Desi Arnaz

Trivia of Desi Arnaz (2 March 1917 – 2 December 1986)

*Arnaz hailed from a Cuban family that possessed wealth and power—but it was a riches to rags story early on. His father was mayor of Santiago de Cuba and served in the Cuban House of Representatives. However, the Cuban Revolution of 1933 changed all that. After the family's property was confiscated and Arnaz's father served six months in prison, a teenaged Arnaz and family fled to Miami.

*Regularly rocking the Tropicana Club as orchestra leader Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy, Arnaz was in fact a real orchestra leader, leading the internationally renowned Latin band The Desi Arnaz Orchestra. Ricardo's orchestra on the series was in fact Arnaz's real-life one, which also scored the show's background and transitional music.

*In 1950, Arnaz and Lucille Ball, then his wife, established Desilu Studios to develop a television project for CBS which would eventually become I Love Lucy. The couple held the majority stake in the company from its inception until 1962, when Arnaz sold his share of the business to Ball. By 1967, Desilu was the No. 1 independent television production company in the U.S. Ball ended up selling Desilu in 1967 to Gulf+Western, and the studio was renamed Paramount Television.

*Along with cinematographer Karl Freund, Arnaz is credited with pioneering the multiple-camera production technique. I Love Lucy was trailblazing in its use of three concurrently filming cameras, multiple sets and a live studio audience. It also was one of the first television programs to be shot on 35-mm film, rather than broadcast live to local markets and later disseminated via low-quality kinescope recordings.

*He is credited with the invention of the rerun.Although network and sponsor executives balked at the extravagance of shooting a television series on high-quality film, Arnaz and Ball insisted, offering to pick up the tab for the extra expense under the condition that Desilu retain the majority of ownership of the I Love Lucy film rights. Arnaz's unprecedented arrangement is widely considered one of the shrewdest moments of foresight in television history, with Desilu eventually reaping profits from all reruns of the series.

*Arnaz had a few run-ins with the law. He was arrested in 1959 on an intoxication charge while he was walking Hollywood Blvd. In 1966, he was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon after an altercation with youth parking in front of his house. Two young men were allegedly partying nearby and harassing his then-15-year-old daughter Lucie and her friend. Arnaz confronted them, threatened to shoot their tires and cars, and then fired two shots that went into the ground. He spent three hours at the San Diego jail and was released on $1,100 bail.

*Though his marriage with Lucile Ball was ended with divorce, they remained friends till his last days.Lucille Ball was the last person he talked to before his death, on what would have been their 46th wedding anniversary.Their daughter Lucie told about witnessing her dad's final exchange with her mom over the phone."I could hear her say, 'I love you.' She said it five times in a row. And he was nodding and saying, 'I love you too, honey,' " recalls Lucie, adding, "He died in my arms."The day they last spoke was Nov. 30, their wedding anniversary.