Lucille Ball's Kids Find out What Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. Are up to Today!
With the upcoming Lucille Ball biopic starring Cate Blanchett and the I Love Lucy Christmas special on Dec. 22, many fans are wondering what the late actress’ kids are up to these days. While Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. tend to keep a low profile, here’s what we know about their journey from child stardom to adulthood.
Lucie, 66, and Desi Jr., 64, have actually signed on to produce the movie — titled Lucy and Desi — about their parents’ Lucille and Desi Arnaz’s 20-year marriage. They will oversee production alongside Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch.
Obviously, this isn’t Lucie and Desi Jr.’s first time working in showbiz. Both children appeared on their mother’s sitcom, Here’s Lucy, which ran from 1968 to 1974. Years later, Desi Jr. played his famous father in the 1992 movie The Mambo Kings. For her part, Lucie has won several awards for her work in film and TV, including an Emmy for her 2009 film, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, based off home videos from her childhood.
Not only did the sister-and-brother duo inherit their mom and dad’s acting genes, they were also blessed with musical talent. Desi Jr. played the drums in a band with Dean Martin‘s son called “Dino, Desi and Billy,” and the group had two hit singles in 1965. And Lucie — who has appeared in multiple Broadway shows — released a 2010 album called Latin Roots, which she has described as a tribute to her father and his Cuban heritage.
Lucy and Desi — who famously starred together on the beloved sitcom I Love Lucy — married in 1940 after a whirlwind six-month romance. The pair, who were known to fight often, eventually called it quits and divorced in 1960. Desi died at age 69 in December 1986, while Lucy passed away at 77 in April 1989.
During an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly in 2014, Lucie opened up about her iconic parents and how their distinctive personalities affected her. “Truthfully, the humor is more from my father and my grandmother DeDe. My mother was not a funny lady,” she admitted. “She was funny on television and could take a script and turn it into gold, but my mom was a very serious person and usually they worried about anything and everything. My dad had a sensational sense of humor. He taught me that it’s one of the most important things you can have in any situation.”
Desi Jr. echoed Lucie’s remarks about their mother in a 2015 interview with Canyon News. “That’s how my mom was, she would never allow anything or anybody keep her down,” he said. “Her image on screen was one thing but when in real life, she was tough as nails and a helluva business head. She kept things in place and happening.”
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