Cuban-American musician, actor and television studio head (1917–1986)
Not to be confused with his son, the actor Desi Arnaz Jr..
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Arnaz and the second or maternal family name is de Acha.
Desi Arnaz
Arnaz in 1950
Born
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III
(1917-03-02)March 2, 1917
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Died
December 2, 1986(1986-12-02) (aged 69)
Del Mar, California, U.S.
Occupations
Actor
musician/bandleader
studio executive
comedian
producer
Years active
1936–1982
Political party
Republican
Spouses
Lucille Ball
(m. 1940; div. 1960)
Edith Mack Hirsch
(m. 1963; died 1985)
Children
Lucie Arnaz
Desi Arnaz Jr.
Parents
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Alberni II
Dolores de Acha y de Socias
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician and bandleader.[1] He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his wife Lucille Ball.[1] Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series.[2]
Arnaz and Lucille Ball co-founded and ran the television production company called Desilu Productions, originally to market I Love Lucy to television networks. After I Love Lucy ended, Arnaz went on to produce several other television series, at first with Desilu Productions, and later independently, including The Ann Sothern Show and The Untouchables. He was also the bandleader of his Latin group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. He was known for playing conga drums and popularized the conga line in the United States.[3]
^ abColin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 54. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
^"Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball: The Geniuses Who Shaped The Future Of Television". Entrepreneur. October 8, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
^Cite error: The named reference Outsider.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as DesiArnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician and bandleader. He...
Lucie Désirée Arnaz (born July 17, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and DesiArnaz. Arnaz was born at...
Alberto Arnaz y Alberni II (March 8, 1894 – May 31, 1973) was a Cuban politician and the father of DesiArnaz. He was the son of Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y Alberni...
spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball and her husband DesiArnaz, along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series follows the life...
television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife DesiArnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy...
met Cuban bandleader DesiArnaz, and they eloped in November 1940. In the 1950s, Ball ventured into television, where she and Arnaz created the sitcom I...
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, DesiArnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally...
between I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and DesiArnaz. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem star as Ball and Arnaz, while J. K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale...
The DesiArnaz Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. It was named in honor of the actor, musician...
specials from 1957 to 1960 titled The Lucille Ball-DesiArnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour). Vivian Vance played Ethel Mertz, Frawley's...
Ball-DesiArnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour). When I Love Lucy was reformatted into the hour-long Lucy-Desi shows in 1957, DesiArnaz offered...
most prolific power couples in entertainment history, Lucille Ball and DesiArnaz. The film had its worldwide release on March 4, 2022 through Amazon Prime...
appearance was the December 3, 1957 episode of The Ford Lucille Ball-DesiArnaz Show. She played herself in the classic episode, "The Celebrity Next Door"...
Children from 1987 to 1990 and in 1991 portrayed DesiArnaz in the biographical television film Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter. In 1993, Benard began starring...
1966–67 and 1967–68. In 1960, Lucille Ball and DesiArnaz divorced, and the final episode of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour aired (using the I Love Lucy format)...
Lucy, portrayed respectively by Lucille Ball and DesiArnaz. The Ricardos also appear in The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, and Lucy also appears in one episode...
Draco Rosa, Nat King Cole, DesiArnaz, Ralph S. Peer, Prince Royce, and Natalia Jiménez. Named after Cuban musician DesiArnaz, the award recognizes "trailblazers...
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