¬ Announcement: ShareTV is now streaming full-length episodes of TV Shows from ABC & ABC Family

Desi Arnaz

Age: 69 (passed away Dec. 2nd, 1986)
Height: 5' 10 1/2"

Birth Place: Santiago, Cuba
Born: Mar. 2nd, 1917

+ Add to My Celebs

Desi Arnaz's Main TV Roles

Show	Character(s)
I Love Lucy	Ricky Ricardo
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour	Ricky Ricardo
The Mothers-In-Law	Raphael del G&hellip

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB

BIOGRAPHY:

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz ye de Acha the Third was born in Santiago, Cuba on March 2, 1917. His father was the mayor of Santiago. The 1933 revolution led by Fulgencio Batista had landed his father in jail and stripped the family of its wealth, property and power. His father was released because of the intercession of U.S. officials who believed him to be neutral during the revolt. The family fled to Miami, Florida. One of Desi's first jobs in America consisted of cleaning canary cages. However, after forming his own small band of musicians, he was hired by Xavier Cugat, the "king" of Latin music. Desi soon left Cugat, formed his own Latin band and literally launched the conga craze in America. he was cast in the Broadway play "Too Many Girls", resulting in his being brought to Hollywood to make the film version of the play. It was on the set of Too Many Girls (1940) that he and Lucille Ball met. They soon married and approximately ten years later formed Desilu Productions and began the "I Love Lucy" (1951) shows. Desi and Lucille had two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. At the end of the "I Love Lucy" (1951) run (including the "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1957)) the two divorced. Desi later wrote an autobiography entitled "A Book." In 1986 he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died on December 2, 1986.

TRIVIA:

In 1957, in an effort to expand Desilu, he sold CBS his and 'Lucille Ball' (qv)'s rights to 179 _"I Love Lucy" (1951)_ (qv) 30-minute shows for $4,500,000. They also sold their rights to _"December Bride" (1954)_ (qv) for $500,000 and CBS had exclusive rights to their public appearances for 10 years for an additional $1,000,000. With these profits, Desilu purchased RKO Studios for $6,125,000.
In 1945, after his service in the Army, he found himself $30,000 in debt, mostly due to back taxes. 'Lucille Ball' (qv) helped him pay his debt, but due to his pride, considered it a loan, and kept a strict account of the money he owed her.
Brother-in-law of 'Fred Ball (II)' (qv).
In 1957, he opened the Desi Arnaz West Hills Hotel, with 42 rooms and a restaurant featuring his own personal recipes, in Indian Wells. With all the time he spent with his new real estate ventures, he and 'Lucille Ball' (qv) built a home on the 17th fairway at the Thunderbird Golf Club on land he won in a poker game.
Ashes were scattered at sea.
Invented many techniques that are now taken for granted in sitcoms, including the use of several cameras to film the performance, preceding performances with a warm-up act, performing before a live audience, and the rerunning of old episodes.
According to Mafia boss turned government informant Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno in his book "The Last Mafioso", several top members of the Chicago Mafia family were furious about the portrayal of Italians in general and the Mafia in particular in _"The Untouchables" (1959)_ (qv), of which Arnaz was executive producer, and put out a contract on his life. Several mob hitmen hid in the bushes and behind trees outside his house one night after having been tipped off that he was on his way home and were going to shoot him when he pulled into his driveway, but for some unknown reason Arnaz never came home that night. The killers were supposed to come back again and wait for him the next night, but in the meantime cooler heads prevailed and the murder plot was called off. Arnaz apparently never found out how close he came to being murdered.
Ironically, the radio show on which _"I Love Lucy" (1951)_ (qv) was based, "My Favorite Husband," was itself based on a book entitled "Mr. and Mrs. Cugat." Arnaz worked for 'Xavier Cugat' (qv) during this time.