Lucille Ball received a final message of love from Desi Arnaz days after his death.
In the first episode of the CW’s docuseries TV We Love on Oct. 13, Arnaz’s final gesture to his ex-wife and longtime business partner was recalled in a tear-jerker of a segment. While the beloved sitcom couple had divorced in 1960, Arnaz penned a final note to Ball, which was read at her Kennedy Center Honors ceremony on Dec. 7, 1986, just five days after Arnaz’s death.
The letter, which was read onstage by actor Robert Stack, first praised Ball’s talents as a physical comedian in the former couple’s groundbreaking CBS sitcom I Love Lucy. Arnaz then credited Ball for the success of the series.
“The New York Times asked me to divide the credit for its success between the writers, the directors, and the cast. I told them, ‘Give Lucy 90% of the credit and divide the other 10% among the rest of us,’” Arnaz wrote from his deathbed. “Lucy was the show. Viv, Fred, and I were just props, damn good props, but props, nevertheless. P.S. I Love Lucy was never just a title.”
Ball broke down in tears as Stack read the letter. Her second husband, Gary Morton, was by her side to console her. President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan were also seen in the televised segment as an emotional Ball wiped tears from her eyes.
It wasn’t the first time Arnaz credited Ball for changing his life. In 1954, he delivered a poignant speech at an Ed Sullivan Show tribute at the height of I Love Lucy’s heyday.
“I think if it wouldn’t have been for Lucy, I would have stopped trying a long time ago,” Arnaz admitted. “Because we came to this country and we didn’t have a cent in our pockets. From cleaning canary cages to this night here in New York, it’s a long ways.”
Arnaz died from lung cancer on Dec. 2, 1986, at age 69.
Two days before his death, Ball spoke to him for the last time. During a 2025 interview with CBS Sunday Morning, daughter Lucie Arnaz recounted her parents’ final moments together.
“My mother came down to visit my dad in Del Mar when he was sick,” she said. “And I ran and got as many VHS tapes as I could find. And they did sit there for a couple hours and look at old I Love Lucy shows and laugh and remember.”
She also recounted her parents’ final phone call, which took place on Nov. 30, 1986, their wedding anniversary. Lucie was with her father when her mother called.
“He was very, very sick,” Lucie said of Arnaz. “And I said, ‘I’m going to put him on the phone now, so say what you want to say.’ And I just held the phone to his ear, and all I could hear her saying was, ‘I love you’, like five times in a row. And he listened, and he said, ‘I love you, too, honey.’ And then he said, ‘Good luck with your shows.”
