“You cannot teach someone comedy; either they have it or they don’t,” said Lucille Ball.
The 1979 Golden Globe Cecil B. deMille awardee and seven-time Best Actress nominee for both her film and television work (The Facts of LifeThe Lucy Show Yours, Mine and Ours Here’s LucyMame) was quoted as saying that line in Richard Crouse’s book “The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen.”
Born in Jamestown, New York, to lineman Henry Ball and housewife Désirée Hunt, Ball used comedy and made people laugh to ease the pain of fragmented family life and lonely and desolate childhood, as well as heartaches from a failed first marriage. An unflagging sense of humor gave Ball a second lease on life, and the strength to make her one of the most influential women in modern American comedy.

At the 36th annual Golden Globes, when she was honored with the Cecil B. deMille Award, Ball, then 68 years old, received the award from Gregory Peck.
During that time, Ball, America’s favorite redhead, had already overcome her self-proclaimed title of “The Queen of the Bs,” referring to her earlier appearances in B-rated, or below-the-bill, movies.
She had already created a television dynasty. She became the first woman to head a TV production company, Desilu Productions, which she formed with Desi Arnaz, her former husband, and I Love Lucy co-star, who was six years her junior.
When they divorced in 1960, Ball bought out Arnaz’s share and became one of the first women studio heads. And she was very actively engaged. She produced many popular television series, including The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible, and Star Trek.
Desilu Productions and I Love Lucy also pioneered several methods still in use in TV production today, such as filming before a live studio audience with more than one camera, and distinct sets adjacent to one another.

I Love Lucy, which aired from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, dominated U.S. ratings for most of its run. Starring Ball and Arnaz along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley, the show had a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons.
At the 1979 Golden Globe Awards, Ball was accompanied by her second husband, stand-up comedian Gary Morton, who claimed that he hadn’t ever seen I Love Lucy when he first met Ball because he was always busy working nights.
Ball wrote to a friend in 1983, after being married to Morton since 1961, “Boy, did I pick a winner! After 19 years with that Latin lover, I never expected to marry again but I’m glad I did!”
For this simple girl who grew up dreaming of being in show business, Ball had only one piece of advice for aspiring actresses, as quoted in quotespedia.org: “Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
As most folks would say, “We love you too, Lucy!”