America still loves Lucy

Lucille Ball is America’s most beloved dead star.

The company that developed the “Q score” that broadcasters and advertisers quietly consult to measure a personality’s popularity has done a survey that tests the reputation of performers who have gone on to that big soundstage in the sky.

The redheaded sitcom star of the 1950s and ‘60s, who died in 1989, has topped past “Dead Q” lists as her comedies seemingly live forever on television, said Steve Levitt, president of Marketing Evaluations Inc., which conducts the tests.

Bob Hope, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Red Skelton follow her on the list.