady
Hyperion Books; Published: 1994-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.00
I Love Lucy: Celebrating 50 Years of Love and Laughter ImageI Love Lucy: Celebrating 50 Years of Love and Laughter
by Elisabeth Edwards
Running Press; Published: 2010-09-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.48
Price in other shops: $24.95
Lucy's Really Lost Moments - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced! ImageLucy's Really Lost Moments - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!
LEG; Release date: 2008-08-12; DVD
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops: $9.95
Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia ImageLucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia
by Michael Karol
iUniverse Star; Published: 2004-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops: $28.95
Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie ImageLucy and Desi: A Home Movie
MPI; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $11.47
Price in other shops: $19.98
Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz ImageDesilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
by Coyne S. Sanders, Tom Gilbert
It Books; Published: 2011-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.65
Price in other shops: $16.99
Love, Lucy ImageLove, Lucy
by Lucille Ball
Berkley; Published: 1997-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.23
Price in other shops: $7.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories