Being successful on American television in the early 1950s was a sure passport to fame.
And that it was done by a Cuban immigrant who arrived in the country at the age of 16 without money and without speaking English had double merit.
That is the story of the Cuban-American actor, producer, musician, conductor and businessman Desiderio Alberto Arnaz and Acha IIIbetter known as Desi Arnaz.
Considered one of the great pioneers of television shows, Arnaz participated in more than 20 moviesas an actorin 14 as a producer, in 2 as a screenwriter and in 4 as a director.
Musically, he was not only an orchestra conductor (and one of those who popularized the conga rhythm outside of Cuba), but he was also a composer of 10 soundtracks for movies and television series.
His career in the world of entertainment earned him a Golden Globe in 1956 and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television and film.
next to who was his wife at the timeamerican actress Lucille Ballcreated a television production company and achieved unprecedented success with the television series “I Love Lucy” released in 1951, in which they played a married couple.
The comedy revolutionized the industry with an unprecedented production format that made it the pioneer of “syndicatable shows”: series that can be broadcast again and again on the small screen through the sale of marketing rights.
More than seventy years after the premiere of the show in which Desi Arnaz played the character of “Ricky Ricardo”, now he is played in the movie “Being The Ricardos” by the Spanish Javier Bardemwho this Tuesday was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best actor.
The film recreates the story of this popular marriage and the production of one of the episodes of “I Love Lucy” during a complicated week.
The conga in Miami Beach
The story of Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) is iconic among a generation of Cuban immigrants who, after the Cuban Revolution of 1933, left the island for the United States.
Born in Santiago de Cuba on March 2, 1917, Arnaz was son of a wealthy family who escaped to the US. during the revolt that overthrew President Gerardo Machado.
At the age of 16, he arrived in Miami without money and without speaking English in search of the “American dream” that marked the lives of many Cuban immigrants.
In his autobiography “A Book”, published in 1976, he tells of living in a rat-infested warehouse where he tried to start a decorative tile import business that did not go well and that in order to make ends meet, he had to cleaning canary cages
Despite everything, he didn’t have a bad time. “I will never forget those beautiful nights on the beach, with the moon over Miami. We ate and drank, sang and played, and had sex.”
In 1936 he joined the Sexteto Siboney band as a guitarist and a year later he formed his own band, the Orquesta Desi Arnaz, with which he opened a space on the entertainment scene. with the musical style of the conga.
He went to live in New York, where he continued his bohemian life and where, according to the book, he used to visit a high-class brothel.
A lifelong Republican, Arnaz loved the United States and considered himself a patriot. He wrote in his memoirs that he knew of no other country in the world where “a boy of sixteen, broke and unable to speak the language” could achieve the successes he had achieved.
Between nights of partying, music and drinking, Arnaz received an offer to audition for a Broadway musical called “Too many girls”, followed by another to go to Hollywood to act in the film version of that musical.
In Hollywood, Arnaz met his future wife, Lucille Ball, a famous actress whom he married in 1940 and with whom he formed a successful television and business duo.
Towards the end of the decade, together with his wife, he founded the television production company Desilu, with which they produced several hits such as “Star Trek”, “The Andy Griffith Show” and the television series “I Love Lucy”, in which based on the story of the film in which Bardem plays Arnaz and Nicole Kidman to Lucille Ball.
“I Love Lucy”
Broadcast on CBS for six seasons (1951-1957), “I Love Lucy” was the most successful sitcom or situation comedy of its time.
After 180 episodes, the couple established themselves as one of the legends of the industry.
The production of the series is recreated in the tape directed by Aaron Sorkin “Being The Ricardos”which goes into the heart of the studios where each chapter was filmed with three 35-millimeter cameras, before an audience, in real time, as if it were a theater.
In real life, Arnaz and Ball were not only concerned with the artistic side of the show. Key to them was maintaining ownership of the show within their Desilu production company.
And from the point of view of content, the series had a great impact in dealing topics that at that time were considered as belonging to the private spherefor example, marriage and pregnancy.
So much so that the show had some parallels between fiction and reality, such as when Ball gave birth to her daughter on the show on the same day she did in real life.
The life of Arnaz and Ball in “Being The Ricardos”
Part of the real story of the couple is presented in the film “Being The Ricardos”, where through flashbacks some crucial moments in her life are alluded to: Ball’s link to communism, CBS’s response to the actress’s pregnancy, and Arnaz’s infidelity.
After her divorce from Ball in 1960, Desi Arnaz did not reprise her iconic role as Ricky Ricardo.
From then on, the Cuban-American took few acting jobs and focused his energies on production.
Arnaz sold his share of Desilu Productions to Ball in 1963 and married Edith Mack Hirsch that same year.
Independently, he produced series such as “The mothers in law”, “The Ann Sothern Show” or “The Untouchables”.
A heavy smoker, Desi Arnaz died at the age of 69 in 1986 from lung cancer. His first wife and co-worker, Lucille Ball, was by his side in his last moments.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
