Desi Arnaz

At 69 years old, Desi Arnaz has this physical status:

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), better known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-born American actor, singer, comedian, and television director.

He is best known for his role as the witty Ricky Ricardo on the American television series I Love Lucy, where he co-starred with his then wife, dramatic and comedic actress Lucille Ball (1911–1989).

Arnaz and Ball have long been credited with the syndicated revival, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series. Desilu Productions was founded and operated by Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who first introduced I Love Lucy to television networks.

Arnaz began producing several television shows after I Love Lucy ended, first with Desilu Productions and then independently, including The Ann Sothern Show and The Untouchables.

He was also known for his leadership of the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, a Latin music group.

Early life

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz de Alberni II (March 8, 1894 – May 31, 1973) and Dolores "Lolita" de Acha y de Socias, Arnaz, 1991 (October 2, 1896 – October 24, 1988). His father was Santiago's youngest mayor and also served in the Cuban House of Representatives. Alberto de Acha, a descendant of the Cuban nobility, was a grandson of José Joaqun. Arnaz's maternal grandfather, Alberto de Acha, died in 1933. A crowd erupted and burned the family's houses, property, and livestock. Arnaz was barely able to get out of the shooting because he was able to hop in a car. Alberto Arnaz, his father, was imprisoned, and all of his assets were confiscated. He was released after six months when Alberto de Acha, his brother-in-law, intervened on his behalf.

Desi Desiree attended high school in Miami. Desire and his father had to live in a garage that was contaminated with rats and roaches when they arrived in the United States. He went to Saint Leo Prep (near Tampa) in 1934 to improve his English. In Miami, he began working at Woolworth's and cleaning canary cages. He and his dad then got into the tile business before returning to show business full time.

Personal life

Arnaz and Ball decided that the show would maintain "basic good taste" and that they were therefore unable to include ethnic jokes, as well as jokes based on physical limitations or mental impairments. Arnaz recalled that the only exception consisted of mocking Ricky Ricardo's accent; and that these jokes were only effective when Lucy, his wife, did the imitating.

Arnaz was also a lifelong Catholic.

Arnaz, a lifelong Republican, was deeply patriotic about the United States. In his memoirs, he claimed that he knew of no other country in the world where "a sixteen-year-old boy, who was broke, and unable to speak the language" would achieve the same success as he did. He was both a sponsor of Richard Nixon and a member of the Spanish-Speaking Committee for the President's Re-Election in 1972. In the early 1970s, Nixon proclaimed Arnaz as the United States' roving ambassador to Latin America. He was a fan of Ronald Reagan and appeared at campaign rallies, including one hosted by the National Republican Hispanic Assembly in 1980. He was a champion for the Hispanic people, encouraging them to take the 1980 census to increase federal support for their communities.

Arnaz and Lucille Ball were married on November 30, 1940. Their marriage was never happy. Ball pleaded divorce in September 1944, but returned to him before the interlocutory decree became final, being convinced that Arnaz was being unfaithful to her and also because he came home drunk many times. Arnaz and Ball later had two children, actress Lucie Arnaz (born 1951) and Desi Arnaz Jr. (born 1953).

Arnaz's marriage with Ball began to fail as a result of his increasing alcoholism, gambling, and infidelity. According to his memoir, the combined stresses of running the company as well as supervising its day-to-day operations had significantly escalated as the corporation grew larger, and he was forced to search outlets to ease the load. Diverticulitis affected Arnaz. Ball was divorced in 1960. When Ball returned to weekly television, she and Arnaz reached an agreement about Desilu, wherein she bought him out.

Edith Mack Hirsch (née McSkimming) was Arnaz's second wife. He greatly reduced his show business after the two couples married on March 2, 1963. Edith died in 1985, aged 67, of cancer, and the two were married for 22 years until she died in 1985.

Although Arnaz and Ball divorced other spouses after their divorce in 1960, they remained close and became closer in his last decade. In the last years of his life, Arnaz wrote, "I Love Lucy was never just a mark." Ball and Arnaz were seen together with their grandson Simon shortly before Arnaz's death, according to a family's home video later released on television.

Arnaz suffered from knee injury as a young man just before and during his military service in World War II. The agony was bad enough that he was barred from serving overseas. In the late 1960s, he was seriously injured in an accident and was impaled by a tree stump in his house in Baja California. An operation saved his life, but his health was never the same after the tragedy. He had to seek medical attention for diverticulitis and intestinal disorders throughout his life, with some requiring hospitalization.

Arnaz was convinced by his children's death in 1985 that he had significantly impaired his health, which had already had significant consequences on his health. Lucie Arnaz expressed her pride at a treatment meeting with her father, where she stood up and said, "I'm Desi," and "I'm an alcoholic."

Arnaz had a few run-ins with the legislation. In 1959, he was arrested on an intoxication charge while walking Hollywood Boulevard. Following an altercation with youth parking in front of his house in 1966, he was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Two young men were reportedly partying nearby and insulting his then-15-year-old daughter Lucie and her companion. Arnaz confronted them, threatened to shoot their tires and cars, and then fired two bullets that went into the ground, before firing two bullets. He was in prison for three hours before being released on $1,100 bail.

Later life

Desi Arnaz spent his retirement doing things he enjoyed, including sailing his yacht (he was a great yachtsman since childhood), fishing, and making Cuban dishes. Later in life, he suffered from multiple health problems. He has worked with charities and non-profit groups, including San Diego State University. He was heavily involved in politics and made occasional public appearances. In March 1982, he was the guest of honor at the Carnival Miami, where he performed with his children, Lucie and Desir Jr., Jr., before a crowd of 35,000 people.

Arnaz was known to be extremely kind to his children.

Arnaz and his second wife were able to Del Mar, California, where the remainder of his life was spent in semi-retirement. He owned a horse-breed farm in Corona, California, and raced Thoroughbreds. In his honour, the Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar Racetrack has been named in his honour.

Arnaz used to smoke cigarettes for a large portion of his life, and on the set of I Love Lucy, he smoked cigarette a lot. He smoked cigarettes before he was in his sixties. In 1986, Arnaz was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgical treatment. During this time in the hospital, Lucille Ball visited him, and the two watched I Love Lucy VHS tapes. Lucie, his son's death, was by his side all the time.

Ball called him on November 30, 1986, on what would have been their 46th wedding anniversary, and they chatted for a short time, including "I love you." "Alright, honey," she said. I'll talk to you later today. He died two days later, on December 2, 1986, at the age of 69. Arnaz was cremated, but his ashes were scattered. One of hundreds of hundreds of people attended Arnaz's funeral, which was held at St. James Roman Catholic Church in San Diego County, California, was Ball. Lucille Ball's death came just five days after he was named Kennedy Center Honors. Edith, his second wife, who had died a year earlier on March 23, 1985, was predeceased by him. He died after his mother lived out of him by almost two years.

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Professional career

Arnaz formed the Siboney Septet band after high school and began to make a name for himself in Miami. Xavier Cugat, who had seen Arnaz perform, recruited him for his touring orchestra, playing the conga drum and singing. He wanted to start his own band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, after being a hit man.

Arnaz and his orchestra made a name for themselves in New York City's club scene, including La Conga, where he is credited with bringing the concept of conga line dancing to the United States.

He attracted Rodgers and Hart's attention in 1939 when they appeared in their Broadway musical Too Many Girls. The show was a hit, and RKO Pictures acquired the movie rights.

Arnaz appeared in RKO's film version, which also starred Lucille Ball. During the film's making, Arnaz and Ball fell in love and eloped on November 30, 1940.

Arnaz appeared in many films in the 1940s, including Bataan (1943), starring Robert Taylor (1943). Felix Ramirez, the jive-loving California National Guardsman, was described by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther as one of several supporting actors "convincing in soldier roles."

Arnaz's draft notice was delivered on April 27, 1943. However, Arnaz was barred from overseas service due to hypertension and knee injuries, which caused him pain and prolonged physical exertion, according to his military physical examination. He had injured his left knee prior to his enlistment and sustained his right knee shortly after enlisting on May 23, 1943, during a baseball game at Camp Arlington. He completed his recruiting service, but he was denied active service in the United States Army during World War II.

He was trained to oversee United Service Organization (USO) services at the Birmingham General Army Hospital in the San Fernando Valley. When wounded soldiers were recovering in the hospital, it was his job to keep them entertained. Arnaz was able to bring celebrities to visit the hospital and raise the soldiers's morale thanks to his Hollywood connections. For example, when he learned that the first thing the wounded soldiers wanted was a glass of cold milk, he arranged for movie actresses to visit them and pour the milk for them.

Arnaz served for two years, seven months, and four days. His service unit was the 9th Service Command, Army Service Forces. The Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal were all given to him for his service during World War II.

On September 30, 1945, Arnaz was dismissed as a staff sergeant.

Arnaz formed another band after being dismissed as a service sergeant on December 1, 1945, which was huge in live appearances and recordings. Marco Rizo, the son of John Macchia, was hired by his childhood friend Marco Rizo to play piano and arrange for the orchestra.

On Bob Hope's radio show (The Pepsodent Show) on NBC, Arnaz was the bandleader, conducting his Desi Arnaz Orchestra for the 1946-1947 season.

Arnaz was on CBS Radio, Your Tropical Trip in 1951 in order to convince Arnaz and Ball to remain at CBS over a rival offer from NBC, and to keep Arnaz and his band active and in Hollywood rather than touring. The musical game show, hosted by Arnaz and starring Arnaz' orchestra, attracted audiences from across the Caribbean. The program aired from January 1951 to September, just before I Love Lucy's premiere in October.

When he became popular on television, he kept the orchestra on his payroll, and Rizo arranged and orchestrated the music for I Love Lucy.

Arnaz appeared in the premiere of I Love Lucy, 1951, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself, Cuban orchestra leader Enrique "Ricky" Ricardo. Lucille Ball, Ricky's wife, Lucy, was his co-star. Ball had been attempting to make her Very Popular radio show My Favorite Husband available on television. Arnaz wanted to be on-air spouse so the two could spend more time together, so Ball insists that they should be able to spend more time together. Richard Denning, a CBS co-star of Ball's Husband, wanted to know more about him.

The original plan was for the two to portray Lucy and Larry Lopez, a successful show business couple whose glamorous careers interacted with their efforts to maintain a healthy marriage. Market results showed that this scenario would not be popular, so Jess Oppenheimer changed it to make Ricky Ricardo a struggling young orchestra leader and Lucy an ordinary housewife with no experience. "Larry Lopez" was canceled due to the death of a real-life bandleader, Vincent Lopez, who was replaced by "Ricky Ricardo." Henry Richard, a childhood friend and the brother of P.C., was inspired by the name. Richard of P.C. Richard & Sons. Enrique Ricardo is the acronym that stands for Enrique Ricardo. Ricky used to work at, and later purchased, the Tropicana Club, which was later renamed Club Babalu.

Initially, the proposal of having Ball and Arnaz as a married couple met with resistance after they were told that Desi Desi's Cuban accent and Latin style would not be agreeable to American viewers. The couple beat these retaliation fears by touring together in the summer of 1950 in a live vaindeville performance they created with the support of Spanish clown Perez, as well as Ball's radio show writers. In the pilot episode of I Love Lucy, a large portion of the information from their vaindeville act, including Lucy's memorable seal routine, was used. In the sixth episode of the show's first season, segments of the pilot were recreated. Arnaz and Ball, the show's most popular entrepreneurs, became TV's most popular entrepreneurs during his time on the show.

In 1950, Arnaz founded Desilu Productions, first to produce the vaindeville-style touring act that culminated in the I Love Lucy production. Most television shows were live at the time, and as New York's major markets were in New York, the majority of the nation was still relying on kinescope images. Karl Freund, Arnaz's cameraman, and even Arnaz himself have been credited with the creation of the multi-camera setup design style, which has been popular in front of a live audience. Any station around the country was able to broadcast high-quality photos of the show thanks to the use of film. Arnaz was told that it would be impossible to allow an audience into a sound stage, but he worked with Freund to create a set that would welcome an audience, allow filming, and adhere to fire and safety regulations. Arnaz and Ball decided to salary reductions due to the cost of a 35mm film. They retained the rights to the films in exchange. They invented re-runs and syndicated TV shows, which was a major source of new sales.

He produced The Ann Sothern Show and Those Whiting Girls, as well as other series including The Untouchables, Whirlybirds, and Sheriff of Cochise, United States Marshal. Arnaz, a producer of The Untouchables, was reportedly the object of a mafia murder plot that was later called off due to the show's negative coverage of gangsters. Jimmy Fratianno's book, The Last Mafioso, made these allegations in the 1980s. Arnaz denied that these allegations were truthful. He directed the film Forever, Darling (1956), in which he and Ball appeared.

The original Desilu business survived long after Arnaz's separation from Ball and her subsequent marriage to Gary Morton. In comparison to providing facilities to other manufacturers, Desilu's own programs continued to be developed. Arnaz and his wife, Ball, sold their Desilu to Ball in 1962 and established his own production company after they divorced. He produced The Mothers-In-Law (at Desilu) for United Artists Television and NBC with the newly formed Desi Arnaz Productions. This sitcom ran for two seasons from 1967 to 1969. Arnaz made four guest appearances as Seor Delgado, a Spanish matador.

The company now known as Desilu, Too, succeeded Arnaz's firm, which was out-of-interest. In the home video reissues of Ball/Arnaz content not owned by CBS (successor-in-interest to Paramount Television, which in turn succeeded the original Desilu company), Desilu, Too, and Lucille Ball Productions worked hand-in-hand with MPI Home Video. The Mothers-In-Law were included in this collection, as well as numerous services and specials that Ball and Arnaz developed independently of each other.

Arnaz co-hosted a week of shows with daytime host and producer Mike Douglas in the 1970s. Vivian Vance appeared as a visitor. On NBC, Arnaz also headlined a Kraft Music Hall special that featured his two children, with some appearances by Vance. In 1971, Arnaz was diagnosed with diverticulitis, which required an operation and several years of recovery. Dr. Domingo (the character appeared on one episode of Ironside) and Chairman of the Board starring Elke Sommer, he worked with Universal Studios for two years, eventually failing to develop shows for two shows that ultimately fell through. Arnaz went back to work on his autobiography for two years.

Arnaz appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1976 to promote his autobiography, A Book. Desi, Jr., Jr., his son, Desi, Jr., was also on Saturday Night Live to promote his book A Book. The program featured spoofs of I Love Lucy and The Untouchables. Desire Lucy's parodys were supposed to be older versions of the show that never made it on television, such as "I Love Louie," where Desi Desiree lived with Louis Armstrong. In a heavy Cuban accent, he read Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" (he pronounced it "Habberwocky"). Desi Jr., a drummer, performed the drums and, with the SNL band's sponsorship, Desi performed both "Babal" and "Cuban Pete"; the arrangements were similar to those used on I Love Lucy. He ended the show by leading the entire cast in a conga line through the SNL studio.

CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years in 1976 honored Lucille Ball with a two-hour special. Both Ball and Arnaz appeared on the film for the first time since their separation in 16 years.

When asked about returning to television in a 1976 newspaper article, Arnaz said, "People want to go back on television, but the thin's too bad to compete with the Ricky Ricardo of 20 years ago." He does look a lot better than I do." In 1978, Arnaz appeared on the television series Alice, starring Linda Lavin and created by I Love Lucy co-creators Madelyn Pugh (Madelyn Davis) and Bob Carroll, Jr. In Palm Desert, Calif., Arnaz was the owner of the Indian Wells Country Club. He also worked in San Diego State in studio design and acting for television.

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