Last public appearance: Ball appeared as a presenter with Bob Hope on the 61st annual Academy Awards telecast held March 29, 1989, less than a month before she died. She was a player in mostly mediocre comedies during her time at the studio - with notable exceptions such as 1937’s “Stage Door.” She met Arnaz when the two were cast in 1940’s “Too Many Girls.” The pair tied the knot in Greenwich, Conn., on Nov. As a leggy ingenue, she landed numerous uncredited roles including one as a Goldwyn Girl in 1933’s “Roman Scandals.” She bounced around in bit parts at Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox before securing a seven-year contract at RKO in 1935 ( Daily Variety noted that Ball was one of four “girls” to land deals with RKO). Her big break: Ball studied acting in New York and moved to the West Coast in the early 1930s.

By spring 1951, Ball and Arnaz had deals with CBS and sponsor Philip Morris for the series that became “I Love Lucy.” Ball and Arnaz proved them wrong by touring the country in 1950 with a cabaret comedy act that was a smash hit. The executives thought America would never accept a show revolving around a multi-ethnic marriage. Why she mattered: Ball fought the systemic racism of her era when CBS executives balked at having her star in a TV series with her real-life husband, the Cuba-born bandleader. In 1967, Ball sold Desilu for $17 million to Gulf + Western, which bought Paramount Pictures around the same time.

Known for her signature flame-red hair color, Ball was also the first woman to head a major TV studio, Desilu Productions, which she and Arnaz formed to produce “I Love Lucy.” The pair built Desilu into a powerhouse TV studio that produced or provided production services for such 1950s and ‘60s TV series as “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Untouchables” “Our Miss Brooks,” “Make Room For Daddy,” “December Bride” and “Whirlybirds.” Ball took over the company a few years after she and Arnaz were divorced in 1960.

Behind the scenes impact: With her husband and “I Love Lucy” co-star Desi Arnaz, Ball was a TV pioneer who etched an enduring template for TV sitcoms shot on film, which ignited the syndication marketplace for TV.

Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball