Lucille Ball

If you were to make a list of the funniest persons in television history, man or woman, Lucille Ball would be at the top. She wasn't only good enough to play the lead in three different, long-running sitcoms; she was also talented enough to have her name in the title of all three. Aside from her most recognized programs, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy had almost 300 episodes altogether.

Her performance as Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy, on the other hand, would be enough to crown her as the funniest woman in television history. Her red-haired, shameless fame-seeking wife of bandleader Ricky Ricardo is arguably the most iconic, most famous character in television history, and her antics—whether on the chocolate factory line, trying to meet celebrities in Hollywood, or hawking alcoholic health tonic—are as amusing today as they were when they first aired. Lucille Ball is the funniest lady to ever grace our television screens. She is timeless, witty, and groundbreaking.