Latest news with #DesiArnaz
Fox News
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
'I Love Lucy' star Desi Arnaz beat alcoholism with help from his son: 'I don't want to die'
When Desi Arnaz was deep in the throes of alcoholism, he turned to his son, who faced his own struggles with addiction, for advice. "Desi's second wife had died," author Todd S. Purdum told Fox News Digital. "He was alone. He knew he was drinking too much. He knew he was drinking himself to death. And he turned to Desi Jr., who was sober by then, and asked for help." "His son said, 'I can't help you, but I know a place that can,'" said Purdum. "Desi was smart enough to know that he was throwing his life away. He was in terrible grief and mourning… He was isolating himself. I think he realized that he had to change something, or he was going to die." The entertainer, who famously starred as Ricky Ricardo opposite his first wife Lucille Ball in the '50s sitcom, "I Love Lucy," died in 1986 at age 69 from lung cancer. He's now the subject of a new biography by Purdum, "Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television." It explores the late actor's rise to stardom and how he revolutionized television production, as well as his final years. For the book, Arnaz Jr., 72, gave a rare interview. "His sister from the very beginning, Lucie Arnaz, had been an invaluable help to me," said Purdum. "She cooperated from the beginning, giving me access to family letters and documents. I had a series of long talks with Desi Jr. before we had an on-the-record interview. And I think he understood that I was trying to tell his father's whole story. He knew I would be sympathetic but wouldn't spare the complications of his life and demons." "I think he saw that I was trying to understand his father, what made him tick, what made him so talented, but also the forces that undermined him in the later part of his life where he was swallowed up by alcoholism and depression," Purdum shared. According to Purdum, Desi Jr. sought treatment in 1981. His father entered an alcohol rehabilitation program in 1985 under the name "Bill Sanchez" to protect his privacy. Before seeking help, Lucie recalled how their father called Desi Jr. and pleaded, "I need help. I don't want to die." At first, Arnaz resisted treatment. After a few days, he even left the hospital. "Desi was proud," said Purdum. "He believed you shouldn't air your dirty linen in public or talk about it with other people. He was stubborn in that way. And alcoholism was much more stigmatized back then." Still, Arnaz returned to the program and persisted. "We were there for him, the proudest moment of my life… when he stood up and said, 'My name is Desi, and I'm an alcoholic,'" said Lucie, 73, as quoted in the book. "I cried my eyes out. I was so proud of him." Purdum described how Arnaz turned to the bottle long before his Hollywood success to drown out a painful past. "I think Desi suffered from what we would now call PTSD," Purdum explained. "He had to leave everything behind in Cuba when he was a teenager. His family lost everything to the revolution. They came to this country without a penny in their pockets. "I think the aftermath of that disruption took a toll on him for the rest of his life… And certainly, there was the stress of running a big and growing business as a mogul. I think he sought some self-anesthetization, some relief, and alcohol was the safety valve that he turned to." WATCH: 'I LOVE LUCY' STAR KEITH THIBODEAUX RECALLS PLAYING 'LITTLE RICKY,' WORKING ALONGSIDE LUCILLE BALL, DESI ARNAZ "He writes in his memoir that he'd always enjoyed drinking," Purdum continued. "He'd always had a big appetite for drinking… He loved food, drink, women and song. And he seems to have been the kind of person who grabbed life by the handful." Arnaz and Ball said "I do" in 1940. Their marriage was plagued with problems, mainly due to their separate careers, along with Arnaz's womanizing and drinking. "I Love Lucy," which premiered in 1951, was designed to save their marriage, The Associated Press reported. "One of the things that went wrong was… they started the show so they could be together," said Purdum. "They could live together in Los Angeles and work together. Desi was on the road with his band a lot. Lucille was making movies in Hollywood. They were often separated. So the show was created partly to save their marriage. "But there's a strain from being together 24/7, not only at home, but at work too. That puts a lot of pressure on any relationship… And Desi, as he got more successful, fell more and more prey to drinking." "He was out of control, both with his alcohol consumption and his womanizing," said Purdum. "I think it just became too much for Lucille to take. But they always stayed connected. They never stopped loving each other. I'm sure of that… But I think all the pressures they faced would be a big burden on anybody. And I think that burden was reflected in their lives." According to the book, some of the couple's friends claimed that the final straw for Ball came when she found Arnaz "with two hookers" in their guesthouse. Ball told some confidantes that it was she who sought the divorce. "She always knew or suspected that he had been unfaithful to her… but it was private," said Purdum. "Lucille didn't like it, but I think she could sort of tolerate it… [But] then it became very public. It was written about in the tabloids when Desi got arrested for weaving drunkenly down a street in Hollywood, in a neighborhood of brothels. I think it just became overwhelming for her and too much to take in public." "I think she was also worried about the toll that their fighting was taking on the children. She said at one point that the children had seen and heard too much of the tension between their parents. She decided… that it would be better for the children to come from a broken home than to live in one." Arnaz and Ball's children told Purdum that they knew their parents loved them and did the best they could. "They are both aware of how their parents fell short," said Purdum. "They also understand that it must have been very complicated to live in that reality." Arnaz and Ball called it quits in 1960. Both went on to remarry, with Ball tying the knot with Gary Morton in 1961 and Arnaz to Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963. "He had a happy marriage to Edie, a friend that he'd known," said Purdum. "He was not faithful to her either, because that's just the way he seems to have been wired. But I think Lucille was the great love of his life, and he was the great love of her life. They never felt about their second spouses the same way they felt about each other." After Arnaz sought alcohol treatment, he never drank again. But just a year after seeking help, he faced a major blow when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. When he was dying, he and Ball had "long talks" as they reminisced about the past. Their last words to each other were "I love you," on Nov. 30, 1986, which would have been their 46th wedding anniversary. Two days later, Arnaz passed away. "He got better too late," said Purdum. "I think that's one of the things that's very sad about the last part of his story. He did finally have the courage to face some of his problems, but not in time to save his life." "To his children, Desi was a complicated, but very loving, talented, self-taught visionary," said Purdum. "Ricky Ricardo is a wonderful character, and Desi did a good job of playing him, but he's not just some guy who talked funny and played the drums. He was a remarkable figure, and I think that's really worth knowing."
News.com.au
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Lucille Ball's daughter reignites controversy surrounding the star's biopic starring Nicole Kidman
Everybody loves Lucy. Aaron Sorkin's 2021 film about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, not so much. Speaking at a Hollywood event earlier in June, the couple's daughter Lucie Arnaz reignited controversy about Sorkin's award-winning biopic Being The Ricardos, labelling some scenes as 'a crock of poop.' The 73-year-old complained Sorkin misrepresented her mother's relationship with her I Love Lucy writing team, and wrongly inflated tensions between Ball's co-stars Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Set during a tense week of rehearsals for their famous show – when Ball was strained by Communist rumours and fears Arnaz was cheating – Being The Ricardos (now streaming on Tubi) explores the couple's tumultuous partnership. Premiering in 1951, I Love Lucy transformed Ball from B-list movie actor to comedy legend. And yet Ball always insisted she wasn't naturally funny. Crediting her writing team for her famous scatterbrain schtick, Ball told Rolling Stone in 1983: 'What I am is brave. I have never been scared. And there was a lot to be scared about. We were innovators.' Always a shrewd businesswoman, Ball had to fight nervous network executives to have Arnaz cast as Ricky, and later include her real-life pregnancy in the show. Far from being a turn-off, more than 44 million viewers tuned in to watch the fictional Lucy and Ricky welcome their first child (in reality it was the couple's second, having already welcomed daughter Lucie two years earlier). That episode also became Ball's happiest moment on the show. 'Because I was really having a baby [son Desi Arnaz Jr] and it was my last show before I had the baby, so it was real and it was the most exciting thing in my life,' Ball told Entertainment Tonight in 1984, five years before her death. These events are detailed in Being The Ricardos, with Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem starring as the famously bickering couple. Despite being an executive producer on the Amazon Prime biopic, Lucie complained that Sorkin dismissed her concerns about factual inaccuracies in his script, telling her: 'Well, what do you know? You were 15 months old.' 'You can't talk to Aaron. He's Aaron Sorkin,' Lucie said. 'I tried to work on it and correct the incorrect parts, especially [my mother's] relationship with the writers. '[It was] totally wrong. She adored those people. They got along so well; none of that backstabbing, crazy, insulting stuff.' Despite reservations about the script, Lucie has always been glowing in her praise of Kidman and Bardem (who each gained Oscar nods for their performances), who initially faced criticism for their casting. Some questioned why the Spanish actor had been cast to play the Cuban bandleader, prompting Bardem to argue that nobody had complained when American actor Meryl Streep played British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, or Marlon Brando – an American with no Italian heritage – transformed into The Godfather's Vito Corleone. 'But me, with my Spanish accent, being Cuban? What I mean is, if we want to open that can of worms, let's open it for everyone … we should all start not allowing anybody to play Hamlet unless they were born in Denmark,' an exasperated Bardem told The Hollywood Reporter. There was also backlash against Kidman because she isn't typically a comedic actress. 'There seems to be a lot of discussion about Nicole Kidman [and people saying] it should be Debra Messing … I don't know, but here's the deal and what you should understand: We're not doing a remake of I Love Lucy,' Lucie posted on Facebook ahead of the film's release. 'No one has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo [or do] any of the silly things. It's the story of Lucille Ball, my actual mother – not Lucy Ricardo – and her husband, Desi Arnaz, my dad – not Ricky Ricardo.' The fuss knocked Kidman's confidence. And, during an appearance on Live With Kelly And Ryan, she confessed: 'When the reality of playing her hit me, I went, 'What I have said yes to?' To which I then went, 'Oh no, I'm not right. Everyone thinks I'm not right, so I'm going to try to sidestep this.'' To nail the role, Kidman watched re-runs, took dialect lessons and worked with a movement coach to capture Ball's physicality, particularly when recreating the famous I Love Lucy grape squashing scene. In conversation with Chris Rock for Variety, Kidman admitted Ball was a tough act for anyone to follow, and that she was 'way out of my comfort zone'. 'She's Mount Everest. Just one of the most talented people to ever roam the earth.' Rock agrees. 'She could learn anything in a weekend. So, they would, like, write something on the show where she plays the tuba, and she would go, 'I can't play the tuba. Give me two days.' But mostly, Kidman told the comedian, the toughest part of the gig was unleashing her own silly side. 'I'd like to be funny,' she said. 'I'm never cast funny.' Celebrate Lucille Ball's incredible legacy with these shows, streaming now on Tubi. The Lucy Show: In this follow-up to I Love Lucy (after Ball's divorce from Arnaz), the red-haired star plays a widow who goes to live with her divorced pal, Vivian. Funny World Of Lucy: Broken into two chapters – the early and later years – this documentary is a deep-dive into Ball's life and career.
News.com.au
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Lucie Arnaz opens up on dad Desi's alcoholism
Lucie Arnaz reflected on her father's late-life conversion to sobriety, explaining he was able to make "amazing progress". The daughter of Desi and Lucille Ball revealed her father had not been very "changeable" throughout most of his life but became committed to self-improvement in his 60s. "Almost when it was too late, he really made some amazing progress on himself," Lucie, 73 told CBS Sunday Morning. Saying her dad was not a person who was very "changeable," Lucie added, "but later on, way later on, almost when it was too late, he really made some amazing progress on himself.
Daily Mail
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lucille Ball's daughter reveals shock reason I Love Lucy star stayed with husband Desi Arnaz despite affairs
Lucie Arnaz — the daughter of Hollywood icons Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz — has addressed her late father's alleged infidelities during his 20-year marriage to Ball. The actress, 73, sat down with CBS Sunday Morning over the past weekend to candidly open up about the topic in a rare interview. It comes just weeks after a new biography titled Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television written by Todd S. Purdum was published, which contains conversations with both Lucie and her brother Desi Arnaz Jr. However, as she talked to the publication, Lucie admitted that she didn't see her dad's reported infidelities as 'affairs,' and added that the Cuban bandleader never knew the names of the women he had been with. 'People say he had affairs. He never had an affair,' she stated. 'He didn't even know these dames' names, you know? They were hookers.' Interviewer Mo Rocca then questioned, 'They were transactional?' which prompted Lucie to reply, 'Yeah. He loved my mother, he loved his family.' She continued, 'It was a very unique, weird problem to have, and I think that's the reason she stayed with him so long, is that she understood it.' But the actress admitted to Rocca, 'I don't think I could do what she did. 'But somehow, at the time, with what they had, with what they needed from each other, they stuck it out as long as they could.' Lucille and Desi first crossed paths in 1940 while on set of the movie Too Many Girls and eloped that same year at the Byram River Beagle Club in Connecticut. The pair were known for playing on-screen couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the beloved CBS sitcom I Love Lucy, which aired from 1951–1957. The series was a breakthrough in terms of syndicated television, and had also been the most watched show in the US for four of its six seasons. I Love Lucy had also starred Vivian Vance and William Frawley, and the series garnered a total of five Emmy wins. However, Ball and Arnaz's marriage was in stark contrast to the one portrayed on television for audiences around the country. The actress first filed for divorce from Desi in 1944 due to his reported affairs and alcohol problems. The two were able to reconcile and the split was called off. Following a few miscarriages, Lucille welcomed her first child Lucie in 1951, shortly before the first episode of the hit series aired. A couple years later, Desi Arnaz Jr. was born, and his birth was also written into an episode of the show. But Ball and Arnaz's tumultuous marriage came to an end in 1960 when the mother-of-two filed for divorce from Desi. The divorce was finalized only two months later. Lucie previously talked about her parents' divorce during a past interview with Closer Weekly. 'The best thing that ever happened to them was getting divorced,' she said, adding that they had a 'great' and 'successful' divorce. The star explained, 'It was fantastic. If their parents can't get along and that happens, then kids should be so lucky to have a divorce like my mom and my dad did, because they were kind, they never said bad words about each other in front of their children and they stayed friends 'til the day they died. 'It was a fantastic romance that even got more passionate and more friendly after they were not married to each other anymore, so there.' Lucie later expressed, 'They just knew that it wasn't working for them to stay married and that was sad.' 'But once they decided to stop, everything got much easier for everybody. We spent all of our weekends and summers with my dad, and my mother the rest of the time.' She added, 'But they were very pleasant with each other about visitation and who got to go with who and when. There was never a moment of animosity after that at all.' However, when the initial separation happened, Lucie told the Television Academy back in 2011 that it was 'hard.' The actress — who was nine years old when her famous parents divorced — said, 'Part of me probably totally understood why, because we had heard the arguments and that wasn't fun either. 'But it was hard. It was very hard. And I didn't want my dad out of the house. He was out of the house enough. I didn't want him to go any further away.' In the recently released biography about Desi Arnaz by Todd S. Purdum, Desi Arnaz Jr. also talked about learning of their split as a child. 'And we'll always remember when they sat us down and said, "Look, you know, things aren't working." I mean, I remember word for word,' he said. Lucille went on to marry Gary Morton in 1961, and the pair stayed together until her passing at the age of 77 in 1989. 'And we'll always remember when they sat us down and said, "Look, you know, things aren't working." I mean, I remember word for word,' he said; Lucille seen with her children in 1984 in NYC 'I mean, that was a knife in the heart,' Lucie said of her initial feelings towards her mom's remarriage while talking to the Television Academy. 'You're kidding right? It's only been a year. Not even. So it was a rough period for all of us.' However over time, Lucie became close to her stepfather and reflected on Ball's marriage to Gary. 'He made her laugh and didn't embarrass her in any way. He didn't drink too much. He didn't smile and giggle with the ladies. I don't know if they had a passionate marriage. I hope so.' Her father Desi tied the knot once again, marrying Edith Hirsch in 1963. The two remained together until Edith's death in 1985 after a battle with cancer. Desi passed away the following year. Lucie said of her late stepmother: 'She was a joy, an absolute joy. Great laugh. She taught me how to drive, she went bowling with us, she took us to the fair.' 'She knew exactly how to handle my dad,' the actress added. 'She was amazing...I really miss her.' And despite her parents' divorce in 1960, she stated that Lucille and Desi remained close friends 'until the bitter end.'
Miami Herald
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Desi Arnaz found life in Miami before he hit the big time. Here are 5 takeaways
Desi Arnaz's connection to Miami is celebrated in a new book by Todd S. Purdum, including the city's role in shaping his early career. The book, 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television,' explores how Arnaz's Miami roots influenced his rise to stardom and his lasting impact on television. FULL STORY: It all began in Miami for TV genius Desi Arnaz. Then he made it big with Lucy Here are the highlights: Miami's influence: Desi Arnaz honed his musical talents in Miami, where he became a sensation with the conga, a pivotal step in his journey to stardom. Television innovations: Arnaz's vision for television, particularly through 'I Love Lucy,' revolutionized the industry by introducing techniques like multi-camera filming and live audience recordings, paving the way for reruns and impact: Arnaz's introduction of the conga line to the U.S. from Miami Beach in 1937 left a lasting cultural mark, celebrated decades later with a permanent marker in Miami Beach honoring his journey: Arriving in Miami from Cuba as a teenager, Arnaz initially worked odd jobs before reinventing himself as a musician, leading to a successful career that included collaborations with notable band leaders and performances in New York and Miami event: Todd S. Purdum will discuss his book, 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television,' at Books & Books in Coral Gables at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 21. The event is free, with the option to purchase the book. The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in the Miami Herald newsroom. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by Miami Herald journalists.
