Inside Lucille Ball’s ‘nightmare’ first marriage to younger husband who she eloped with

Born in 1917 in Santiago de Cuba, Desi had a troubled childhood. While he was the descendant of Cuban nobility, the Cuban Revolution of 1933 forced his family to flee for the United States, with the Arnazes losing several of their possessions along the way to robberies.

For several years in the States, Desi struggled, with some of his earliest jobs including working retail and cleaning canary cages in Miami. However, things changed after he graduated from high school and decided to pursue music full-time.

After joining the band the Siboney Septet, Desi became a hit in Miami for his skills on the conga drum and his vocals. He then formed the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, which soon took New York City by storm. Rodgers and Hart cast him in their hit 1939 Broadway show Too Many Girls, and he then moved to Hollywood to star in the film version.

Desi met Lucille, six years his senior, on the set of the movie version of Too Many Girls, which was released in 1940. The couple began dating soon after and quickly fell in love.

Their relationship moved fast, so much so that just a few months later, on November 30, 1940, they eloped, tying the knot at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The first years of their marriage were blissful and also turbulent. After buying a five-acre estate in California they called “Desilu,” Lucille suffered a miscarriage in 1942. Desi was also slated to be drafted in 1943, but was only given limited service due to a prior injury.

In 1944, just four years into their marriage, Lucille filed for divorce. In her 1989 memoir Love, Lucy, she expanded on the reasoning behind the move, apparently citing not only his alcohol addiction but also rumored infidelity while he extensively toured, something she claimed had become an open secret in the industry.

“Desi’s nightlife had even blasé Hollywood talking,” she wrote. “Confidential Magazine published a story about a Palm Springs weekend of his, and this too hurt and humiliated me deeply. … During the summer of 1944, Desi stopped coming home.” However, the couple reconciled before the divorce could be final.

In 1950, the couple formed Desilu Productions together, hoping to bring to the screen a televised version of the successful radio comedy My Perfect Husband that Lucille had starred in. In 1951, despite pushback from CBS at first about pairing Lucille up with the less experienced Desi, I Love Lucy began airing.

For its six-year run until 1957, the sitcom was a ratings juggernaut, and their move to retain the rights to its telecast after it aired pioneered the syndicated television structure. They finally welcomed a daughter, Lucie Arnaz, in July 1951, followed by a son named Desi Arnaz Jr. in January 1953. In fact, Lucille’s pregnancy with Desi Jr. and his birth was written onto the show.

Hollywood and the constant strain of working together weighed heavily on Desi and Lucille. Plus, Desi allegedly still had a drinking problem and was a notorious ladies’ man.

One day after his 43rd birthday, on March 3, 1960, Lucille filed for divorce for the second and final time from Desi. She had apparently told the court at the time that her marriage had become “a nightmare for the last three years,” claiming it was nothing like Ricky and Lucy Ricardo’s. She also bought out his share in Desilu Productions.

The divorce seemingly gave the couple a new lease on love, however, and they remained close friends until the day they died. In fact, Desi passed away on December 2, 1986, three years before Lucille did. The pair spoke on the phone before his passing, each saying “I love you” to each other.

Days later, Lucille received the Kennedy Center Honors, and a posthumous statement from Desi was delivered which left her in tears. One of the things his statement even said was: “P.S. I Love Lucy was never just a title.”

The couple found love with new people after their divorce. In 1961, Lucille tied the knot with Gary Morton, a stand-up comedian 13 years her junior. The pair remained happily married until her death in 1989. Desi married Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963, which resulted in him slowing down his Hollywood output. They remained together until Edith’s death in 1985 from cancer.