Yancy Derringer is an American action / adventure series that was broadcast on CBS from October 2, 1958, to June 4, 1959, with Jock Mahoney in the title role. It was broadcast from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursdays.
80-474: The show was produced by Derringer Productions and filmed in Hollywood by Desilu Productions . Derringer Productions consisted of half interest for Warren Lewis and Don Sharpe as executive producers, a quarter interest to Jock Mahoney for starring in the series, and a quarter interest to Richard Sale and Mary Loos , husband and wife, as creators. The show's sponsor was S. C. Johnson & Son , and Klear floor wax
160-402: A secret agent ; only Colton knows of this special role. Often at the beginning of an episode, Colton, a former Union Army colonel, asks Yancy to help solve New Orleans' present threat. Often, by the end of an episode, he arrests Yancy for breaking the law in order to do it. Yancy agrees to be Colton's " huckleberry " for the good of the city and his interests." Yancy has a strong conviction that
240-649: A band, the Siboney Septet, and began making a name for himself in Miami. Xavier Cugat , after seeing Arnaz perform, hired him for his touring orchestra, playing the conga drum and singing. Becoming a star attraction encouraged him to start his own band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. Arnaz and his orchestra became a hit in New York City's club scene, including a club named La Conga, where he is credited with introducing
320-487: A crowd of 35,000. Arnaz was known to be very loving to his grandchildren. Arnaz and his second wife eventually moved to Del Mar, California where he lived the rest of his life in semi-retirement. He owned a horse-breeding farm in Corona, California and raced Thoroughbreds . The Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar Racetrack is named in his honor. Arnaz was a regular smoker for much of his life and often smoked cigarettes on
400-461: A guest. Arnaz also headlined a Kraft Music Hall special on NBC that featured his two children, with a brief appearance by Vance. Arnaz suffered a severe attack of diverticulitis in 1971, which required an operation and several years of recovery. He worked with Universal Studios for two years working on development deals for two shows that eventually fell through, Dr. Domingo (the character did appear on one episode of Ironside ) and Chairman of
480-404: A live audience that became the standard for subsequent situation comedies . The use of film enabled every station around the country to broadcast high-quality images of the show. Arnaz was told that it would be impossible to allow an audience onto a sound stage , but he worked with Freund to design a set that would accommodate an audience, allow filming, and adhere to fire and safety codes. Due to
560-417: A sound stage, but he worked with Freund to design sets that accommodated audiences, allowed filming, and adhered to fire, health, and safety codes. Network executives considered the use of film an unnecessary extravagance. Arnaz persuaded them to allow Desilu to cover all additional costs associated with filming, rather than broadcasting live, under the stipulation that Desilu owned and controlled all rights to
640-469: A statement. Read by Robert Stack as a posthumous statement, Arnaz wrote, "P.S. I Love Lucy was never just a title." Family home video later aired on television showed Ball and Arnaz playing together with their grandson Simon shortly before Arnaz's death. Arnaz suffered from knee injuries as a young man shortly before and during his military service in World War II. The pain was troublesome enough that he
720-453: A struggling young orchestra leader and Lucy an ordinary housewife who had show business fantasies but no talent. The character name "Larry Lopez" was dropped because of a real-life bandleader named Vincent Lopez, and was replaced with "Ricky Ricardo". The name was inspired by Henry Richard, a family friend and the brother of P.C. Richard of P.C. Richard & Son . This name translates to Enrique Ricardo. Ricky often appeared at, and later owned,
800-460: A weekly variety show that lasted 11 seasons. In truth, Here's Agnes was offered to Burnett by CBS executives who attempted to dissuade her from having a variety show because they felt that men were better suited for them. Burnett and Ball, however, remained close friends, often guest-starring in each other's series. In 1967, Ball agreed to sell her television company to Gulf+Western , which had only recently acquired Paramount Pictures. The company
880-400: Is part of CBS Media Ventures (formerly CBS Television Distribution). During Ball's time as sole owner, Desilu developed popular series such as Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), and Star Trek (1966). It has been falsely rumored that a Desilu loss during this time was Carol Burnett , who declined to star in a sitcom for the studio in favor of The Carol Burnett Show ,
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#1732858851498960-501: The Cuban House of Representatives . His maternal grandfather was Alberto de Acha, an executive at rum producer Bacardi & Co. A descendant of Cuban nobility , Arnaz was a great-great-great-grandson of José Joaquín, a mayor of Santiago de Cuba. The Cuban Revolution of 1933 forced Arnaz and his family to lose everything and flee Cuba. A mob attacked and destroyed the family's houses, property, and livestock. Arnaz narrowly escaped
1040-575: The I Love Lucy episodes were produced there. In late 1957, the company bought the RKO Pictures production facilities for $ 6 million from General Tire and Rubber , including RKO's main facilities on Gower Street in Hollywood and the RKO-Pathé lot (now Culver Studios ) in Culver City . This purchase included Forty Acres , the backlot where exteriors for Mayberry were filmed. These acquisitions gave
1120-537: The Indian Wells Country Club [ nl ] in Palm Desert, CA. He also taught classes at San Diego State University in studio production and acting for television. Arnaz and Ball decided that I Love Lucy would maintain what Arnaz termed "basic good taste" and were therefore determined to avoid ethnic jokes , as well as humor based on physical handicaps or mental disabilities. Arnaz recalled that
1200-603: 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 . It was his responsibility to keep injured soldiers entertained while they recovered in the hospital. Thanks to his Hollywood connections, Arnaz was able to bring celebrities to visit the hospital and boost morale of
1280-658: The World War II Victory Medal . Arnaz was discharged as a staff sergeant on September 30, 1945. On December 1, 1945, Arnaz formed another orchestra, which was successful in live appearances and recordings. 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. For the 1946–47 season, Arnaz was the bandleader, conducting his Desi Arnaz Orchestra, on Bob Hope 's radio show ( The Pepsodent Show ) on NBC . In 1951, Arnaz
1360-452: 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. Karl Freund , Arnaz's cameraman, and even Arnaz himself have been credited with the development of the multiple-camera setup production style using adjacent sets in front of
1440-487: The Ball-Arnaz TV empire a total of 33 sound stages — four more than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and eleven more than Twentieth Century-Fox had in 1957. The studio's initial attempt to become involved in film production was the film Forever, Darling (1956), Arnaz and Ball's followup to their highly successful MGM release The Long, Long Trailer (1954), but it was a box-office failure. It was produced at Desilu, but under
1520-475: The Board starring Elke Sommer . Arnaz moved on to work on his autobiography for two years. 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. The program contained spoofs of I Love Lucy and The Untouchables . The spoofs of I Love Lucy were supposed to be earlier concepts of the show that never made it on
1600-582: The CBS library. In November 2019 CBS Studios registered the DESILU trademark again to protect its previous Common Law trademark usage. Syndication rights for Here's Lucy were sold by Ball to Telepictures , which later merged with Lorimar Television and ultimately was folded into Warner Bros. Television . Warner Bros. Television is the show's current distributor, although MPI now holds home video rights under license from Lucille Ball Productions and Desilu Too. Desilu began
1680-589: The Hispanic community, encouraging them to take the 1980 census to increase federal funding for their communities. Arnaz and Lucille Ball were married on November 30, 1940. Their marriage was always turbulent. Convinced that Arnaz was being unfaithful to her, along with him coming home drunk several times, Ball filed for divorce in September 1944. The interlocutory decree became final in October 1944, but because they had spent
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#17328588514981760-515: The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ). Arnaz attempted to sell other television pilots, including a comedy with Carol Channing and an adventure series with Rory Calhoun . Neither series sold. Arnaz also tried to create a law drama called Without Consent , with Spencer Tracy as a defense attorney, but after several attempts at developing a suitable script failed and because of insurance concerns regarding Tracy's heavy drinking,
1840-555: The Tropicana Club, which under his ownership he renamed Club Babalu. Initially, the idea of having Ball and the distinctly Latin American Arnaz portray a married couple encountered resistance as they were told that Desi's Cuban accent and Latin style would not be agreeable to American viewers. The couple overcame these objections, however, by touring together, during the summer of 1950, in a live vaudeville act they developed with
1920-896: The United States must be one nation again. Although he is based out of New Orleans, his Mississippi riverboat, the Sultana, and Yancy's propensity for adventure mean that some episodes take him far away from Louisiana; some stories take place as far away as Nevada and California. Tommy Mara recorded the show's theme with an orchestra and chorus in 1959 for Felsted Records (Felsted 8561). Jock Mahoney - Yancy Derringer X Brands - Pahoo Ka-Ta-Wah Kevin Hagen - John Colton Frances Bergen – Madame Francine Robert McCord, III – Captain Amos Fry Richard Devon – Jody Barker Larry J. Blake – Turnkey Bill Walker – Obadiah After
2000-439: The United States with no money and Desi had to live with his father in a garage that was infested with rats and roaches. In the summer of 1934, he attended Saint Leo Prep (near Tampa ) to improve his English. His first jobs included working at Woolworth's and cleaning canary cages in Miami. He then went into the tile business with his father before turning to show business full time. After finishing high school, Arnaz joined
2080-447: The air, such as "I Love Louie", where Desi lived with Louis Armstrong . He read Lewis Carroll 's poem " Jabberwocky " in a heavy Cuban accent (he pronounced it "Habberwocky"). Desi Jr., played the drums and, supported by the SNL band, Desi sang both " Babalú " and another favorite from his dance band days, " Cuban Pete "; the arrangements were similar to the ones used on I Love Lucy . He ended
2160-410: The attack because he was able to hop in a car driving away. His father, Alberto Arnaz, was jailed and all of his property was confiscated. He was released after six months when his father-in-law, Alberto de Acha, intervened on his behalf. The family then fled to Miami, where Desi attended high school (his classmates included Albert 'Sonny' Capone, only child of Chicago mobster Al Capone ). They came to
2240-514: The banner of Zanra Productions (Arnaz spelled backward). Most subsequent attempts to bring projects to the big screen were aborted until Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) with Ball and Henry Fonda . This film was a critical and financial success. In 1960, Desi Arnaz sold the pre-1960s shows to CBS. Desilu Productions retained ownership of those shows that premiered after 1960, and were still in production. Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960. In November 1962, Arnaz resigned as president when his holdings in
2320-456: The broadcast by leading the entire cast in a conga line through the SNL studio. In 1976, CBS paid tribute to Lucille Ball with the two-hour special CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years. Both Ball and Arnaz appeared on the screen for the special, which is the first time they appeared together in 16 years since their divorce. When asked about returning to television in a 1976 newspaper article, Arnaz said, "People ask me to go back on TV but
2400-403: The cameraman on I Love Lucy , and Arnaz himself have been credited with the development of the linked multifilm camera setup using adjacent sets in front of a live audience that became the standard production method for situation comedy . The use of film enabled every station around the country to broadcast high-quality images of the show. Arnaz was told it was impossible to allow an audience onto
2480-559: The city's atmosphere is forbidding, filled with trepidation and mourning. The Derringer family itself paid a heavy price in both lives and their family home and property during the Civil War. Yancy's brother David and his father Yancy Sr., died in the conflict. Widely respected by all parts of New Orleans society as a Southerner who never surrendered, Derringer is recruited by the Federal City Administrator, John Colton, to work as
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2560-619: The company by herself for several years. Ball had succeeded in making Desilu profitable again by 1968, when she sold her shares of Desilu to Gulf+Western for $ 17 million (valued at $ 155 million in 2023). Gulf+Western then transformed Desilu into the television production arm of Paramount Pictures , rebranding the company as the original Paramount Television . Desilu's entire library is owned by Paramount Global through two of its subsidiaries. The CBS unit owns all Desilu properties that were produced and concluded before 1960, which were sold to CBS by Desilu itself. Its CBS Studios unit owns
2640-406: The company grew much larger, and he felt compelled to seek outlets to alleviate the stress. Arnaz also suffered from diverticulitis . Ball divorced him on March 2, 1960, which was coincidentally his birthday. When Ball returned to weekly television, she and Arnaz worked out an agreement regarding Desilu, wherein she bought him out. Edith Mack Hirsch (née McSkimming) was Arnaz's second wife. After
2720-446: The company were bought out by Ball, who succeeded him as president. Ball served as president and chief executive officer of Desilu while at the same time starring in her own weekly series. This made her the first woman to head a major studio and one of the most powerful women in Hollywood at the time. Ball founded Desilu Sales, Inc., for syndication which distributed Jay Ward Productions ' Fractured Flickers in 1964. Today, Desilu Sales
2800-497: The complete series on DVD for the first time in Region 1. Desilu Productions Desilu Productions, Inc. ( / ˈ d ɛ s i l uː / ) was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball . The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy , The Lucy Show , Mannix , The Untouchables , Mission: Impossible and Star Trek . Until 1962, Desilu
2880-402: The concept of conga line dancing to the United States. He came to the attention of Rodgers and Hart who, in 1939, cast him in their Broadway musical Too Many Girls . The show was a hit and RKO Pictures bought the movie rights. Arnaz went to Hollywood the next year to appear in the show's movie version at RKO, which also starred Lucille Ball . Arnaz and Ball fell in love during
2960-455: The costs incurred by the production into the first episode of a season rather than spreading them across the projected number of episodes in the year. As a result, by the end of the season, episodes were nearly entirely paid for, at preposterously low figures. 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 images derived from kinescopes . Karl Freund ,
3040-533: The creation of its productions using conventional film studio materials, production, and processing techniques. The use of these materials and techniques meant that the 35 mm negatives (the source material for copyright purposes) were immediately available for production and distribution of prints when the Lucy series went into syndication at local stations around the country. As such, no "lost" episodes of programs occurred, and no programs were recorded by kinescope from
3120-503: The distribution. A review of the premiere episode in The New York Times called it "nonsensical" and "distinctive in its silliness". The review concluded, " Yancy Derringer is just too quaint to be entertaining." The trade publication Broadcasting , in a review of the first episode, said, "this overloaded action series threatens to sink in the first patch of bayou quicksand." On October 9, 2012, Timeless Media Group released
3200-530: The expense of 35mm film, Arnaz and Ball agreed to salary cuts. In return, they retained the rights to the films. This was the basis for their invention of re-runs and syndicating TV shows (a huge source of new revenue). In addition to I Love Lucy , he executive produced The Ann Sothern Show and Those Whiting Girls (starring Margaret Whiting and Barbara Whiting ), and was involved in several other series such as The Untouchables , Whirlybirds , and Sheriff of Cochise / United States Marshal . While he
3280-475: The film prints and negatives. Arnaz's unprecedented arrangement is widely considered to be one of the shrewdest deals in television history. As a result of his foresight, Desilu reaped the profits from all reruns of the series. Desilu soon outgrew its first space and in 1954 bought its own studio, the Motion Picture Center on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, what is now Red Studios Hollywood . Most of
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3360-443: The film's production and eloped on November 30, 1940. Arnaz appeared in several movies in the 1940s such as Bataan , starring Robert Taylor (1943). 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". On April 27, 1943, Arnaz received his draft notice. However, Arnaz
3440-468: The help of Spanish clown Pepito Pérez, together with Ball's radio show writers. Much of the material from their vaudeville act, including Lucy's memorable seal routine, was used in the pilot episode of I Love Lucy . Segments of the pilot were recreated in the sixth episode of the show's first season. During his time on the show, Arnaz and Ball became TV's most successful entrepreneurs. With Ball, Arnaz founded Desilu Productions in 1950, initially to produce
3520-501: The home video reissues of the Ball/Arnaz material not owned by CBS (successor-in-interest to Paramount Television , which in turn succeeded the original Desilu company). This material included Here's Lucy and The Mothers-In-Law , as well as many programs and specials Ball and Arnaz made independently of each other. In the 1970s, Arnaz co-hosted a week of shows with daytime host and producer Mike Douglas . Vivian Vance appeared as
3600-446: The newly formed Desi Arnaz Productions, he made The Mothers-In-Law (at Desilu) for United Artists Television and NBC . This sitcom ran for two seasons from 1967 to 1969. During its two-year run, Arnaz made four guest appearances as a Spanish matador, Señor Delgado. Arnaz's company was succeeded-in-interest by the company now known as Desilu, Too. Desilu, Too and Lucille Ball Productions worked hand-in-hand with MPI Home Video in
3680-429: The night together the day before, California state law at the time had declared it null and void. Arnaz and Ball subsequently had two children, actors Lucie Arnaz (born 1951) and Desi Arnaz Jr. (born 1953). Hollywood procurer of prostitutes Scotty Bowers claimed in his memoir Full Service that he had procured as many as two to three prostitutes per week for Arnaz, each of whom was paid 200 dollars, as opposed to
3760-413: 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. Arnaz was a lifelong Catholic . A lifelong Republican , Arnaz was deeply patriotic about the United States. 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
3840-626: The premiere of I Love Lucy in October. When he became successful in television, he kept the orchestra on his payroll, and Rizo arranged and orchestrated the music for I Love Lucy . 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. His co-star was his real-life wife, Lucille Ball, who played Ricky's wife, Lucy. Television executives had been pursuing Ball to adapt her very popular radio series My Favorite Husband for television. Ball insisted on Arnaz playing her on-air spouse so
3920-410: The program's single year on network television, its reruns found audiences in repeats and in syndication. NBC bought all 34 episodes from Don Sharpe Productions to show as part of the network's afternoon Adventure Theatre anthology series beginning February 8, 1960. In 1961, it was broadcast in at least 43 TV markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans. Official Films Inc. handled
4000-403: The project was abandoned. After selling Desilu, Ball established her own new production company, Lucille Ball Productions (LBP), in 1968. The company went to work on her new series Here's Lucy that year. The program ran until 1974 and enjoyed several years of ratings success. Ball returned to network television in 1986 with the short-lived Life with Lucy . It lasted eight episodes before it
4080-781: The public would enjoy them and their potential for long-term success. This led to continued profits from the programs through reruns , which would recover their high development and production costs. Even decades after the absorption of Desilu Productions and the production end of all original series Desilu approved for development, some series have achieved enduring success and, in some cases, redevelopment into feature-length movie franchises in their own right. Examples are The Untouchables , Star Trek and Mission Impossible . Much of Desilu Productions' early success can be traced to Arnaz's unusual business style in his role as producer of I Love Lucy . For example, lacking formal business training, he knew nothing of amortization and often included all
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#17328588514984160-663: The rights to everything Desilu produced after 1960 as successor in interest to Paramount Television. There is a street named after Desilu in San Antonio, Texas . Desilu Productions was founded in 1950 using the combined names of the husband and wife production team of "Desi Arnaz" and "Lucille Ball". It was created to produce Lucy and Desi's vaudeville act as a television series and sell it to Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) executives. Arnaz and Ball wanted to adapt Ball's CBS radio series My Favorite Husband to television. The television project eventually became I Love Lucy . During
4240-589: The set of I Love Lucy . He smoked cigars until he was in his sixties. Arnaz was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1986 and underwent treatment. Lucille Ball visited him during this time in the hospital and the two watched VHS tapes of I Love Lucy . His daughter Lucie was by his side constantly during his final days. On November 30, 1986, Ball called him. They talked for a short time due to Arnaz's state of health, as he had barely spoken to anyone and had not eaten for three days. According to Lucie, her mother simply said "I love you. I love you. Desi, I love you," repeating
4320-471: The show's first few years, Desilu rented space at General Service Studios (now the Sunset Las Palmas Studios ) at Santa Monica Boulevard and North Las Palmas Avenue. They used Stage Two, which was named Desilu Playhouse. Later, a special entrance was added at 6633 Romaine Street, on the south side of the lot, to allow direct access to it. Ball's contribution was more on the artistic side. She
4400-558: The soldiers. For example, upon discovering the first thing the wounded soldiers requested was a glass of cold milk, he arranged for movie starlets to meet them and pour the milk for them. Arnaz served two years, seven months and four days. His primary unit was the 9th Service Command, Army Service Forces. For his service during World War II, he was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal , the American Campaign Medal , and
4480-714: The successes that he had. He was a supporter of Richard Nixon and member of the Spanish-Speaking Committee for the Re-Election of the President in 1972. Nixon appointed Arnaz as the U.S. roving ambassador to Latin America in the early 1970s. He was a supporter of Ronald Reagan and spoke at campaign rallies, such as one hosted by the National Republican Hispanic Assembly in 1980. He was an advocate for
4560-804: The television broadcast. Through the use of film-studio production techniques, the content and quality of Desilu productions displayed a high standard relative to peers in television of the 1950s and '60s. Moreover, they were readily adaptable to both comedy and drama formats and were able to handle special effects or feature interior or exterior sets and locations with equal ease. Some of these programs were created and owned by Desilu; others were other production companies' programs that Desilu filmed or to which Desilu rented production space. 34°05′23″N 118°20′05″W / 34.089777°N 118.334722°W / 34.089777; -118.334722 Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz ,
4640-503: The thin' is, it's too tough competing with the Ricky Ricardo of 20 years ago. He looks a lot better than I do." 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. His last acting role was as Mayor Leon Quiñones in the 1982 film, The Escape Artist . Arnaz owned
4720-474: The two married on March 2, 1963 (Arnaz's 46th birthday), he greatly reduced his show business activities. The two were married for 22 years until Edith died from cancer on March 23, 1985. Although Arnaz and Ball both married other spouses after their divorce in 1960, they remained friends and grew closer in his final decade. For Lucy's appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986, Arnaz had written
4800-434: The two would be able to spend more time together. CBS wanted Ball's Husband co-star Richard Denning . The original premise was for the couple to portray Lucy and Larry Lopez, a successful show business couple whose glamorous careers interfered with their efforts to maintain a normal marriage. Market research indicated, however, that this scenario would not be popular, so Jess Oppenheimer changed it to make Ricky Ricardo
4880-426: The usual 20. Lucille Ball confronted Bowers about this and publicly slapped him in the face, yelling "You! Stop pimping for my husband!" Arnaz's marriage with Ball began to collapse under the strain of his growing problems with alcohol, gambling, and infidelity. According to his memoir, the combined pressures of managing the production company, as well as supervising its day-to-day operations, had greatly worsened as
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#17328588514984960-520: The words over the phone. Arnaz finished the conversation by answering "I love you, too, honey. Good luck with your show." 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. He died two days later on December 2, 1986, at the age of 69, just 3 years before Lucy's death. Arnaz was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Sea of Cortés in Mexico . Ball
5040-748: Was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy , in which he co-starred with his wife Lucille Ball . Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun , which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series. Arnaz and Lucille Ball co-founded and ran the television production company called Desilu Productions , originally to market I Love Lucy to television networks. 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 . He
5120-553: Was a regular sponsor. Sale and Loos based the series on "The Devil Made a Derringer", a short story by Sale that appeared in All-American Fiction in 1938. Sale was one of the highest-paid pulp writers of the 1930s. The story was never mentioned, but it was about a destitute aristocrat and troublemaker who returns to New Orleans three years after the American Civil War . In the story, Derringer has no first name; "Yancy"
5200-533: Was a skilled yachtsman since childhood), fishing, and cooking Cuban dishes. He suffered from numerous health issues later in life. He contributed to charitable and nonprofit organizations, including San Diego State University . He was active in politics and made occasional public appearances. He was the guest of honor at the Carnival Miami in March 1982 where he performed with his children, Lucie and Desi Jr., in front of
5280-463: Was added for the television series. The eponymous character, Yancy Derringer, is an adventurer and gambler . He is a former Confederate Army Captain who has returned to New Orleans, Louisiana , in 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War , during the southern Reconstruction Era . The state is under Union control and martial law. Life goes on in New Orleans, despite the fact that
5360-472: Was also the bandleader of his Latin group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. He was known for playing conga drums and popularized the conga line in the United States. Arnaz was born in Santiago de Cuba , Cuba, to Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Alberni II (March 8, 1894 – May 31, 1973) and Dolores "Lolita" de Acha y de Socias (April 2, 1896 – October 24, 1988). His father was Santiago's youngest mayor and also served in
5440-573: Was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon after an altercation with youth parking in front of his house. Two young men were allegedly partying nearby and harassing his then-15-year-old daughter Lucie and her friend. Arnaz confronted them, threatened to shoot their tires and cars, and then fired two shots that went into the ground. He spent three hours at the San Diego jail and was released on $ 1,100 bail. Desi Arnaz spent his retirement doing activities he enjoyed including sailing his yacht (he
5520-467: Was cancelled—a first for Ball—because of poor ratings. LBP continues to exist, and its primary purpose is residual sales of license rights for Here's Lucy . Desilu-Paramount TV's holdings are owned by Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), the owner of the pre-1960s shows. Desilu Productions Inc. was reincorporated in Delaware in 1967, by Paramount Pictures and still exists as a legal entity. Desilu Too LLC
5600-421: Was disqualified from overseas service due to hypertension and knee injuries, which caused him pain with prolonged physical exertion, according to his military physical examination. He had injured his left knee prior to his enlistment and injured his right knee soon after enlisting on May 23, 1943, during a baseball game at Camp Arlington . He completed his recruit training, but was classified for limited service in
5680-535: Was disqualified from serving overseas. In the late 1960s, he was seriously injured in an accident when the floor collapsed and he was impaled by a tree stump in his home in Baja California. An operation saved his life, although his health was never the same after the incident. Throughout his life he periodically had to seek medical treatment for diverticulitis and intestinal issues, sometimes requiring hospitalization. After his second wife Edith's death in 1985, Arnaz
5760-407: Was given a game show on CBS Radio , Your Tropical Trip to entice Arnaz and Ball to stay at CBS over a competing offer from NBC, and to keep Arnaz and his band employed and in Hollywood, rather than touring. The musical game show, hosted by Arnaz and featuring Arnaz's orchestra, had audience members competing for a Caribbean vacation. The program aired from January 1951 until September, shortly before
5840-528: Was later created by Lucie Arnaz mostly as a licensee for I Love Lucy -related merchandise. Desilu Too also partners with MPI Home Video and Lucille Ball Productions (formed by Ball and second husband Gary Morton ) on the video releases of Here's Lucy and other material Ball and Arnaz made independently of each other. Desilu Too officials have worked with MPI Home Video for the home video reissue of The Mothers-In-Law . Paramount Home Entertainment (through CBS DVD ) continues to hold DVD distribution rights to
5920-528: Was never nominated for an Emmy for his performance in I Love Lucy ; however, as executive producer of the series, he was nominated four times in the Best Situation Comedy category, winning twice. 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 . He was inducted into
6000-589: Was one of hundreds to attend Arnaz's funeral, which was held at St. James Roman Catholic Church in San Diego County, California. His death came just five days before Lucille Ball received the Kennedy Center Honors . His mother outlived him by almost two years. Desi Arnaz has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : one at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures and one at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard for television. Unlike his co-stars, Arnaz
6080-418: Was persuaded by his children to seek treatment for his decades-long alcohol addiction, which by then had seriously damaged his health. Lucie Arnaz described her pride at attending a treatment meeting with her father where he stood up and said "I'm Desi, and I'm an alcoholic". Arnaz had a few run-ins with the law. He was arrested in 1959 on an intoxication charge while he was walking Hollywood Blvd. In 1966, he
6160-730: 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. These allegations were made in the 1980s by Jimmy Fratianno in his book, The Last Mafioso , although they were rejected by Arnaz. He also produced the feature film Forever, Darling (1956), in which he and Ball starred. The original Desilu company continued long after Arnaz's divorce from Ball and her subsequent marriage to Gary Morton . Desilu continued to produce its own programs in addition to providing facilities to other producers. In 1962, Arnaz sold his share of Desilu to Ball and formed his own production company after their divorce. With
6240-618: Was renamed Paramount Television, and the former RKO main lot on Gower Street was absorbed into the adjacent Paramount lot. The old RKO globe logo is still in place. The company is now called CBS Studios (formerly CBS Television Studios). Perfect Film purchased Desilu Studios' other lot in Culver City in 1968. Arnaz left television production for a few years but returned in 1966 when he formed his own company, Desi Arnaz Productions, based at Desilu. Desi Arnaz Productions, along with United Artists Television , co-produced The Mothers-in-Law for
6320-414: Was skilled at proposing new programs that were popular to broad audiences and successful in both their original broadcasts and syndication reruns. Before starring in I Love Lucy, she starred in many B movies , and had a good idea of what television audiences wanted. She approved original production concepts (such as The Untouchables and Star Trek ) for development into broadcast series, assessing how
6400-522: Was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA 's Revue Studios , until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until Ball sold it to Gulf and Western Industries (then the parent company of Paramount Pictures ) in 1968. Ball and Arnaz jointly owned the majority stake in Desilu from its inception until 1962, when Ball bought out Arnaz and ran
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