El dos de marzo/March 2nd
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Desi Arnaz! (Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) (1917-1986)
Arnaz was a Cuban-American actor, musician, and television producer who co-starred with Lucille Ball, to whom he was married from 1940 to 1960, on I Love Lucy, one of the most influential television shows of all time (see Arnaz speak Spanish in these clips of the show, HERE). He and Ball also founded Desilu Productions in 1950 and produced shows such as I Love Lucy, Star Trek, and The Untouchables. The first Latino to appear on American television, Arnaz was cast at the insistence of Ball, despite the reservations of CBS executives. And the couple was also able to convince the network to air shots of Lucy pregnant with their son, Desi Jr., though showing a pregnant woman on air was considered "scandalous" at the time (Read more HERE. This story reminds me of my sister's mother-in-law, who tells of how when she was teaching in New Jersey in the 70s she had to resign before she started showing when she was pregnant with her daughter, for the same reason).
Arnaz was born in Santiago, Cuba in 1917. His father was the mayor of the town (for nine years), and his maternal grandfather, Alberto de Acha, was an executive at Bacardi. As recounted in Arnaz's 1976 autobiography, the family had three ranches, a large home, and a "mansion" on an island where they could vacation. All that changed after the Batista Revolution in 1933, when Arnaz's father was briefly jailed and their property confiscated. The family fled to Miami, where Arnaz attended St. Patrick High School. He got into acting and in 1939 was in a Broadway Musical. From there he went to Hollywood, where he met Lucille during a show's production. They eloped soon after. The two had two children together, Lucie and Desi, and they remained lifelong friends even after their divorce (due to Arnaz's drinking and infidelity). Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963 and remained married to her until her death in 1985, from cancer. One year later, Arnaz died of lung cancer in Del Mar, California, with daughter Lucie by his side (and Desi Jr. apparently en route). Always patriotic, Arnaz often said that America was the only country in the world where a "16 year old kid, penniless, not speaking the language" could achieve the success he did.
See the video tribute Entertainment Weekly aired the day of Arnaz's death, in 1986, HERE.
Read more about Arnaz's life in this New York Times' obituary, HERE.
For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Other March 2nd events of note:
1917 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, which made Puerto Ricans citizens of the U.S. More than 20,000 Puerto Ricans would fight in World War I.
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| Photo from pbs.org. Click HERE. |
Arnaz was born in Santiago, Cuba in 1917. His father was the mayor of the town (for nine years), and his maternal grandfather, Alberto de Acha, was an executive at Bacardi. As recounted in Arnaz's 1976 autobiography, the family had three ranches, a large home, and a "mansion" on an island where they could vacation. All that changed after the Batista Revolution in 1933, when Arnaz's father was briefly jailed and their property confiscated. The family fled to Miami, where Arnaz attended St. Patrick High School. He got into acting and in 1939 was in a Broadway Musical. From there he went to Hollywood, where he met Lucille during a show's production. They eloped soon after. The two had two children together, Lucie and Desi, and they remained lifelong friends even after their divorce (due to Arnaz's drinking and infidelity). Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963 and remained married to her until her death in 1985, from cancer. One year later, Arnaz died of lung cancer in Del Mar, California, with daughter Lucie by his side (and Desi Jr. apparently en route). Always patriotic, Arnaz often said that America was the only country in the world where a "16 year old kid, penniless, not speaking the language" could achieve the success he did.
See the video tribute Entertainment Weekly aired the day of Arnaz's death, in 1986, HERE.
Read more about Arnaz's life in this New York Times' obituary, HERE.
For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Other March 2nd events of note:
1917 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, which made Puerto Ricans citizens of the U.S. More than 20,000 Puerto Ricans would fight in World War I.
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