Desi Arnaz

Also known as Desi Arnaz, Sr.

Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer (1917-1986)

Person · Open Library

Born: 1917
Died: 1986
Works: 5

Top works

TV Sets
A Book
Too many girls
I love Lucy
A book

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Santiago, Cuba

Desi Arnaz (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy, starring with then-wife Lucille Ball.

Known for

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music — Self (archive footage)2025
A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music — Self/Ricky Ricardo (archive footage)2025
Lucy and Desi — Self (archive footage)2022
My Darling Vivian — Self (archive footage)2020
I Love Lucy Christmas Special — Ricky2016
Classic TV Bloopers Uncensored — Ricky Ricardo (archive footage)

~27 min read

Article

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his wife Lucille Ball. Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series.

Arnaz and Lucille Ball co-founded and ran the television production company 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.