Beginning her career in 1929 as a model, Lucille Ball was the star of the self-produced sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy.

After marrying Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz in 1940, the two worked together on the 1950s television show, I Love Lucy – a series that became one of the most beloved programs in television history.

In 1962, Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu Productions, which produced many popular television series, including Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.

Ball was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning four times. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – one for her contribution to motion pictures and one for television.

“I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it, and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work and realising what is opportunity and what isn’t. In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by.”