Everyone knows Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo, the husband of Lucille Ball’s Lucy on the
classic sitcom I Love Lucy.
Many may even know that the two were married for two decades before and during the show's
successful run.
However, there are many other aspects of Desi's life that fans remain less aware of - such
as the relationship he was in before he met Lucille Ball that nearly got him killed!
In addition to this harrowing tale from Desi's lurid romantic life, there's also the tragic
story of how his family was forced out of Cuba when he was still young, requiring him
to pick himself up by his bootstraps and find an innovative way to support himself and his
family after they sought refuge in Miami, Florida.
Join Facts Verse as we explore utterly tragic details about Desi Arnaz.
When Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball met, Lucille was 28 years old, and Desi was 23.
Desi was already a successful bandleader and had begun dabbling in acting.
Meanwhile, Lucille Ball was an established actress in B pictures, though her contractual
relationship with RKO Pictures would soon come to an end.
Both Desi and Lucille were already in relationships at the time, with Lucille even being engaged.
Desi's partner was a woman that the man only ever referred to as Freckles.
Though they were in a serious relationship, she was technically still married to her previous
husband and waiting for the divorce to be finalized.
Despite their previous engagements, Desi and Lucille ended up falling deeply in love with
each other fairly fast.
Desi apparently left Freckles stranded on the beach the night that he met Lucille in
order to spend the night with the actress.
Similarly, Lucille called up her fiancé the next morning and told him that the engagement
was off.
Although Desi and Lucille were passionately in love, and arguably remained so throughout
their lives, they could never quite make their relationship work out the way they wanted.
Still, that didn't stop them from trying… for two decades!
Lucille Ball certainly wasn't the only person Desi slept with behind Freckles' back.
Other notable figures that Desi was said to have engaged in affairs with during his relationship
with Freckle were Betty Grable and Ginger Rogers.
In fact, Desi was reported to have paid to have Ginger shipped out of the country for
a risky late-stage abortion just weeks before he and Lucille tied the knot.
All things considered, there seems to have been a lot of messy business going on in Desi's
personal life when he first hooked up with Lucille, and Lucille wasn't much different!
Lucille came into her and Desi’s relationship already romantically involved with Henry Fonda.
She reignited her relationship with Henry various times after marrying Desi both to
make her husband jealous and simply because she wanted to.
Regardless of any respective setbacks in their personal lives, Desi and Lucille found themselves
so madly in love that they soon spontaneously eloped.
Apparently, the decision occurred after a full night of ravenous lovemaking, with Desi
proclaiming to Lucille that the two were going to get married as soon as possible.
They then got in the car and drove to the courthouse, tying the knot unceremoniously
without a single familial attendee.
Reportedly, Desi and Lucille met up with the president of RKO Pictures later that day,
and Desi's fly was undone due to all of the copulating that he and Lucille had been doing.
Desi and Lucille were married for two decades and remained madly in love for the rest of
their lives, but problems started up immediately after their wedding.
Allegedly, Desi went to see a prostitute the week after their spontaneous ceremony.
One thing that people have to understand about Desi Arnaz is that the man came from a different
time and place, where men were brought up to express their machismo in a different way.
While Desi always certainly felt that he was respecting of Lucille in his own personal
way, he also felt that it was okay to cheat.
According to Desi, having women on the side was okay so long as he didn't respect them.
The numerous infidelities that Desi committed throughout his marriage to Lucille were mostly
with hired women, and Desi felt that what he was doing with them didn't infringe on
the sanctity of his domestic relationship with Lucille Ball.
However, Lucille felt differently.
The two tried to reconcile their differences for two decades before Lucille eventually
decided that there was no way she would be able to make it work.
She divorced from Desi in 1960, and the two tried to remain amicable business partners
for a few years before Desi decided that it was too painful and quit.
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Although Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball had a lot of trouble throughout their marriage,
the thing that managed to keep them together for two decades was sex!
The two decided to elope after a night of wild lovemaking and would fall back into the
habit whenever the idea of divorce arose.
One such occurrence came in 1944 when Lucille Ball became fed up with her husband's rampant
cheating and served him divorce papers.
Desi understood intuitively that the gesture was a bluff, and his solution was to pick
his wife up and throw her into the bed!
After another night of ravenous lovemaking, Lucille decided to throw the divorce papers
in the trash.
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were married for many years before starring in I Love Lucy.
The series was based upon a radio show named My Favorite Husband, which Lucille had gotten
into after being let go from her contract with RKO Pictures.
The radio show became a success, and CBS subsequently offered Lucille Ball the chance to turn the
series into a television show.
The network infamously refused Lucille’s initial insistence that Desi Arnaz be cast
as her husband.
Given that Desi was Cuban and Lucille was not, CBS felt that the television audience
wasn’t ready for a mixed relationship.
Lucille Ball stuck her neck out for her husband, and the rest is history!
I Love Lucy became a major success.
Though Lucille was inarguably the centerpiece of the show, it’s hard to imagine the show
being quite the success it was without the lovable character of Ricky Ricardo!
Sadly, Desi Arnaz was never quite the faithful husband that his character was, though he
certainly loved and respected his wife in his way.
Lucille Ball had hoped that having Desi by her side every day at work might inspire the
man to be more faithful to her.
Sadly, the opposite seemed to happen as Lucille exerted more leadership over the show's production
than him, causing Desi to further escape into his trysts with prostitutes.
Desi respected this wife, but he also feared her, and didn’t always feel like the man
that he wanted to be when he was watching Lucille boss people around on the set of I
Love Lucy.
When I Love Lucy became popular, Desi’s infidelities stopped being just an issue for
Lucille and started being a matter of public interest.
Tabloids pried into the couple’s relationship, and numerous pieces were printed during I
Love Lucy’s run suggesting Desi was cheating.
After Desi and Lucille divorced in 1960, they both remarried and stayed with their respective
spouses until being separated by death.
Desi died before Lucille, and Lucille’s phone call was said to be the last one the
actor took before passing away.
They remained great friends, both for personal reasons and for the sake of their two children.
Although Lucille Ball was arguably the greatest love of Desi's love, she wasn't the first.
As stated, Desi was with the previously mentioned Freckles when he first hooked up with Lucille,
and he had indulged in a similar pattern of infidelities during his relationship with
her.
Freckles was technically married at the time that her and Desi were together, though her
and her husband were separated.
Still, that didn’t stop her husband from trying to kill Desi.
Desi recalled before his death that there was one moment during his relationship with
Freckles where the star found himself confronted by her husband.
During this confrontation, the husband allegedly tried to kill him!
First, the husband tried to start an even physical fight with Desi.
Desi evidently physically overpowered the man fairly fast, leading to the man surrendering
for the time being.
However, Desi became suspicious later when the man kept trying to lure him over to an
open window.
The man apparently opened a window and kept trying to coax Desi over by saying that he
should come look at the view.
Feeling that something wasn't quite right, Desi called him out on the murder attempt
and told him to close the window before the two of them froze.
Following this, Desi claimed the man made him a nice breakfast.
After this incident, everything was apparently settled between Desi and Freckles' husband.
It remains uncertain if Freckles ever returned to her husband after Desi later abandoned
her at the beach.
Desi was a man who liked to get his way, and he had the wherewithal to do it!
Although Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball both felt that the other was the love of their
lives, they could sadly never make things work over the course of their two-decade marriage.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Desi Arnaz allegedly shipped Ginger
Rogers out of the country to have a risky late-stage abortion performed just months
before eloping with Lucille Ball, and did you know that he was almost murdered by a
former lover’s husband?
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