Desi Arnaz

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Cuban-American musician and actor. He moved to the U.S. at 16 where he worked as a laborer before landing a job with a Miami rumba band before forming his own Cuban band. He married Lucy in 1940 and made his screen debut the same year: two kids. Years later, they made a fortune with Desilu productions and the hit comedy series "I Love Lucy." The show aired from 15 October 1951 to 24 September 1961, in which Arnaz played Ricky Ricardo, the devoted and forbearing spouse of a wacky wife. His broken English was part of the humor that kept the simple plot line flowing in a show that kept 10 million American families glued to the TV sets for 190 episodes. Their rating reached a peak on the night of 19 January 1953, when an estimated 44 million viewers saw Lucy Ricardo give birth to Ricky Jr on the air, coincidentally on the same day that Lucy actually did give birth to their second child off screen. They divorced amiably in 1960. He wrote his autobiography, "A Book" in 1976. Fond of his Cuban cigars, Arnaz died of lung cancer on 2 December 1986, Del Mar, CA, aged 68. Link to Wikipedia biography