Keith Thibodeux starred as the Lucy actress’ and her husband Desi Arnaz’ character Ricky Ricado’s son Little Ricky
Keith Thibodeux is recalling what it was really like when he was on one of America’s most famous and beloved shows. The actor was only four years old when he joined the cast of I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, as the Ricardos’ son, Little Ricky, in 1953, shortly after the couple welcomed their own first son, Desi Arnaz Jr. Now he is 74-years-old, and sharing some of his cherished memories from his years working on the legendary sitcom.
Appearing on the CW’s TV We Love series, per Parade, Keith recalled how Lucille and Desi “took me in as their own child and introduced me to their children, Lucie Jr. and Desi Jr., who I became really good friends with as a kid,” adding that the three of them “grew up together.” I Love Lucy ran from 1951 to 1956, for six seasons.
© Getty ImagesRecalling how it was that he landed the gig, Keith first noted: “I started playing drums when I was like two years old on trash cans in my backyard in Lafayette, Louisiana,” and further shared: “At the audition for the I Love Lucy show, they were looking to expand the part of Little Ricky. I went to meet Lucy there in her glory, there she was in the flesh, and she looked at me and she said, ‘Well, he’s cute. But what does he do?’ and my dad said, ‘He plays the drums.’ So I started jamming on the drums… finally Desi himself came over, started playing with me, stood up after a while, laughed and said, ‘I think we found our Little Ricky.'”
Keith also gave insight into what it was like filming with Lucille and Desi, who were married from 1940 to 1960. “It’s a lot of pressure for a little kid. You did one take and that was it,” he said, revealing: “Lucy was very demanding of everybody being right on cue. Desi treated me really, really good. He’d teach us how to fish and ride horses and swim. I had a heart for him.”
Earlier this year, author Todd S. Purdum published his new book, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, and among the revelations about his relationship with Lucille, was how when she gave birth to her and the Cuban actor’s first daughter, Lucie, the latter put a different name than the one his wife had chosen on the birth certificate, behind her back.
© Getty ImagesWhen they were first trying to conceive, Lucille had picked two names, Susan and Desi Jr. Before she became pregnant with her daughter however, she experienced multiple miscarriages early in her marriage, and doctors later discovered a fallopian tube had been accidentally closed while treating one of them, which was later corrected. Lucie finally arrived on July 17, 1951, via cesarean section, but rather than being named Susan, Desi took matters into his own hands while his wife was in recovery.
© Getty ImagesTodd wrote in his book: “Thrilled to be a mother at last, Lucy asked to see the newborn the moment her anesthesia wore off. ‘I want to see Susan!’ she told the nurse, using the name she believed that she and Desi had agreed on if the baby was a girl, after Lucy’s good friend, the young actress Susan Peters, who had been paralyzed from the waist down in a duck-shooting accident.” However, she was confronted with a nurse telling her instead: “You mean Lucie?”
© Getty ImagesThe book further reads: “Without consulting her, Desi had already written Lucie Desiree on the birth certificate, naming the little girl for her mother and maternal grandmother. Lucy was surprised but didn’t make a fuss. The name was, after all, a compliment she could hardly resist.”
