Desiderio Alberto Arnaz de Acha III

Actor, musician, orchestra conductor, comedian, and Cuban-American film and television producer, revolutionary in the creation of modern television. He is best known for his role as the ingenious Ricky Ricardo in the American television comedy I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his then-wife Lucille Ball.

It was 1925 when the then-mayor of the city of Santiago de Cuba, Desiderio Arnaz, banned the conga at that city's carnival, located about 950 kilometers east of Havana. He could not have imagined that little more than a decade later his own son, who was then 4 years old, would be responsible for popularizing the contagious rhythm in the United States.

Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Archa III) When he was 15 years old, his father (Desiderio) was elected Representative to the Congress of the Republic, and while the family was preparing to move to Havana, the coup d'état led by then-sergeant Fulgencio Batista overthrew General Gerardo Machado, then president of Cuba. As a result, all members of the government were imprisoned. It was under these circumstances that Desi and his mother fled Cuba and took refuge in Miami, Florida.

After a previous life of comforts and wealth, the poverty, prejudices, and difficulties that Arnaz faced in Miami at that time were horrible, forcing him, in order to survive and support his mother, to work selling plantains or cleaning cages in a bird store; and at the same time, as he carried rhythm in his blood, he always played congas and guitar wherever he was allowed. Later, his father, after spending six months in a Cuban prison, was released and was able to arrive in Miami to reunite with his family.

In 1937, he was fortunate to be hired by the legendary Xavier Cugat, a musician of Catalan origin raised in Cuba, who successfully introduced the rumba to North America. Cugat was the musician who successfully introduced to the sober American ears his questionable version of Cuban rumba, with which he remained for a year on tours and performances, earning 25 dollars per week. After a year, he reached an agreement with Cugat to launch his own band, called Desi Arnaz and his Xavier Cugat Orchestra, "congamania" had been born, which caused a sensation in the finest venues from Miami to New York.

His rhythm and charisma opened the door to acting for him. In 1939 he participated in the Rodgers and Hart musical theater production Too Many Girls, playing the character Miguelito, with which, at the end of the first act, Arnaz led all the actors of the production with a conga that captivated audiences. The success of the production led RKO studios to bring it to the big screen and for Desi, his first day at the studio was unforgettable, especially when he was introduced to the lead actress, who had just arrived from another film. That actress, 29 years old, was named Lucille Ball, who almost immediately became his wife, as Arnaz always told it, it was love at first sight.

According to professor and university lecturer at the University of North Carolina Louis A. Pérez in his book Being Cuban, from that point on in American dance halls nothing could be seen but rows of people winding around holding each other by the waist, bringing to life a joyful, simple, and very rhythmic dance, which soon won a national audience.

In parallel, Arnaz enjoyed a brief film career, playing the role of Cuban orchestra leader, among them the Universal picture Cuban Pete (1946). In the main theme of that film and the one that gives the work its name, the song Cuban Pete, Arnaz proclaimed himself the hottest guy in Havana and "the king of the rumba / the dance of Latin romance."

He then participated in three other films before enlisting in the Army. During his two years of service, he was responsible for entertaining troops participating in World War II.

Between 1946 and 1949, Desi concentrated on music, recording several catchy cuts for RCA Victor, such as Babalú and El Cumbanchero. He then turned his attention back to Hollywood, putting his music career on permanent back burner, although one of his favorite anecdotes was remembering when he performed in New York with his orchestra at the club La Conga, where he shared the stage with Jorge Negrete and Cuban composer Eliseo Grenet (author of Mama Inés).

Before being retired as active, he formed an orchestra with which he recorded several hits in the late 1940s. He also worked as an orchestra conductor on Bob Hope's radio show from 1946 to 1947. Coming from a well-to-do Cuban family that left the island in 1933 to settle in Miami, Arnaz tries various professions to help his family until he is accepted as a guitarist for the Sexteto Siboney.

After briefly working with Xavier Cugat in New York, Arnaz returns to Miami to lead his own combo and introduce the conga to North American audiences. The success was so great, both locally and nationally, that Arnaz returns to New York to create his own band. He was offered a role in the 1939 Broadway musical Too Many Girls and later it was brought to the film version in Hollywood. It was on this occasion that he met his future wife Lucille Ball, whom he married on November 30, 1940.

In 1951, Arnaz directed his efforts toward developing episodes of the famous television series I Love Lucy, which was filmed for six years at CBS studios and became the most successful television program in history. His marriage to Lucille Ball came to an end in 1960.

On October 15, 1951, Arnaz debuted on I Love Lucy, in which he played a fictional version of himself, the leader of the Cuban orchestra Enrique "Ricky" Ricardo, with Lucille Ball, his real wife. Ball insisted that Arnaz play her husband and co-star on air so that the two could spend more time together.

The original idea was that the couple acted as a successful celebrity couple whose glamorous careers interfered with their efforts to maintain a normal marriage. Market research indicated that it would not be popular. For this reason, Jess Oppenheimer changed it to make Ricky Ricardo a struggling young orchestra leader, and Lucy an ordinary housewife who had fantasies of doing business, but had no talent.

Initially, the idea of having Ball and the clearly Latino Arnaz portraying a married couple encountered resistance when they were told that Desi's Cuban accent and Latin style would not be pleasing to American viewers. The couple overcame these objections, however, by traveling together, during the summer of 1950, in a live vaudeville act that they developed with the help of Spanish clown Pepito Pérez, along with Ball's radio program writers.

A large part of their vaudeville act material, including Lucy's memorable stamp routine, was used in the I Love Lucy pilot episode. Segments of the pilot were recreated in the sixth episode of the first season of the program. During his time on the show, Desi became the most successful TV entrepreneur.

"Desilu Productions" was an American production company that was owned by spouses Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Until 1962, "Desilu Productions" was the second largest production company in the United States, only surpassed by MCA's "Revue Productions". When MCA bought Universal Studios, it became the most popular producer. Desilu Productions produced various renowned programs, such as Star Trek, I Love Lucy, and The Untouchables, and was sold in 1967.

For seven years, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were owners of Desilu Productions, before Ball bought out Arnaz's share of the company. In 1967, the company achieved financial success again and was sold to Gulf + Western for seventeen million dollars. Then, Gulf + Western transformed Desilu Productions into another iconic company, Paramount Television.

The couple's last show aired in April 1960, and Lucy and Desi divorced in May. Lucy bought out Desi's share of Desilu Productions at a high price. Three years later, Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch, with whom he lived until 1983, when she passed away.

In 1995, Himilce Novas, novelist, playwright, poet, historian, and professor of American literature at the University of Santa Barbara, published a book titled The 100 Hispanics: A Ranking of Latino and Latina Individuals Who Have Most Influenced American Thought and Culture, in which Desi Arnaz appears in seventh place, behind activist César Chávez, congressman Henry Barbosa González, nuclear physicist engineer Luis Walter Álvarez, friar Junípero Serra, philosopher and poet George Santayana, and cellist Pablo Casals.

Arnaz was the first Cuban to plant his footprints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for his contribution to cinematography and the other for his contributions to television.

He died on December 2, 1986, in Hollywood due to lung cancer, at the age of 69.

Filmography

As actor
1982: The Escape Artist .... Mayor León Quiñones
1978: Alice .... Paco (1 episode, 1978)
1974: Ironside .... Dr. Juan Domingo (1 episode, 1974)
1970: The Virginian .... El Jefe (1 episode, 1970)
1970: The Kraft Music Hall .... Host (1 episode, 1970)
1967: The Mothers-In-Law .... Raphael del Gado (4 episodes, 1967–1968)
1961: The Red Skelton Show .... Guest / ... (1 episode, 1961)
1957: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour .... Ricky Ricardo (13 episodes, 1957–1960)
1958: Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse .... Ricky Ricardo / ... (5 episodes, 1958–1960)
1959: Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959)
1959: Make Room for Daddy .... Ricky Ricardo (1 episode, 1959)
1951: I Love Lucy .... Ricky Ricardo (181 episodes, 1951–1957)
1956: I Love Lucy Christmas Show (TV) .... Ricky Ricardo
1956: Forever, Darling .... Lorenzo Xavier Vega
1953: The Long, Long Trailer .... Nicholas 'Nicky' Collini
1953: I Love Lucy .... Ricky Ricardo / Himself
1949: Holiday in Havana .... Carlos Estrada
1947: Jitterumba
1946: Cuban Pete .... Desi Arnaz
1943: Bataan .... Felix Ramírez
1942: The Navy Comes Through .... Pat Tarriba
1942: Four Jacks and a Jill .... Steve Sarto/King Stephan VIII of Aregal
1941: Father Takes a Wife .... Carlos Bardez
1940: Too Many Girls .... Manuelito Lynch

As producer
1967: The Mothers-In-Law (executive producer) (56 episodes, 1967–1969)
1968: Land's End (TV) (producer)
1966: The Carol Channing Show (TV) (producer)
1961: The Untouchables (executive producer) (3 episodes, 1961–1962)
1962: The Lucy Show (executive producer) (1 episode, 1962)
1958: The Ann Sothern Show (executive producer) (93 episodes, 1958–1961)
1960: New Comedy Showcase TV series (executive producer) (unknown)
1957: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (executive producer) (13 episodes, 1957–1960)
1958: The Texan TV series (executive producer) (unknown)
1958: The Fountain of Youth (TV) (executive producer)
1952: I Love Lucy (executive producer) (131 episodes, 1952–1956) (producer)
1956: I Love Lucy Christmas Show (TV) (producer)
1956: Forever, Darling (producer)
1955: Those Whiting Girls TV series (executive producer) (unknown)

As screenwriter
1968: Land's End (TV) (creator)
1959: Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (episode "Ballad for a Bad Man", 1959) Series (writer)

As director
1967: The Mothers-In-Law (24 episodes, 1967–1968)
1966: The Carol Channing Show (TV)
1959: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (3 episodes, 1959–1960)
1959: Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959)

Soundtracks

2001: I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special (TV) (performance: "California, Here I Come", "Babalu (Babalú)") ... aka "The I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special" – USA (DVD title)
1958: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1 episode, 1958) ... aka "We Love Lucy" – USA (syndication title) – Lucy Wins a Race Horse (1958) TV episode (performer: "The Bayamo")
1952: I Love Lucy (3 episodes, 1952–1956) ... aka "Lucy in Connecticut" - USA (rerun title) ... aka "The Sunday Lucy Show" - USA (rerun title) ... aka "The Top Ten Lucy Show" – USA (rerun title) – Lucy and Bob Hope (1956) TV episode (performance: "Nobody Loves the Ump" (uncredited)) – Ricky's European Booking (1955) TV episode (performance: "Forever, Darling" (uncredited)) – Cuban Pals (1952) TV episode (performer: "The Lady in Red", "Similau")
1956: Forever, Darling (performance: "Forever, Darling" (reprise))
1949: Holiday in Havana (screenwriter: "Holiday In Havana", "The Arnaz Jam")
1946: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra (performance: "Guadalajara", "Babalu (Babalú)", "Tabu (Tabú)", "Pin Marin") ... aka "Melody Masters: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra" - USA (series title)
1942: Four Jacks and a Jill ("Boogie Woogie Conga" 1941))
1941: Father Takes a Wife ("Perfidia" (1939), "Mi amor" (1941))
1940: Too Many Girls (performance: "Spic 'n' Spanish", "You're Nearer", "Conga") ("'Cause We Got Cake")