Fun fact Lucy didn’t like Lucy. I read her book and she always insisted on Lucille. But Desi changed all that. She was also a struggling B-movie actress and him a young and up and comer musician. Desi was very much desired by women and promoters. Lucy was a bit jealous of his fame. But he helped her gain incredible stardom. Then bought RKO pictures (which Howard Hughes onced owned and they both got fired from) and he built a tv empire. Then his drinking and cheating ruined everything. And he graciously let Lucy by him out of Desilu (he built it entirely without Lucy). Desi was a mess, but he did love Lucy.
No disrespect to your very informative comment, but I was hoping to ask how he built Desilu without her? I’ve heard via the internet all the amazing things Lucille (will always call her that from now on!) did through her influence, backing Star Trek for example. I reckon now that that was after she bought out Desilu but I was hoping you could share just a bit how he did it himself. I just find it all so fascinating to hear about these different layers to something one just sort of considered a tv show playing in the background.
I’ve learned recently too how much they were there for each other ultimately. I’m a bit out of the age range to have been a huge fan, I’m in my 40s so my black and white TV days were saved for Mister Ed on Nick at Night, but I’m this close to finding I Love Lucy somewhere and binging if I can.
I appreciate your reply. I read a book about Lucille Ball, also Desi’s book and two books about them. I wanted to know what really happened, not the fairy tale version. I’m Mexican American so I’ve always respected Desi Armaz and the success he had (plus he kinda looks like my dad).
Desi always had a great business sense, that’s something you’ll hear often from everyone who know him. While they’re were filming I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball was exclusively focused on her performance and comedy throughout the week. She was meticulous in learning whatever skill was needed that week. She wanted to dissect the skill and understand it at it’s core. Desi, on the other hand, was handling the business aspects of DesiLu every day. Fun fact, DesiLu was the name they gave their Chatsworth home. After visiting a friend house which had a name that was combination of the husband and wife. And they felt inspired to do the same (they thought it was cute).
Inn everything I’ve read, including interviews you can find on YouTube, it was solely Desi handling the business aspects. It was his idea to record the show on film like a movie, he brought on the famous cinematographer Karl Freund (if memory serves right that’s how it’s spelled), which was unheard of in television. He invented the concept of a rerun when he told CBS to replay a previous episode since they couldn’t film new episodes on account of Lucy giving birth to Desi Jr. He even parlayed the succes of I Love Lucy to create lucrative contracts with sponsors and develop other shows simultaneously. He was truly a pioneer of TV as we know it. And he uses this success to buy RKO studios (because they had fired both him and Lucy).
Desi was quickly on track to become a media mogul. But his out of control drinking and womanizing became his downfall. One night he came home so wasted and Lucy was so mad and screaming (they often had a tumultuous relationship, lots of jealousy and fights). In that moment Desi realized he was just hurting Lucy and the empire he was building. He told her, lets divorce and you get anything you want. So he let Lucille Ball buy him out and then she went on to become the first female studio head. And yes, Mission Impossible and Star Trek exist because of her, and yes, she was an incredible business woman. But she wanted to Desilu to be Desi’s and her thing. She even bluntly said it in an interview, “Desi can build the most amazing things but then he destroys everything.” And Desi know his history of self sabotage would ultimately hurt DesiLu, so he gave it to her because he knew it would be in better hands with her. That’s true love. He build this media company, and she made it a huge success (eventually being bought by Paramount). They were an amazing couple. Frought with conflict and pain, but what they created together shaped the concept of tv and their reruns will entertain millions for many decades to come.
