American actor and head of Desilu Productions (1911–1989), the studio that developed Star Trek, financed both of its pilots and produced the series until the company was sold in 1967.
Lucille Ball was an American actor and comedian, born in 1911, famous worldwide as the star of I Love Lucy. From 1962 she was also the president of Desilu Productions, which made her one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.
Desilu signed Gene Roddenberry and developed Star Trek for NBC. The studio paid for the costly first pilot, The Cage, and then for a second, Where No Man Has Gone Before, after the network rejected the first. Ball is credited with backing the expensive project when members of her board were wary of the cost.
Desilu produced the first season and much of the second before Ball sold the company to Gulf and Western in 1967; it was merged into Paramount, which has owned Star Trek ever since. She died in 1989.