Desi Arnaz went behind Lucille Ball's back and changed their firstborn child's name

New York Post

a day ago

Devious Desi.
A new book about the late Desi Arnaz revealed that the actor allegedly went behind wife Lucille Ball's back and changed their firstborn child's name in 1951.
In 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television,' biographer Todd S. Purdum wrote that Ball picked out the names Susan and Desi Jr. for the couple's future children many years before they bore kids, per People.
10 Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with their daughter Lucie in 1954.
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Ball, according to the book, even wrote letters to Arnaz that she signed, 'Susan and Desi Jr.'
After suffering multiple miscarriages, Ball gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, via C-section in July 1951.
10 Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball hold hands outside their home in 1953.
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10 Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with their two children in 1953.
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'Thrilled to be a mother at last, Lucy asked to see the newborn the moment her anesthesia wore off,' Purdum wrote. 'I want to see Susan!' she told the nurse, using the name she believed that she and Desi had agreed on if the baby was a girl, after Lucy's good friend, the young actress Susan Peters, who had been paralyzed from the waist down in a duck-shooting accident.'
But after Ball asked to see her daughter, the nurse allegedly replied: 'You mean Lucie?'
10 Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball at the Emmy Awards in 1955.
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10 Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball in the 1950s.
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'Without consulting her, Desi had already written Lucie Desiree on the birth certificate, naming the little girl for her mother and maternal grandmother,' Purdum claimed. 'Lucy was surprised but didn't make a fuss. The name was, after all, a compliment she could hardly resist.'
10 Lucille Ball with her two children in the 1950s.
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The 'I Love Lucy' star later gave birth to her son, Desi Jr., in Jan. 1953. Unlike his sister, Desi Jr. got the name his mom always intended for him.
10 Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball with their son Desi Jr. at his baptism in 1953.
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10 Lucille Ball kisses her son Desi Jr. in the backyard of their home in Los Angeles in the late 1950s.
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Lucie, now 73, and Desi Jr., now 72, both spoke to Purdum about their famous parents, including their decision to divorce in 1960 after 20 years of marriage.
'It wasn't good for anyone,' Desi Jr. told the author about Ball and Arnaz's relationship. 'And we'll always remember when they sat us down and said, 'Look, you know, things aren't working.' I mean, I remember word for word.'
10 Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz arrive at London Airport with their children in 1959.
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After the divorce, Ball tied the knot with stand-up comedian Gary Morton in 1961. They were introduced by Paula Stewart, Ball's co-star in the Broadway musical 'Wildcat.'
10 Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Gary Morton and Desi Arnaz Jr. in January 1961.
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Ball and Morton were still married when the actress died at age 77 in 1989.
Arnaz, for his part, got remarried to Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963. Hirsch later died of cancer in March 1985, while Arnaz passed away the following year at age 69.