Desi Arnaz

About the Author

Desi Arnaz was born into a prosperous and powerful family in Cuba in 1917, but a revolution changed the Arnaz family fortunes and took him to America. Talent, determination, and sheer desperation led to a career as a musician and, eventually, a role in the Broadway musical Too Many Girls. The film adaptation of that show introduced him to the one girl with whom he would fall in love and leave an indelible mark on history: Lucille Ball. Together they created what’s considered one of the greatest television shows of all time, I Love Lucy. While at it, across a career spanning five decades, Arnaz would alter the course of Hollywood and pioneer a new industry. The father of two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr., he died at the age of sixty-nine in 1986.