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By Jesse Monteagudo
In the USA, I Love Lucy was Lucille Ball's show. In Cuba the show was about Desi Arnaz: the Cuban who went to America, married that funny gringa and made television history. The traits that made Desi unique and unusual in the United States - his rapid-fire delivery, his accent (What accent? I thought everyone talked like that!) and his "Latin" temper - made him "one of us". I was also a few months younger than Desi Arnaz, Jr., whose cesarean delivery on January 19, 1953 coincided with his TV counterpart's "birth". Shortly after my first "Lucy" experience I Love Lucy ended its six-year run; Ball and Arnaz divorced (the first divorce I ever heard of); and Fidel Castro replaced Desi Arnaz as the world's most famous Cuban.
Born in August 6, 1911, Lucille Désirée Ball made over 60 films between 1934 and 1949. In 1940 she married Latin band leader Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha, who was six years younger and who co-starred with her in Two Many Girls. Unfortunately for Lucy, that movie's title was also a description of their early married life. Desi's on the road womanizing led Lucy to file for divorce in 1944, but the couple reconciled. Ball's desire to make Arnaz her TV co-star was based on her determination to save her marriage by keeping him at home. On October 15, 1951 (fifty years ago), I Love Lucy premiered on CBS. With lesser actors, the show might have been a flop: the tale of a housewife who wants to have a life of her own in spite of her husband's opposition has been done many times before.
Those of us who saw Lucy Ricardo from Ricky's corner thought she was a silly woman who, week after week, needed to be put in her place by her stern but loving Cuban husband. Only in retrospective did we learn to admire Lucy Ricardo's weekly acts of rebellion, and an assertiveness that Ricky could barely understand or control. Add to the mix the talents of Vivian Vance and William Frawley and the result were six years of magic - nine, if you include the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. One of the most important decisions that Desi Arnaz made in regards to I Love Lucy was to tape the show on film before a studio audience. This preserved "Lucy" episodes for posterity, allowing them to be seen again and again, all around the world. Though I saw my first I Love Lucy in 1957, I did not get to watch most of the series until the mid-1960's, when CBS showed re-runs on weekday mornings.
While other kids spent their summer vacations outdoors, I spent them watching re-runs: Andy Griffith, Danny Thomas (both filmed at Desilu Studios) but especially I Love Lucy. And while I still related to the Cuban, it was his wife who captured my heart.
Though Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989 - Desi Arnaz died in 1986 - she will live forever in I Love Lucy. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ball's greatest triumph, the U.S. Postal Service issued a "Lucille Ball" stamp, part of its "Legends of Hollywood" series.
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I first saw I Love Lucy in 1957, when I was four years old. That by itself wouldn't be different from the experience of so many others but for the fact that I saw I Love Lucy in Cuba, dubbed into Spanish as Yo Quiero Lucy.
What made Lucy and Ricky Ricardo unique and immortal was the unique dynamic between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz: on stage and off. Though Arnaz was basically playing himself, Ball's scatterbrained redhead persona was 180 different than the hard-driving career woman who played her.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer who lives in South Florida with
his domestic partner. He can be reached at 
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