Desi Arnaz's daughter Lucie says 'greatest memory' of her father was when he was admitted into Alcoholics Anonymous

Lucie Arnaz is the daughter of acting legends Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The 73-year-old has recently opened up publicly about her father Desi's struggles with alcoholism. She has also been candid that the proudest she ever felt about her father was when he publicly admitted to his struggles with alcoholism.

Recently, on June 15, in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning she spoke about how her father Desi Arnaz came to the realization that he had to make some significant changes in his life.

"He committed to AA meetings, treatment programs. It was fantastic. My greatest memory of him to this day was him standing up [in a treatment center] in La Jolla. The guy who said, 'I don't air my dirty laundry in front of other people.' .... he got up and said, 'My name is Desi and I'm an alcoholic.' And that's my proudest moment, that he stood up next to me and I watched him do that."

Lucie acknowledged that her father had long resisted change,

“But later on, way later on, almost when it was too late, he really made some amazing progress on himself."

Lucie Arnaz details her father Desi Arnaz's battle with alcohol

Lucie Arnaz provided even further insight on the situation in her conversation with CBS Sunday Morning, highlighting the significance of her father Desi Arnaz taking some measures that were long overdue to curb his illness.

"To take responsibility and try to solve it. It's a disease and he finally wrapped his head around that and I was so very proud of him. Unfortunately, it happened about three years too late. Because by that time, he figured out about a later, that he had lung cancer ... and he only lasted a year."

Lucie added,

"It doesn't matter when you get there, as long as you get there."

Ultimately, she was happy that he finally sought help, but lamented that Desi Arnaz's ego and pride got in the way of taking action any sooner,

"He didn't even show up when Desi [Jr.] went through recovery.”

This refers to her brother’s battle with the same demons, and their father’s lack of support at a crucial time. However, the death of his second wife Edie Hirsch in 1985 was the paradigm shift he needed to clean up his act,

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"he finally said, 'I can't do this anymore.' And he asked my brother to help him."

In 1985, Desi Arnaz checked himself into an alcohol rehabilitation program at the Scripps McDonald Center in La Jolla. Interestingly, he registered under the name “Bill Sanchez” to ensure his anonymity.

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