Today is the 102nd anniversary of Desi Arnaz’ birth in 1917. Known to most (and somewhat to his frustration) for his marriage to Lucille Ball and their joint success in the “I Love Lucy” franchise as Ricky Ricardo, Arnaz was a talented musician, TV producer, businessman, and comedic actor. He passed away in 1986.
Google has done a marvelous Google Doodle for him today (with a nice short biography attached) …
… and their Arts & Culture page has an even lengthier bio that I enjoyed reading.
I grew up watching endless “I Love Lucy” reruns — it happened to show for many years right at the hour when my brother and I were eating dinner on weeknights. I probably watched any given episode a couple dozen times, and I still find them hilarious. The show (with Arnaz’ influence) pioneered three-camera shots, a live studio audience, and even the concept of reruns. It was also groundbreaking for (against the wishes of the network) starring a Hispanic with a heavy accent who is married to a white woman. It also intentionally avoided common fare of the day which would make the show skeevy for modern audiences:
It seems like a moral obligation to modern audiences now, but early on Ball and Arnaz were determined to avoid jokes that centered on ethnic stereotypes and humor based on physical handicaps or mental disabilities. The exception, according to Arnaz, was making fun of his character Ricky’s accent, but the jokes only worked when Lucy did the mimicking.
There was rampant sexism, of course, but rarely mean, and the “war of the sexes” that was the center of so many storylines was fully enmeshed in the fabric of society (and, honestly, still shows up in sitcoms today).
Great show, and a talented man. I’m glad to have been reminded of him today by Google.