Lucille Ball’s Final TV Appearance Was 37 Years Ago Tonight
Lucille Ball’s Final TV Appearance Was 37 Years Ago Tonight
Maggie EkbergSun, March 29, 2026 at 1:40 PM UTC
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(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Thirty-seven years ago tonight, Lucille Ball walked onto the stage at the 61st Academy Awards. It was the last time she'd ever appear on television.
On March 29, 1989, Ball joined her longtime friend Bob Hope at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to introduce a segment celebrating "the stars of tomorrow." The lineup included Patrick Dempsey, Ricki Lake, Corey Feldman, Blair Underwood, Chad Lowe, Tracy Nelson, Keith Coogan, and Corey Parker. The audience gave them a standing ovation.
Getting Ball there hadn't been easy. Hope had to call the I Love Lucy star repeatedly before she finally agreed. She hated the wig she'd picked out — the netting gave her "a goddamn headache," according to Mental Floss — and wasn't thrilled about the whole production. "Goddamn Hope," she reportedly said. "No one cares what the hell he looks like, but everybody cares what I look like. God, I'm so tired of myself."
She showed up anyway.
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Ball closed the segment by introducing choreographer Kenny Ortega — a moment often cited as her final words on television.
Less than three weeks later, Ball began experiencing severe chest pains. She underwent emergency open-heart surgery on April 18 and initially appeared to be recovering. On April 26, 1989, she died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. She was 77. President George H.W. Bush posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom later that year.
One of the most touching details from her final days came from her close friend Carol Burnett.
In January, the 92-year-old comedian sat down for Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson's IMO Podcast and shared her last memory of Ball. "She always sent me flowers on my birthday," Burnett said. "And I got up one morning, and she had died on my birthday. And I got flowers that afternoon."
The card read: "Happy birthday, kid."
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This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
