Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were not only iconic entertainers, but also parents to a son named Desi Jr., who faced a fair amount of challenges and losses throughout his life. Despite the fame and glamor surrounding his parents’ legacy, Desi Jr. decided to lead a quiet and private life.
Their union resulted in the birth of a beautiful boy named Desi Jr. and a daughter Lucia. Although their marriage ended in divorce, the famous couple expressed their love for each other until death. Desi Jr. mourns the death of his wife and grandson in addition to his parents.
During the production of the film adaptation of “Too Many Girls”, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball became friends. Ball was the main attraction and Arnaz fell in love with her immediately.
In 1940, not long after they first met, they married. However, Arnaz’s World War II military service and their hectic work schedules kept them apart for most of their marriage.
Ball was adamant about growing their family despite their hectic schedules. She became Catholic at the insistence of her mother-in-law, whom she followed. Ball, unfortunately, lost two pregnancies before giving birth to their daughter Lucia Arnaz. Two years later, their second child, son Desi Jr., was born.
Ball considered the birth of her children a miraculous event. She indicated that her ability to cope with her losses and then be pregnant again was greatly influenced by her religion.
The two actors later worked together on “I Love Lucy” and took the risk of starting their television production company, Desilu Studios. During this time, Arnaz was followed by his growing notoriety.
Ball tried to protect her children from her husband’s harmful tendencies. She claimed that he never used moderation, whether it was alcohol, women, or gambling. He was a notorious womanizer and drunkard.
Just a month before filming the pair’s final scenes on “I Love Lucy,” Ball decided enough was enough and filed for divorce from the actor.
Ball had to lie to preserve her husband’s reputation because she was unable to tolerate the way her children questioned her about their father. She said he never respected their bond. “It took me a while to realize it was hopeless.
At the time, they were co-owners of a major television studio in Hollywood and broke up. After getting married, Arnaz mostly avoided the media, but he once admitted that despite all the rumors, he is a family man.
In an interview, he admitted: “The reality is that I’m a family man and I adore family life. Arnaz even continued to send Ball flowers on their wedding anniversary when they were both alive.
Lucy gets flowers from me for our anniversary. He still gets them every year even though we are divorced. Still, I adore Lucy. Yes, I do, he continued.
According to people close to the couple, they never really moved on from each other. They saw each other and often talked on the phone while meeting their families.
Still, they were aware that things in their marriage were not going as smoothly as they had hoped. Their daughter Lucie recalled the “horrible” nature of their divorce.
Although she and her younger brother, Desi Jr., were not abused, she acknowledged that their upbringing was not without hardships.
Arnaz was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1986, which hastened his demise. The actress visited her ex-husband about a month before they exchanged words of farewell.
Arnaz’s daughter Lucie, with whom he shared a home, was invited to the ball. Lucie expressed Ball’s anxiety at not knowing how much longer Arnaz had.
Lucie made them watch old episodes of “I Love Lucy” together to reflect on their youth. She thought it was stupid, but she did it anyway. She left them alone for a moment and heard their laughter. Later, Ball left but later admitted to her daughter that she “cried all the way home”.
A month later, noticing her father’s condition worsening, Lucie called Ball and asked to see him. Lucie heard her mother repeat, “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Arnaz said with all his might, “I love you too, baby.” The next morning he died in his daughter’s arms.
Two and a half years later, in 1989, Ball died. She underwent a 7-hour operation to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm. A few days later, at the age of 77, she died.
Lucie went to great lengths to preserve her parents’ legacy. She entered the field right after them and made her acting debut at just 11 years old.
She appeared on “The Lucy Show,” an “I Love Lucy” spinoff created by her mother, and then starred in another before striking out on her own. Other projects she worked on included “Washington Lady” and “Who’s the Black Dahlia?” Later, she also tried her hand at theater and launched her own talk show.
Actor Philip Vandevort Menegaux and Lucie were previously married, but their marriage ended in divorce five years later. However, when she married Laurence Luckinbill in 1980, “The Park” actress gave love another try. Joseph, Simon, and Katherine are three of their children together.
Meet Desi Jr., their son.
Son of Ball and Arnaz, Desi Jr. was famous before he was even born. Ball became pregnant during the filming of the second season of “I Love Lucy”, and rather than change the plot of the popular program, they decided to include the pregnancy in the script.
Television programs were quite conservative at the time. The word “pregnant” was forbidden for actors to use, and other phrases such as “expecting” or “expecting” were already frowned upon when used on television.
Arnaz wanted to change that, so he contacted a group of priests for their blessing on the script, and when they did, CBS agreed to the plot.
Ricky, Ball’s on-screen son, was born at the birth of Desi Jr. in Los Angeles by cesarean section. It was historic and gave TV viewers a new kind of storytelling.
Until the 1960s, the “Birth of Little Ricky” episode had more television tune-ins than Eisenhower’s inauguration the day after. It also allowed several other shows to develop their plots.
When Desi Jr. reached adulthood, decided to pursue a career in the industry by turning into a teen idol. He was a heartthrob who played drums in the band Dino, Desi & Billy.
He admitted that he started drinking at the age of 11 and that he had a history of substance abuse that made him notorious from an early age. In addition, he was often mentioned in the tabloids for dating famous people such as Patty Duke, Linda Purl, and Liza Minnelli.
He became a father to Julia Arnaz at the age of 15 when his partner at the time, Susan Callahan-Howe, who was 15 at the time, became pregnant. Due to years of drug abuse, doctors told him at age 25 that he had the brain of a 60-year-old.
Desi Jr. was motivated to restart his life a year after his father’s death. In the same year, he married Amy Laura Bergiel.
Desi Jr. left for a new life after going through counseling and going to treatment. He overcame his drug problems and rebuilt his marriage.
Bergiel considered the daughter he had with his previous partner, Haley, to be his own. After adoption, he raised her as his own.
Desi Jr. experienced numerous losses
No death is ever easy, and barely two and a half years after his father’s death and shortly after marrying Bergiel, when Desi Jr. felt his life was about to take a turn for the better, he had to deal with the loss of his mother.
Still, he and his wife had a great relationship and decided to live in Boulder City, Nevada. They were the owners of the Boulder House, a movie house that they transformed.
The Boulder Theater served as a practice and performance venue for the Boulder City Ballet Company, all because of Bergiel’s passion for dance.
The duo has worked on animal welfare over the years. They took in and adopted newborn elephants orphaned by the ivory trade.
When Bergiel died aged 63 in 2015, their marriage ended. Just four days after Desi Jr. reached the age of 62, she died after a short battle with cancer.
Lucie celebrated Desi Jr.’s 70th birthday. by sharing some of their most recent photos on social media.
A few years later, in 2020, Desi Jr. another tragedy when Desiree S. Anzalone, his granddaughter, died at age 31 of stage 4 breast cancer.
Desi Jr.’s eldest daughter, Julia, and her partner Mario Anzalone gave birth to Anzalone. She was Desi Jr.’s first grandchild. and the first great-grandson of Ball and Arnaz.
The family has had a hard time dealing with the loss, especially since Desiree was so young when she died. Julia, her mother, said:
Seeing her go was just… My worst enemy wouldn’t take that from me. No mother should see that.
Desi Jr. is not alone in life despite his tragedies. His older sister Lucie made sure to keep in touch with him, and their close relationship lasted a lifetime.
Lucie celebrated Desi Jr.’s 70th birthday. by sharing some of their most recent photos on social media. She professed her love for him and wished him a “happy and healthy” seventh decade in the caption of her photo.
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Desi Jr., unlike Lucy, who was last seen in the documentary “Lucy and Desi”, chose to lead a private life and avoid the spotlight.
Fans occasionally catch a glimpse of him through his sister’s social media accounts, where he also posts memories of their parents. Fans can tell how much Desi Jr. and his father look alike in the photos he posts.
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Fans can rest easy knowing that Desi Jr. is in excellent hands with his sister, daughter, and grandchildren, even though many of his loved ones have passed away.
Desi Jr.’s Journey was marked by both triumphs and sorrows. From his unique birth that captivated television audiences to his struggles with addiction, early fatherhood, and the losses he suffered, he has shown resilience and strength in the face of adversity. Through it all, he has remained connected to his roots and cherishes the legacy of his beloved parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
While Desi Jr. as he continues to navigate life’s ups and downs, his family stands by his side offering unwavering support and love. Together, they honor the memory of their legendary parents while forging their own paths, creating new chapters in the continuing story of the Ball-Arnaz legacy.
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