File photo: American actress Lucille Ball (1911 - 1989) with her Cuban husband and co-star of the popular TV show "I Love Lucy," Desi Arnaz (1917 - 1986). The celebrity couple set up the Desilu Studios together. (Getty)
Desi Arnaz would have turned 95 years old this week, LatinoVoices reports.
Most recognized as the conga-playing Cuban bandleader on the television classic, "I Love Lucy," Arnaz played the ultimate straight man to his wife and co-star, comedienne Lucille Ball during the show's six-year run.
And in a time when Latinos and people of color in general were largely absent from television, Arnaz was an unlikely television pioneer.
Born on March 2, 1917 in Santiago de Cuba, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III, was born into a life of privilege. His father was the city's mayor and his mother, the daughter of a Bicardi Rum company founder.
But in 1933 the U.S.-backed Batista revolution overthrew the Cuban government and forced his family to flee the country and seek political asylum in Miami, Fla.
Read more at: LatinoVoices
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