Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
Desi Arnaz
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Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer (1917-1986)
OverviewAI-generated
Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) was a United States and Cuban television and film actor, guitarist, and bandleader. He began his work period in 1936 and was educated at Saint Leo University. Arnaz served in the United States Army during World War II, receiving the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He was a member of the Republican Party and spoke Spanish and English.
He was married to Lucille Ball, and they had two children, Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Lucie Arnaz. Arnaz played the guitar, tambori, and voice, and recorded for RCA Victor. He died of lung cancer, a natural cause, in Del Mar on December 2, 1986. Born in Santiago de Cuba on March 2, 1917, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Synthesized by Vinony from 32 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
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)2011
- Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards — Manuelito (segment "Too Many Girls") (archive footage)2005
- TV in Black: The First Fifty Years — (archive footage)2004
- Judy Garland: By Myself — Self (archive footage)2004
- Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy — Self (archive footage)2000
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1917
- Active to
- 1986
Discography
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 17,202
- Total plays
- 90,437
Tags
Desi Arnaz (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III in Santiago, Cuba, began his career by chance as a professional musician during the depression, singing, playing guitar and percussion for a Latin orchestra in Miami. He moved to New York to perform in a group conducted by Xavier Cugat. In 1939, his wild conga drum antics got him a break starring on Broadway in the successful musical Too Many Girls, and he went to Hollywood to appear in the 1940 movie vers
Key facts
- 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
- 1934–1983
- Political party
- Republican
- Spouses
- Lucille Ball ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. November 30, 1940</span>"}]]}'>1940 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. May 4, 1960</span>"}]]}'>1960 ) Edith Mack Hirsch ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. March 2, 1963</span>"}]]}'>1963 ; died 1985 )
- Children
- Lucie Arnaz Desi Arnaz Jr.
- Parent
- Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Alberni II
- Allegiance
- United States
- Branch
- United States Army
- Service years
- 1943–1945
- Rank
- Staff sergeant
- Unit
- 9th Service Command
- War
- World War II
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Cuba
- Place of birth
- Santiago de Cuba
- Place of death
- Del Mar
- Spouse
- Lucille Ball
- Child
- Lucie Arnaz
- Occupation
- actor
- Political party
- Republican Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- Spanish
- Instrument
- voice
- Record label
- RCA Victor
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- United States Army
- Image
- Desi Arnaz cropped 1953.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Desi Arnaz
- cause of death
- lung cancer
- date of birth
- 1917-03-02
- date of death
- 1986-12-02
- birth name
- Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III
- manner of death
- natural causes
- start of work period
- 1936-00-00
- name in native language
- Desi Arnaz
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Desi Arnaz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.