Desi Arnaz Jr. is sharing some rare insight into his famous parents' marriage.
Desi Jr., 72, opens up to biographer Todd S. Purdum, author of the new book, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, about his father, Desi Arnaz, best known as Ricky Ricardo, and the rocky relationship between him and his late mother, Lucille Ball.
While audiences at home loved the dynamic between the I Love Lucy stars, who divorced in 1960, after 20 years of marriage, Desi Jr. told Purdum things behind the scenes were incredibly tense.
"It wasn't good for anyone," Desi Jr. shared. "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."
The late couple's daughter Lucie Arnaz was also interviewed for the book, and recalled how different her parents were, noting that their comedienne mother would take it "personally" when one of the children would disappoint her, whereas Desi "was not like that.""He would get really angry and blow his stack, and be loud, but then he'd be done and it would be like it never happened," Lucie, 73, said. "Like a storm just passed. The storm never said, 'I'm sorry,' the storm never left a note saying, 'I'm sorry, that wasn't your fault.' But it stopped, right?"
She continued, "My mother would get personally offended by childhood behavior or what you said, because you should have known not to say that somehow, even though no one's taught you what to say. And she would emotionally separate from you for however long she wanted to. And it would be sometimes days, sometimes weeks."
Elsewhere in the book, Desi Jr. details his father's struggles with alcoholism, something he too battled after being thrust into the spotlight as a teen.
After coming to his son for advice, entered an alcohol rehabilitation program at the Scripps McDonald Center in La Jolla, California in 1985—four years after Desir Jr.'s own rehab stint—where he registered under the name "Bill Sanchez" to protect his privacy.
"It was really nice," Desi Jr. said, "because whatever I was going through, it was paying off. I said, 'I can't do anything for you, but there's a place that can.' He understood that."
While Desi and Lucy were beloved by the world, as Desi Jr. explained to the Purdum, fame was a lonely place for his father, despite finding love again in life with Edith Mack Hirsch, whom he married in 1963. They remained married until his death in 1986. "That's when he realized the emptiness—at the crest of his success. He didn't stop drinking. He didn't know what the real poison was. This is a temporary life."
Lucy also remarried, tying the knot with Gary Morton in 1961, whom she was married to until her death in 1989.
Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television is available now.
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