Lucille Ball was not born a redhead. The fiery hair that became one of the most recognizable looks in entertainment history was actually the result of a bold decision made early in her Hollywood career. Originally blonde, Lucy was encouraged by MGM executives in the 1940s to reinvent her image. With the help of famed stylist Sydney Guilaroff, she dyed her hair a vivid copper-red shade so distinctive it eventually became part of her identity worldwide. Maintaining it was no simple task. The color required constant upkeep, special treatments, and regular salon visits. People remember what stands out. And Lucille Ball never blended into the background again. By the early 1960s, she accomplished something no woman in Hollywood history had done before. After her divorce from Desi Arnaz, Lucy bought his shares of Desilu Productions and became the first woman to run a major television production company entirely on her own. And she did not play it safe. At a time when television executives dismissed ambitious ideas as too strange or risky, Lucy quietly approved projects others refused to touch. One of them was Star Trek. Another was Mission: Impossible. Networks believed science fiction audiences were too small. Executives thought complex storytelling would fail. When NBC rejected the original Star Trek pilot for being “too cerebral,” Lucy personally pushed for a second pilot to be filmed — an expensive and extremely unusual move. Without her decision, Star Trek likely never would have existed. Years earlier, she had fought another battle behind the scenes of I Love Lucy. CBS executives wanted someone other than Desi Arnaz to play her husband on television because they doubted American audiences would accept a Cuban immigrant in the role. Lucy refused to compromise. If she played Lucy Ricardo, then Desi would play Ricky Ricardo.