Random Complicated And Dark History Of Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz's Marriage (14 items)

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  (#11) They Ran Their Own TV Studio, But Had Different Ideas About How It Should Operate

  To produce the I Love Lucy pilot, Ball and Arnaz formed their own television production studio named Desilu. As Lucy became more successful, so did Desilu, and they branched out to produce other shows, eventually getting behind titles like Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Arnaz had retained the rights to I Love Lucy, which he later sold to CBS; they used the millions earned to buy the RKO movie studio.

  However, according to their daughter Lucie, Ball and Arnaz felt differently about their growing popularity. Arnaz acknowledged that they would need more notoriety to compete with other studios, but preferred to settle down, saying, "We made all the money we could ever use in our lives. Let's just cash in the chips now, go home. We'll do a special every now and then, and we'll get to fish and ride horses."

  But Ball wanted to become a bigger star and pushed for their purchase of RKO. In 1962, two years after their divorce, Arnaz wished to leave the studio altogether and asked Ball to buy him out, making her the first female head of a major television studio. Five years later, Ball sold Desilu to Paramount Pictures.
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  (#4) Arnaz Was An Alleged Womanizer, Which Ball Tolerated For Years

  One of Ball's writers said about Arnaz, "[He was] the Cuban Arm because he'd put his arm around you and say, 'Listen, amigo...' And you were done for." Other people, especially women, had similar sentiments, and Arnaz's reputation as a womanizer grew along with his success. During rough patches, Arnaz often stayed out all night, causing the tabloids to sensationalize his affairs. While his infidelities let up slightly after his daughter's birth, he reportedly never completely changed his ways.

  Ball realized her husband's affairs for many years and, for a time, tolerated his behavior, confessing, "I closed my eyes, put blinders on, and ignored what was too painful to think about. I tried to view my troubles less seriously, and worry less. I tried to curb my temper."

  According to one story, Ball got an advance copy of Confidential magazine, which printed a story about Arnaz's love of women. She read it in her dressing room and surprised the cast and crew when she emerged casually, saying, "Oh, hell, I could tell them worse than that."
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  (#8) Arnaz And Ball Argued Frequently, And Sometimes Heatedly

  Arnaz and Ball's differences caused them to argue frequently. "They were fighting all the time when we were growing up. There was a lot of anger and screaming," remembered their daughter Lucie Arnaz. The couple kept their conflicts private and refrained from arguing on set. Their home life was another matter, and to save money from angrily retreating to a hotel, Arnaz built himself a guest house in the backyard. Family members and friends visiting the home sometimes heard screaming, cursing, and glass shattering coming from behind closed doors.

  However, Arnaz and Ball soon reconciled after their disagreements. According to one story, Arnaz once became so angry that he decided to move back in with his mother, but returned a few days later and stood in the front yard crying until Ball came out to console him. 
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  (#14) Arnaz Urged His Ex-Wife To Return To TV And Helped Her Create A Show

  In the two years between when Arnaz and Ball had divorced, and the time that Arnaz left their production company, Desilu, the pair still managed to work together. Desilu had lost a few of its produced shows, so Arnaz offered Ball a slot to form a new show.

  Though producers expressed doubt about Lucy being able to carry a show without Arnaz also starring, Ball ignored them and created The Lucy Show, which ran until 1968. Ball played a widow, setting up a trend she continued through the rest of her television sitcom career. As executive producer, Arnaz remained on set to support her, wanting Ball to succeed. After filming 15 episodes, Arnaz moved on from the show.

  Even before this brief joint project, Arnaz proved his enduring compassion for Ball by sending Bob Hope a stern telegram after she had sustained a concussion on his set. 
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  (#2) Ball And Arnaz Had An Impromptu Elopement 

  A few hours before Arnaz asked Ball to elope with him, she gave an interview entitled "Why I Will Always Remain a Bachelor Girl." She was in Wisconsin appearing in an extended engagement and after having a fight with Arnaz, decided to take her time traveling back to him in New York. When she finally arrived home, Ball learned Arnaz was angry because her extended stay had ruined his secret elopement plans. Ball brushed aside her indignation and the fact she left her clothes in Wisconsin; she wore the only thing she had - a black wool dress - as she and Arnaz traveled to Connecticut to get married in November 1940.

  Aranz sent his manager to Woolworth to buy a cheap replacement for the ring he had failed to pick up beforehand. Ball wore the cheap ring throughout their marriage, despite Arnaz later giving her a more expensive one. She explained:

  In many ways, marrying Desi was one of the boldest things I ever did. I had always gone with older men. I had also achieved some kind of stability in Hollywood, and Desi with his beautiful girls and good times seemed headed in another direction. Yet I sensed in Desi a great need. Beneath that dazzling charm was a homeless boy who had no one to care for him, worry about him, love him.
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  (#1) It Was Essentially Love At First Sight For Ball And Arnaz

  A Broadway director noticed Arnaz working as a bandleader in New York and hired him for his musical, Too Many Girls. In 1940, Hollywood adapted the show into a movie and cast Ball in the lead role. According to the story, Ball first met her co-star in the MGM commissary, still wearing the costume for the picture she was filming at the time. The role required her to have messy hair, a revealing gold lamé gown, and a black eye. Until this point, Ball felt indifference towards the young and inexperienced Arnaz, referring to the first-time actor as "that Cuban."

  However, when Ball actually met Arnaz, she quickly changed her mind. A co-star remembered, "Lucille followed my eyes, and I could almost hear the bells ringing in her head. The first words Lucille uttered when seeing Desi for the first time were, 'Oh, my God.' It was love at first sight for her." The 28-year-old Ball and 23-year-old Arnaz soon fell in love.

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