Arnaz and Lucille Ball co-founded and ran the television production company called Desilu Productions , originally to market I Love Lucy to television networks. He was also renowned for leading his Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. His father was Santiago's youngest mayor and also served in the Cuban House of Representatives. Arnaz describes the opulent family life of his early youth in his autobiography, A Book —the family owned three ranches, a palatial home, and a vacation mansion on a private island in Santiago Bay, Cuba. Following the Cuban Revolution of , led by Fulgencio Batista , which overthrew President Gerardo Machado , Alberto Arnaz was jailed and all of his property was confiscated. He was released after six months when his brother-in-law Alberto de Acha intervened on his behalf. Patrick Catholic High School.
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At a Glance . . .
There were lots of major announcements at DC FanDome Check out everything you missed in our news roundup. Read more. Title: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra After a career in his native Cuba as a singing orchestra leader, and a few film roles in the USA as both, this Melody Master short has him once again as a singing orchestra leader.
Young Latin Bandleader
Xavier Cugat, then the king of Latin music in the United States, caught Arnaz's act one night and hired him, but Arnaz had to accept a salary cut down to 25 dollars, on the understanding that, if he did well, they would renegotiate. Arnaz turned out to be very popular and soon was bumped to thirty-five dollars. Before long Arnaz decided he could do better on his own and told Cugat he intended to form his own band. Arnaz agreed to pay Cugat a royalty of 25 dollars per week to use his name.
He became very attracted the the musical rhythms of his nationality and decided to work in the nightclub business. When he began a partial partnership with fellow bandleader Xavier Cugat, Cugat promised Desi that he would send him a few band members. Instead of experienced Spanish musicians, Desi received band members, which were each of a different background. Not one of them knew any Latin songs, so Desi had to teach them. Meanwhile, Lucille Ball was in California, playing roles in 'B' pictures in order to make a living. On the other hand, Desi practically made a living by entertaining his audience with such popular numbers as ' Babalu.
