Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bogelbaum Here. The nineteen fifties most
Speaker 1: iconic television show may have centered around Loving Lucy, but
Speaker 1: the famous Redhead's ex husband, entertainment industry pioneer Desi Ernez,
Speaker 1: deserves a whole lot of love too. Born in Santiago,
Speaker 1: Cuba in nineteen seventeen, Arnez immigrated to the United States
Speaker 1: just before the Cuban Revolution and went on to change
Speaker 1: the landscape of TV as we know it. Arnez started
Speaker 1: life in a somewhat privileged position. His great great grandfather,
Speaker 1: Don Manuel Arnez, made an early move to the US,
Speaker 1: buying up tons of land all over Los Angeles, including
Speaker 1: the area that would become Posh Beverly Hills. Arnez's father
Speaker 1: was the mayor of Santiago, his mother was the daughter
Speaker 1: of one of the Cardi Rum Company founders, and his
Speaker 1: grandpa had accompanied Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders at
Speaker 1: the Battle of San Juan Hill. All in all, not
Speaker 1: a bad family treat to sprout from, But in ninety four,
Speaker 1: an uprising in Cuba landed Arnez's dad in jail. And
Speaker 1: once he was released, the family fled to Miami, Florida,
Speaker 1: rebuilding a much humbler life in the States. Two years later, Arnez,
Speaker 1: then a musically inclined high schooler, started playing guitar and
Speaker 1: singing in a small raumba band. That's when famous band
Speaker 1: leader Xavier Kuga discovered him, swooped him into his band,
Speaker 1: and Arnez found enough success to branch out on his own.
Speaker 1: Ever heard of a congo line, Arnez is credited with
Speaker 1: introducing that dance party staple to Miami crowds. Gaining more
Speaker 1: and more popularity, Arnez and his band made the move
Speaker 1: to New York, started on Broadway in a musical called
Speaker 1: Too Many Girls, and then was asked to appear in
Speaker 1: the film adaptation of the play. On the set of
Speaker 1: that nineteen thirty nine movie, he met Lucille Ball. The
Speaker 1: two fell in love, and six months later they eloped.
Speaker 1: Though they briefly separated in nineteen forty four, the pair
Speaker 1: reconciled and began dreaming up opportunities to collaborate again on screen.
Speaker 1: The magic moment came in nineteen fifty when Arnez and
Speaker 1: Ball pitched CBS on a sitcom that developed called I
Speaker 1: Love Lucy. Network executives initially weren't sold on the Cuban
Speaker 1: born actor's accent, so the couple used their own money
Speaker 1: to produce a pilot and convinced the big bosses that
Speaker 1: ar Nez was more than fit to play the fictional
Speaker 1: Ricky Ricardo and that the show would be a hit.
Speaker 1: Not only was it a hit, it was the hit.
Speaker 1: I Love Lucy was America's most popular TV show for
Speaker 1: four of its six prime time seasons between nineteen fifty
Speaker 1: one and nineteen fifty seven, and viewers fell in love
Speaker 1: with the couple's non traditional partnership that's now credited as
Speaker 1: a groundbreaking example of multi ethnic relationships, progressive Latino American masculinity,
Speaker 1: and gender dynamics. But Arnez wasn't just the on screen
Speaker 1: straight man, two balls uproariously funny lead character. He was
Speaker 1: also heavily involved in every aspect of production, from coordinating
Speaker 1: taping in front of a live audience, a first for
Speaker 1: televised sitcoms, to figuring out how to simultaneously operate three
Speaker 1: cameras in real time. Filmmaker Penny Marshall once said, blessed
Speaker 1: Desi Arnaz for creating the three camera you could find
Speaker 1: out what's funny You're not With an audience, they're faster
Speaker 1: than anything. Arnez and Ball formed the first ever independent
Speaker 1: television pction company, Desilu, in preparation for the show, and
Speaker 1: they convinced CBS to give them full ownership of their episodes.
Speaker 1: When arne Has later sold them back to CBS. He
Speaker 1: reportedly made millions and the show continues to live on
Speaker 1: thanks to his business savvy But Desi Luke Productions wasn't
Speaker 1: just responsible for I Love Lucy. The company also produced
Speaker 1: major projects like The Untouchables, Mission Impossible, and Star Trek.
Speaker 1: Although Arnez and Ball eventually divorced in nineteen sixty, they
Speaker 1: remained close friends for the remainder of their lives. Arne
Speaker 1: has passed away from cancer in six at the age
Speaker 1: of sixty nine, but his legend indoors thanks to the
Speaker 1: immeasurable impact he had on the entertainment industry, his loved ones,
Speaker 1: and the communities that continue to draw inspiration from his
Speaker 1: immense contributions. Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang for I Heeart media, and how
Speaker 1: stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other topics,
Speaker 1: the Dosom's Plain and visit our home planet, how stuff
Speaker 1: Works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio.
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