The maternal grandfather of Cuban-born singer, bandleader, actor and TV executive Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III, 1917-1986) was one of the founders of Bacardi Rum, but the family lost everything in the revolution of 1933. Desi went to the USA in 1934 and cleaned birdcages in Florida, sang rumbas in Miami clubs and is credited with helping to make the conga a national fad. His big break was touring with Xavier Cugat at the age of 19. He met songwriters Rodgers & Hart, who cast him in the 1939 Broadway musical Too Many Girls, in which he did the conga, and also played in the 1940 film version co-starring Lucille Ball (1911-1989; they married in 1940 and divorced in 1960). Minor roles in other films followed. Like Cugat, Arnaz was a populariser of Cuban dance music. He had minor hits with an inferior version of Margarita Lecuona’s "Babalú" (1946) and "Cuban Pete" (from the 1946 low-budget film of same name). Others recordings included "Green Eyes" (with Cuban pianist René Touzet), "Rumba Matumba", "La Conga en Nueva York", etc. He was also musical director of the Bob Hope radio show after World War II. Between 1951 and ‘59 he played Ball’s TV husband Ricky Ricardo in the massively successful series I Love Lucy. They formed the TV production company Desilu. He will be remembered more for introducing the TV sit-com three-camera production technique than for his music. His autobiography A Book was published in 1976. – John Child

Desi Arnaz Discography