Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Actress Lucille Ball died April 26, 1989 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. At the time of her death, she was in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center recovering from emergency surgery performed just six days earlier because of a dissecting aortic aneurysm near her heart. Ball was at increased risk, as she had been a heavy smoker for decades.
Lucille Ball
When its run ended in 1938, Ball joined the cast of "The Wonder Show" starring Jack Haley (best remembered as the Tin Woodman in "The Wizard of Oz", 1939). There began her 50-year professional relationship with the show's announcer, Gale Gordon. "The Wonder Show" lasted one season, with the final episode airing on April 7, 1939. MGM producer Arthur Freed purchased the Broadway hit musical play "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1943) especially for Ann Sothern, but when she turned down the part, that plum role went to Ball, Sothern's real-life best friend. In 1946, Ball starred in "Lover Come Back". In 1947, she appeared in the murder mystery "Lured" as Sandra Carpenter, a taxi dancer in London.