[1] He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his wife Lucille Ball.

After I Love Lucy ended, Arnaz went on to produce several other television series, at first with Desilu Productions, and later independently, including The Ann Sothern Show and The Untouchables.

[6] After finishing high school, Arnaz joined a band, the Siboney Septet,[9] and began making a name for himself in Miami.

His portrayal of Felix Ramirez, the jive-loving California National Guardsman, was described by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther as one of several supporting players who were "convincing in soldier roles".

He completed his recruit training, but was classified for limited service in the United States Army during World War II.

He was assigned to direct United Service Organization (USO) programs at the Birmingham General Army Hospital in the San Fernando Valley.

[13] He sang for troops in Birmingham Hospital with John Macchia and hired his childhood friend Marco Rizo to play piano and arrange for the orchestra.

[16]On October 15, 1951, Arnaz co-starred in the premiere of I Love Lucy, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself, Cuban orchestra leader Enrique "Ricky" Ricardo.

Market research indicated, however, that this scenario would not be popular, so Jess Oppenheimer changed it to make Ricky Ricardo a struggling young orchestra leader and Lucy an ordinary housewife who had show business fantasies but no talent.

[18] The couple overcame these objections, however, by touring together, during the summer of 1950, in a live vaudeville act they developed with the help of Spanish clown Pepito Pérez, together with Ball's radio show writers.

With Ball, Arnaz founded Desilu Productions in 1950, initially to produce the vaudeville-style touring act that led to I Love Lucy.

At that time, most television programs were broadcast live, and as the largest markets were in New York, the rest of the country received only kinescope images.

While he was producing The Untouchables, Arnaz was allegedly the target of a mafia murder plot, which was later called off, due to the show's negative publicity of gangsters.

The original Desilu company continued long after Arnaz's divorce from Ball and her subsequent marriage to Gary Morton.

With the newly formed Desi Arnaz Productions, he made The Mothers-In-Law (at Desilu) for United Artists Television and NBC.

To promote his autobiography, A Book, on February 21, 1976, Arnaz served as a guest host on Saturday Night Live, with his son, Desi, Jr., also appearing.

"[30] Arnaz made a guest appearance on the TV series Alice, in 1978 starring Linda Lavin and produced by I Love Lucy co-creators Madelyn Pugh (Madelyn Davis) and Bob Carroll, Jr.[31] His last acting role was as Mayor Leon Quiñones in the 1982 film, The Escape Artist.

Arnaz recalled that the only exception consisted of making fun of Ricky Ricardo's accent; even these jokes worked only when Lucy, as his wife, did the mimicking.

In his memoirs, he wrote that he knew of no other country in the world where "a sixteen-year-old kid, broke and unable to speak the language" could achieve the successes that he had.

Convinced that Arnaz was being unfaithful to her, along with him coming home drunk several times, Ball filed for divorce in September 1944.

[37] The interlocutory decree became final in October 1944, but because they had spent the night together the day before, California state law at the time had declared it null and void.

Arnaz suffered from knee injuries as a young man shortly before and during his military service in World War II.

After his second wife Edith's death in 1985, Arnaz was persuaded by his children to seek treatment for his decades-long alcohol addiction, which by then had seriously damaged his health.

[48][49] Desi Arnaz spent his retirement doing activities he enjoyed including sailing his yacht (he was a skilled yachtsman since childhood), fishing, and cooking Cuban dishes.

"[54][55] Lucie hadn't realized the solemnity of this last time, not until she checked her diary to notice the date had been the 46th anniversary of Ball and Arnaz's wedding.

Ball was one of hundreds to attend Arnaz's funeral, which was held at St. James Roman Catholic Church in San Diego County, California.

[58] In 1956, he won a Golden Globe for Best Television Achievement for helping to shape the American Comedy through his contributions in front of and behind the camera of I Love Lucy.

It had its world premiere in Los Angeles on July 12, 2018, co-starring Sarah Drew as Lucille Ball and Seamus Dever as I Love Lucy creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer.

[63] BBC Radio 4 broadcast a serialized version of the play in the UK in August 2020, as LUCY LOVES DESI: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, starring Wilmer Valderrama as Arnaz and co-starring Anne Heche as Lucille Ball.

[65] Javier Bardem portrayed Arnaz in the 2021 biographical film Being the Ricardos written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and produced by Amazon Studios, alongside Nicole Kidman as Ball.