Desi Arnaz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Desi Arnaz
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Arnaz in 1950
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| Born |
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III
March 2, 1917 Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
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| Died | December 2, 1986 (aged 69) Del Mar, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Actor, musician, bandleader, comedian, producer |
| Years active | 1936–1982 |
| Political party | Republican |
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Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III; March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a talented actor, musician, and producer from Cuba who became famous in America. He is best known for playing Ricky Ricardo on the popular TV show I Love Lucy. He starred in the show with his wife at the time, Lucille Ball.
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were very creative. They helped invent the idea of reruns for TV shows, which means showing episodes again after they first aired. They did this with I Love Lucy. They also started their own TV company called Desilu Productions. After I Love Lucy finished, Arnaz produced other TV series, like The Ann Sothern Show and The Untouchables. He was also a great bandleader for his Latin music group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. He loved playing the conga drums and helped make the Conga line dance popular in the United States.
Contents
Early Life in Cuba and America
Desi Arnaz was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. His father, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Alberni II, was the youngest mayor of Santiago and also served in the Cuban government. His mother was Dolores "Lolita" de Acha y de Socias. Desi's family was well-known and had a good life in Cuba.
In 1933, a big change happened in Cuba called the Cuban Revolution of 1933. This event caused Desi's family to lose everything they owned. Their homes and property were attacked and destroyed. Desi's father was even put in jail for a while.
After these difficult times, Desi and his family had to leave Cuba and move to Miami, Florida, in the United States. They arrived with no money. Desi had to live with his father in a garage. To help his family, Desi took on many jobs. He worked at a store called Woolworth's and even cleaned bird cages. He also went to Saint Leo Prep to get better at speaking English. Eventually, he started a tile business with his father before focusing completely on entertainment.
Becoming a Star: Music and Acting
After high school, Desi Arnaz started his own band called the Siboney Septet. He began to get noticed in Miami for his music. A famous bandleader named Xavier Cugat saw Desi perform and hired him to play the conga drum and sing in his touring orchestra. This helped Desi become even more popular, and soon he started his own group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra.
Desi's band became very successful in New York City clubs. He is known for bringing the conga line dance to the United States at a club called La Conga.
In 1939, two famous musical creators, Rodgers and Hart, chose Desi to be in their Broadway musical, Too Many Girls. The show was a big hit, and a movie studio, RKO Pictures, decided to make it into a film.
Desi went to Hollywood in 1940 to act in the movie version of Too Many Girls. This is where he met Lucille Ball, who was also starring in the film. Desi and Lucille fell in love while making the movie and got married on November 30, 1940.
Desi Arnaz appeared in several movies during the 1940s. One notable film was Bataan in 1943, where he played a soldier named Felix Ramirez. Critics said he was very convincing in his role.
Military Service During World War II
On April 27, 1943, Desi Arnaz was called to serve in the military during World War II. Because of some health issues, including knee injuries, he was not sent to fight overseas.
Instead, he was given an important job directing programs for the United Service Organization (USO) at the Birmingham General Army Hospital. His role was to entertain injured soldiers who were recovering. Desi used his connections in Hollywood to bring famous celebrities to visit the hospital. This helped to cheer up the soldiers and boost their spirits. For example, he arranged for movie stars to serve cold milk to the wounded soldiers, which was something they really wanted.
Desi Arnaz served in the United States Army for over two and a half years. He was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal for his service. He was discharged as a staff sergeant on September 30, 1945.
Career After the Military
After leaving the army, Desi Arnaz started another orchestra. It was very popular for live shows and recordings. He hired his childhood friend Marco Rizo to play piano and arrange music for the orchestra.
From 1946 to 1947, Desi Arnaz and his orchestra were featured on Bob Hope's radio show, The Pepsodent Show.
In 1951, CBS Radio offered Desi a game show called Your Tropical Trip. This was partly to keep Desi and Lucille Ball at CBS, as another network, NBC, was also interested in them. The show was a musical game where audience members could win a Caribbean vacation. It aired until September 1951, just before I Love Lucy began.
Even after becoming successful in television, Desi kept his orchestra working. Marco Rizo continued to arrange music for I Love Lucy.
=I Love Lucy
On October 15, 1951, Desi Arnaz began starring in I Love Lucy. He played Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban orchestra leader. His co-star was his real-life wife, Lucille Ball, who played Ricky's wife, Lucy. TV executives wanted Lucille Ball to bring her popular radio show, My Favorite Husband, to television. But Lucille insisted that Desi play her husband on TV so they could spend more time together.
At first, the show was going to be about a glamorous show business couple. But market research showed that people might not like that idea. So, the show's writer, Jess Oppenheimer, changed it. Ricky Ricardo became a young orchestra leader who was trying to make it big, and Lucy was an ordinary housewife who dreamed of being in show business but wasn't very good at it. Ricky often performed at, and later owned, a club called the Tropicana, which he renamed Club Babalu.
Some people at first worried that Desi's Cuban accent and Latin style would not be popular with American viewers. However, Desi and Lucille proved them wrong. They went on tour together in 1950 with a live comedy act. They used many ideas from this act in the first episode of I Love Lucy. During their time on the show, Desi and Lucille became very successful business people in television.
Desilu Productions
In 1950, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball started their own company, Desilu Productions. They first used it to produce their live comedy act. Back then, most TV shows were broadcast live, and only big cities got good quality pictures. Desi Arnaz and his cameraman, Karl Freund, helped create a new way to film TV shows. They used several cameras at once on sets that looked like real homes, with a live audience watching. This became the standard way to film many TV comedies.
Using film meant that every TV station across the country could show high-quality episodes. Filming with 35mm film was expensive, so Desi and Lucille agreed to take lower salaries. In return, they kept the rights to the filmed episodes. This was a very smart move! It led to their idea of reruns and syndicating TV shows, which meant selling the show to many different stations. This brought in a lot of new money.
Besides I Love Lucy, Desi Arnaz was an executive producer for other shows like The Ann Sothern Show and Those Whiting Girls. He was also involved in series such as The Untouchables and Whirlybirds. He also produced a movie called Forever, Darling (1956), which he and Lucille Ball starred in.
Desilu Productions continued for a long time, even after Desi and Lucille divorced. In 1962, Desi sold his part of Desilu to Lucille Ball. After that, he started his own company, Desi Arnaz Productions. With his new company, he produced the sitcom The Mothers-In-Law, which ran for two seasons from 1967 to 1969. Desi Arnaz even made four guest appearances on the show as a Spanish matador named Señor Delgado.
Later Career and Life
In the 1970s, Desi Arnaz appeared on TV shows as a guest host. He also had a special on Kraft Music Hall with his two children, Lucie and Desi Jr. Desi Arnaz had some health problems in 1971, which required surgery and a few years to recover. He then spent two years writing his autobiography, a book about his life, called A Book.
To promote his book, Desi Arnaz hosted Saturday Night Live on February 21, 1976. His son, Desi Jr., also appeared. The show included funny spoofs of I Love Lucy. Desi Arnaz sang some of his famous songs like "Babalú" and "Cuban Pete". He ended the show by leading everyone in a conga line through the studio!
In 1976, CBS honored Lucille Ball with a special TV show. Both Lucille and Desi appeared on screen together for the first time in 16 years since their divorce.
Desi Arnaz made a guest appearance on the TV series Alice in 1978. His last acting role was in the 1982 film, The Escape Artist, where he played Mayor Leon Quiñones.
Desi Arnaz owned the Indian Wells Country Club in Palm Desert, California. He also taught classes at San Diego State University about TV production and acting.
Personal Life
Beliefs and Values
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball wanted I Love Lucy to be a show with "basic good taste." This meant they avoided jokes about different cultures or people with disabilities. Desi remembered that the only time they made fun of something was Ricky Ricardo's accent, and even then, only Lucy, as his wife, would do it.
Desi Arnaz was also a lifelong Catholic.
Politics
Desi Arnaz was a Republican and loved the United States very much. He wrote in his book that he knew of no other country where a "sixteen-year-old kid, broke and unable to speak the language" could achieve so much success. He supported politicians like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. He also encouraged the Hispanic community to participate in the 1980 census to help their communities get more government funding.
Marriages and Family
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were married on November 30, 1940. Their marriage had its ups and downs. They had two children, who also became actors: Lucie Arnaz (born in 1951) and Desi Arnaz Jr. (born in 1953).
Lucille Ball divorced Desi Arnaz in 1960. When Lucille went back to weekly television, she bought Desi's share of Desilu Productions.
Desi's second wife was Edith Mack Hirsch. They married on March 2, 1963. After this, Desi spent less time in show business. They were married for 22 years until Edith passed away in 1985.
Even though Desi and Lucille both married other people after their divorce, they remained good friends, especially in Desi's later years. Desi once wrote, "I Love Lucy was never just a title." Family videos showed Lucille and Desi playing happily with their grandson shortly before Desi passed away.
Health Issues
Desi Arnaz had knee injuries when he was young, which affected his military service. Later in life, he had other health problems. He also had issues with his intestines that sometimes required hospital visits.
Later Life and Passing
In his retirement, Desi Arnaz enjoyed sailing his yacht, fishing, and cooking Cuban dishes. He was a skilled sailor since he was a child. He also supported many charities and non-profit groups, including San Diego State University. He stayed involved in politics and made occasional public appearances. In 1982, he was honored at Carnival Miami and performed with his children, Lucie and Desi Jr., in front of a large crowd.
Desi Arnaz was known to be a very loving grandfather to his grandchildren.
Horse Racing
Desi Arnaz and his second wife moved to Del Mar, California, where he lived for the rest of his life. He owned a horse-breeding farm and raced Thoroughbred horses. There is even a horse race named in his honor, the Desi Arnaz Stakes, at the Del Mar Racetrack.
Death
Desi Arnaz smoked regularly for much of his life. In 1986, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and received treatment. Lucille Ball visited him in the hospital, and they watched old I Love Lucy episodes together. His daughter, Lucie, was with him during his final days.
On November 30, 1986, which would have been his 46th wedding anniversary with Lucille Ball, she called him. They talked for a short time and said "I love you." Desi Arnaz passed away two days later, on December 2, 1986, at the age of 69. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered. Lucille Ball was among the many people who attended his funeral. His death happened just five days before Lucille Ball received a special honor called the Kennedy Center Honors. His second wife, Edith, had passed away a year earlier.
Legacy
Desi Arnaz has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to movies and television. Even though he was never nominated for an Emmy for his acting in I Love Lucy, he was nominated four times as an executive producer for the show and won twice. In 1956, he won a Golden Globe award for his work in shaping American comedy through I Love Lucy. He was also added to the Television Academy's Hall of Fame.
There is a museum called the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York. The Desi Arnaz Bandshell, a place for musical performances, is in the Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron, New York.
Desi Arnaz has been portrayed by actors in several films and TV shows:
- His son, Desi Arnaz Jr., played him in the 1992 film The Mambo Kings.
- Maurice Benard played him in the 1991 TV movie Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter.
- Danny Pino played him in the 2003 TV movie Lucy.
- Oscar Nuñez played him in a 2018 stage play about I Love Lucy.
- Wilmer Valderrama played him in a radio version of the play in 2020.
- Javier Bardem played him in the 2021 film Being the Ricardos, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
On March 2, 2019, Google celebrated what would have been Desi Arnaz's 102nd birthday with a special Google doodle on their homepage.
Filmography
As Actor
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As Producer
As Writer
As Director
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Soundtracks
- 1940: Too Many Girls (performer: "Spic 'n' Spanish", "You're Nearer", "Conga") ("'Cause We Got Cake")
- 1941: Father Takes a Wife ("Perfidia" (1939), "Mi amor" (1941))
- 1942: Four Jacks and a Jill ("Boogie Woogie Conga" 1941)
- 1946: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra (performer: "Guadalajara", "Babalu (Babalú)", "Tabu (Tabú)", "Pin Marin") ... a.k.a. "Melody Masters: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra" – USA (series title)
- 1949: Holiday in Havana (writer: "Holiday In Havana", "The Arnaz Jam")
- 1956: Forever, Darling (performer: "Forever, Darling" (reprise))
- 1952: I Love Lucy (3 episodes, 1952–1956) ... a.k.a. "Lucy in Connecticut" – USA (rerun title) ... a.k.a. "The Sunday Lucy Show" – USA (rerun title) ... a.k.a. "The Top Ten Lucy Show" – USA (rerun title) – Lucy and Bob Hope (1956) TV episode (performer: "Nobody Loves the Ump" (uncredited)) – Ricky's European Booking (1955) TV episode (performer: "Forever, Darling" (uncredited)) – Cuban Pals (1952) TV episode (performer: "The Lady in Red", "Similau")
- 1958: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1 episode, 1958) ... a.k.a. "We Love Lucy" – USA (syndication title) – Lucy Wins a Race Horse (1958) TV episode (performer: "The Bayamo")
- 2001: I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special (TV) (performer: "California, Here I Come", "Babalu (Babalú)") ... a.k.a. "The I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special" – USA (DVD title)
See also
In Spanish: Desi Arnaz para niños
