People, TV Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television Desi Arnaz’s story does not begin and end with I Love Lucy.
By Donald Liebenson
For readers of a certain age, the name Desi Arnaz probably conjures up an immediate association: his iconic role as Ricky Ricardo, the long-flustered husband of Lucy in I Love Lucy,
But Arnaz’s story does not begin and end with Lucy. His extraordinary journey from Cuban refugee to self-made showman, movie star, TV trailblazer, and ultimately, entrepreneur and visionary could fill a book.
Luckily for us, someone has written that book: Todd Purdum, whose revelatory biography, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, gives its subject long-overdue acknowledgement and appreciation. Arnaz spent much of his public life in the shadow of his wife, who in 1996 was named by TV Guide the greatest TV star of all time. He, early on, was derisively referred to as “Mr. Ball.”
