"I remember word for word" - Desi Arnaz Jr. opens up about father's struggle with alcoholism, separation from Lucille Ball

Desi Arnaz Jr. recently sat down with biographer Todd S. Purdum to give some insight about his father Desi Arnaz for Purdum’s newest project, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television. Desi Arnaz rose to fame thanks to playing the role of Ricky Ricardo, and of course, his marriage to Lucille Ball.

In his time with Purdum, Desi Arnaz Jr. and his sister Lucie opened up about their father, a seemingly tormented man who struggled to ward off his demons and had a lengthy battle with alcoholism. In his work, Purdum attempts to offer new insight into the lives of the I Love Lucy co-stars Arnaz and Ball, in their time together as a couple before their divorce in 1960 after two decades of marriage.

On the topic of his parents strained relationship Desi Jr. shared that things got to a point where:

“It wasn’t good for anyone. And we’ll always remember when they sat us down and said, ‘Look, you know, things aren’t working.’ I mean, I remember word for word.”

It seems that everybody on the outside looking in was thrilled with the off set romance, although the reality of the situation was far more somber.

Desi Arnaz Jr. opens up on childhood alongside sister Lucie

During the interview process with Purdum, Desi Arnaz Jr. and his sister Lucie opened up about their parents’ approach to raising them. Lucie shared that there was a drastic difference between her father and mother in this regard. She asserted that Desi Sr. would:

“Get really angry and blow his stack, and be loud, but then he’d be done and it would be like it never happened. Like a storm just passed. The storm never said, ‘I’m sorry,’ the storm never left a note saying, ‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t your fault.’ But it stopped, right?”

Conversely, on the topic of her mother Lucille Ball, Lucie asserted that:

“My mother would get personally offended by childhood behavior or what you said, because you should have known not to say that somehow, even though no one’s taught you what to say. And she would emotionally separate from you for however long she wanted to. And it would be sometimes days, sometimes weeks.”

Both siblings remember spending time on the I Love Lucy set throughout their younger years, albeit with varying degrees of fondness. Desi Arnaz Jr. "was very much embracing the whole thing” while his sister would typically "hide under the bleacher" when her mother introduced her to the audience.

Their life in the limelight was so singularly unique that some assert the siblings lost their ability to just be children. They even grew up playing with dolls of their parents, a very uncommon concept for most children in the world.

It’s important to note that the book puts focus on Desi Arnaz Jr.'s issues dealing with teen stardom, high-profile romances, and substance abuse. In fact, 4 years after Desi Jr. sought treatment at the Scripps McDonald Center in La Jolla, San Diego, his father enrolled as well.

Trending

“It was really nice, because whatever I was going through, it was paying off. I said, ‘I can’t do anything for you, but there’s a place that can.’ He understood that."

Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television is now available for purchase.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback