Did You Have Any Idea Lucille Ball Grew Up in Michigan?
If you don’t “Love Lucy” then we can’t be friends. Not only was Lucille Ball an amazing actress and comedienne as seen on I Love Lucy, Ball was also a ground-breaking producer and entrepreneur. But did you have any idea this award-winning icon spent time growing up in Michigan? Because I sure didn’t!
Lucille Ball was a pioneer both on and off screen. In 1950, she and her then-husband and business partner Desi Arnaz founded the iconic Desilu Studios, with Ball later becoming the sole owner and operator of the studio after the couple’s 1962 divorce. It’s worth mentioning the film and television industry would not be what it is today without Lucille and Desilu Studios as some of your favorite classic TV shows like Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show were all either produced and/or filmed there.
Lucy Moves To Michigan
Although Lucille was born in Jamestown, NY the Ball family moved to Wyandotte, MI when she was just one year old so that her father, an electrician, could take a job with the Bell Telephone Company. The Balls rented a small back-room apartment at 126 Biddle Avenue just steps from the Detroit River.
Several Wyandotte residents such as Bernard Daniels, whose parents owned the apartment the Balls rented, recall playing in the front yard with Lucille as children. Unfortunately, Lucille’s father passed away when she was three years old, forcing the family to return to New York. However, Lucille did not stay a stranger to Wyandotte. In 1947 Ball returned to Michigan to reconnect with old friends like Daniels, and she even attended a special engagement at the local theater while in town.
Unfortunately, the original Ball apartment has since been torn down, but Lucille’s place in Michigan will not be forgotten. In her book Memoirs of Lucy local author Betty Schley writes, “Her memory will live on in the hearts and minds of Wyandotte residents who like to consider her one of their very own."
Which is your favorite I Love Lucy moment?