Offered her own TV series in 1950, Ball refused unless Arnaz could co-star. The young couple decided that the best chance for their marriage to work was if they worked together. This was a problem because of the time needed for long-distance travel in the days before jet airliners. Their performing schedules clashed frequently, and the newlyweds often found themselves on opposite sides of the country at the end of the week. After performing in the musical 'Too Many Girls' in 1940 with popular Cuban band leader, Desi Arnaz, Ball fell in love with her co-star, and married him later that year. Ball would appear in over 60 films by the late 1940s. She started at the bottom, with bit parts in low-budget films, but her initial success would lead to bigger and better parts. Moderately successful in these pursuits, she was chosen to be the poster model for Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1933, which got her national exposure for the first time, and caught the attention of Hollywood.

Undaunted, Ball took a job as a waitress while trying for jobs in modeling and in chorus lines of Broadway shows. Intent on becoming an actress, she left high school at age 15, and tried unsuccessfully to get into drama school in New York City. She is best known for the title role in the hit television sitcom of the 1950's 'I Love Lucy.' She was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York.

Lucille ball i love lucy