Legacy
Desi Arnaz has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures and one at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard for television. Unlike his co-stars, Arnaz was never nominated for an Emmy for his performance in I Love Lucy; however, as executive producer of the series, he was nominated four times in the Best Situation Comedy category, winning twice. In 1956, he won a Golden Globe for Best Television Achievement for helping to shape American Comedy through his contributions in front of and behind the camera with I Love Lucy.
He was inducted into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame.
The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center museum is in Jamestown, New York,
and the Desi Arnaz Bandshell in the Lucille Ball Memorial Park is in Celoron, New York.
Desi Arnaz appears as a character in Oscar Hijuelos's 1989 novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love and is portrayed by his son, Desi Arnaz Jr., in the 1992 film adaptation, The Mambo Kings.
Maurice Benard portrayed Desi Arnaz in the 1991 television film Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter.
In the 2003 television film Lucy, Desi Arnaz was portrayed by Danny Pino.
Arnaz was portrayed by Oscar Nuñez in I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, a comedy about how Arnaz and Ball battled to get their sitcom on the air. It had its world premiere in Los Angeles on July 12, 2018, co-starring Sarah Drew as Lucille Ball and Seamus Dever as I Love Lucy creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer.
The play, written by Jess Oppenheimer's son, Gregg Oppenheimer, was recorded in front of a live audience for nationwide public radio broadcast and online distribution. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a serialized version of the play in the UK in August 2020, as LUCY LOVES DESI: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, starring Wilmer Valderrama as Arnaz and co-starring Anne Heche as Lucille Ball.
On March 2, 2019, Google celebrated what would have been Arnaz's 102nd birthday with a Google doodle.
Javier Bardem portrayed Arnaz in the 2021 biographical film Being the Ricardos written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and produced by Amazon Studios, alongside Nicole Kidman as Ball.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Filmography
As actor
1940: Too Many Girls .... Manuelito Lynch
1941: Father Takes a Wife .... Carlos Bardez
1942: Four Jacks and a Jill .... Steve Sarto / King Stephan VIII of Aregal
1942: The Navy Comes Through .... Pat Tarriba
1943: Bataan .... Felix Ramirez
1946: Cuban Pete .... Himself
1947: Jitterumba (Short) .... Band Leader
1949: Holiday in Havana .... Carlos Estrada
1951: I Love Lucy (181 episodes, 1951–1957) .... Ricky Ricardo
1952: What's My Line .... Himself (Guest)
1953: I Love Lucy: The Movie .... Ricky Ricardo / Himself
1954: The Long, Long Trailer .... Nicholas 'Nicky' Collini
1955: What's My Line .... Himself (Guest) with Lucille Ball
1956: Lucy's Really Lost Moments .... Ricky Ricardo
1956: I Love Lucy Christmas Show (TV Series) .... Ricky Ricardo
1956: Forever, Darling .... Lorenzo Xavier Vega
1957: The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour (13 episodes, 1957–1960) .... Ricky Ricardo
1958: Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (5 episodes, 1958–1960) .... Ricky Ricardo
1959: Make Room for Daddy (1 episode, 1959) .... Ricky Ricardo
1959: Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959) .... Ricky Ricardo
1961: The Red Skelton Show (1 episode, 1961) .... Guest / Himself
1967: The Mothers-in-Law (4 episodes, 1967–1968) .... Raphael del Gado
1970: Kraft Music Hall (1 episode, 1970) .... Host
1970: The Virginian (repackaged as "The Men From Shiloh") (1 episode, 1970) .... El Jefe
1974: Ironside (1 episode "Riddle at 24000" season 7 episode 23, 1974) .... Dr. Juan Domingo
1976: Saturday Night Live (February 21, as host and musical guest)
1976: CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years (TV Special) .... Himself
1978: Alice (1 episode, 1978) .... Paco
1982: The Escape Artist .... Mayor Leon Quiñones (final film role)
As producer
1952: I Love Lucy (executive producer) (131 episodes, 1952–1956) (producer)
1955: Those Whiting Girls TV series (executive producer) (unknown episodes)
1956: Forever, Darling (producer)
1956: I Love Lucy Christmas Show (TV) (producer)
1957: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (executive producer) (13 episodes, 1957–1960)
1958: The Fountain of Youth (TV) (executive producer)
1958: The Texan TV series (executive producer) (unknown episodes)
1958: The Ann Sothern Show (executive producer) (93 episodes, 1958–1961)
1960: New Comedy Showcase TV series (executive producer)
1961: The Untouchables (executive producer) (3 episodes, 1961–1962)
1962: The Lucy Show (executive producer) (15 episodes, 1962–1963)
1967: The Mothers-In-Law (executive producer) (56 episodes, 1967–1969)
1968: Land's End TV pilot (producer)
As writer
1959: Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1 episode, 1959) – Ballad for a Bad Man (1959) TV episode (writer)
1968: Land's End TV pilot (creator)
As director
1959: Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959)
1959: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (3 episodes, 1959–1960)
1966: The Carol Channing Show (TV)
1967: The Mothers-In-Law (24 episodes, 1967–1968)