Ball talked about her hair in an interview six years before her death in 1989
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NEED TO KNOW
- Lucille Ball had a complicated relationship with her curly hair
- The actress was born brunette before being encouraged to go platinum blonde as she pursued a career in Hollywood
- In a 1983 interview, the actress explained how she landed on her signature red hair and became devoted to the look
Lucille Ball didn’t love her hair.
While she became known as one of the most notable redheads in American history, the hue wasn’t the actress’ natural shade. Many have seen Ball in photos as a blonde from earlier in her career, but the star was open about the fact that she started out as a brunette.
“My hair has always been the bane of my existence,” Ball told Rolling Stone in 1983. “I have never known what to do with my hair. It was just never chic,” she shared, admitting she’d tried blonde, platinum blonde, red, pink and orange.”
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Ball shared that she first tried out the name Diane Belmont when she arrived in Hollywood as a “Jean Harlow platinum blonde,” explaining, “You had to be a platinum blonde then. They wanted you to be a platinum blonde, so I was a platinum blonde.”
Hair stylist Sydney Guilaroff was the one responsible for first dyeing Lucille Ball’s hair flame red for MGM’s Du Barry Was a Lady. Ball was happy with the outcome, so much so that it became her go-to color.
While there were rumors Guilaroff picked the color because he felt the “fire” of Ball’s soul, she dismissed the idea and explained to the outlet, “Red was a happy color. It was good with my eyes, and it photographed well. It turned out to be a successful color. There’s nothing more to it than that.”
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In that interview, Ball reflected on the magic that was I Love Lucy, admittedly longing for the character and what she represented.
“Lucy, for me, is like a memory. I am nostalgic about Lucy. I could still be playing that part. Before I quit working in 1974, my ratings were high, and they wanted me to sign on for another five years of Here’s Lucy,” she shared.
“I said, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ The Lucy character is too old to run around like an idiot. I’d probably still be playing Lucy if I’d signed that contract, but it was silly to keep playing the same thing,” she said.
After a pause, Ball added, “But now I miss her. I miss my arena. I miss getting up and going to work every day. I have my charities, and I’m getting my house in order, but it’s not the same.”
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