Celebrity

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Daughter Opens Up About Her Parents' "Horrible Divorce"

Everett Collection

From 1951 to 1957, every family with a television screen tuned into I Love Lucy to see what hijinks the Ricardo family would get themselves into.

The Emmy Award-winning show starred real life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, whose perfect on-screen relationship was unlike their real life.

Ball and Arnaz, who had a six year age difference, were together for 20 years before they decided to call it quits in 1960, allegedly due to to Arnaz's alcoholism and womanizing behavior.

Their split had a profound impact on the pair's two children, and even though it's been nearly 60 years since the couple's divorce, their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, 67, is sharing her insight on her parents' tumultuous marriage.

"Their divorce was horrible. And then there was the alcoholism. I had preferred those things had never been there," she said in an interview with Closer Weekly.

"We didn't have any abuse, but we did go through some pretty hard stuff and that's why my parents didn't stay together."

Lucie and her brother Desi Jr. were nine and seven respectively when their famous parents got divorced, and while Lucie "probably totally understood why," she described that time in her life as "very hard."

"Part of me probably totally understood why," she told the Television Academy in 2011. "Because we had heard the arguments and that wasn't fun either. But it was hard. It was very hard. And I didn't want my dad out of the house. He was out of the house enough."

"I didn't want him to go any further away. And then when my mother wanted to remarry, I mean, that was a knife in the heart. You're kidding, right? It's only been a year. Not even. So it was a rough period for all of us."

Even Ball admitted that her decision to split from Arnaz was a painful experience, and once said, "When I got divorced and disappointed millions of people by doing so," according to Closer.

The Here's Lucy actress would quickly find love again with Gary Morton, who was 13 years her junior and wed in 1961. They would stay together until Ball passed away in 1989 at the age of 77.

"He made her laugh and didn't embarrass her in any way," Lucie said. "He didn't drink too much. He didn't smile and giggle with the ladies. I don't know if they had a passionate marriage. I hope so."

Gary Morton and Lucille BallBernie Abramson/mptvimages.com

"He [Gary] was actually a tremendous supporter of my dad. He always spoke very highly of my dad. He gave him credit when he was talking to the audience doing the warm-ups."

"He would always say wonderful things about Desi... He didn't have any of those hang-ups of the husband coming in might have about the ex-husband. My father, can't say he felt the same way about Gary. He would always make jokes about Gary... But they really were friends."

Arnaz would eventually tied the knot with Edith Hirsch in 1963, and stay together until she died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 67.

Although Arnaz would only pass away a year later, he and Ball stayed close "till the bitter end."

"After she died, [Gary] said to me, 'I guess she's happy now; she's with Desi,'" Paula Stewart, a friend of Morton revealed to Closer.

Do you remember watching Arnez and Ball on TV? Let us know in the comments!

[H/T: Closer Weekly, Daily Mail]

Related Articles