Ricky Ricardo

**Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha III** is a character on *I Love Lucy*, *The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour*, and other media. He was played by Desi Arnaz.

## About Ricky

Ricky was born between 1917 and 1921 in West Havana, Cuba. Ricky is a Gemini, so he was born in late May or early-to-mid June.

He was raised on a Cuban cigar farm. His mother was a great singer and dancer. She chose to stay behind in Cuba when Ricky came to the United States. She met Lucy for the first time almost fourteen years after their marriage. Ricky grew up with five brothers- Pedro, Pablo, Chu-Chu, Josinte, and Jose. He is very close to his namesake Uncle Alberto, who "practically raised him." He told Ricky to marry a Cuban girl, and was not happy when Ricky married an American.

Ricky often mentions his father's Spanish words of wisdom, such as "Ill-gotten gold is no one's gain" and "Never do business with friends." Ricky said he enjoyed visiting his dad at his office when he was a kid. Ricky once mentioned that his father took him to Havana, where he gambled against his father's wishes.

Ricky's Uncle Eduardo is a judge and very important in Cuba. Other members of his large family includee Uncle Pedro, Aunt Rosa, Uncle Rafael, Aunt Silvia, Aunt Maria Pepa, Uncle Jorge, Uncle Guillermito Menendez, Nandine, Manuel, Amberta, Amparo, Pepe, Enrique, Josefina, and a set of unnamed twins.

Ricky first entered the entertainment industry at age twelve. "Babalu" is his signature song. He is a master conga drummer and also plays guitar. His good friends Carlos and Maria Ortega gave him his start in show business, and he joined a dancing group with them. Ricky attended Havana University, and he studied English there for many years. His last gig in Cuba was working at a nightclub in Havana circa 1937-1938 alongside the singing act named the Five Romero Sisters.

In 1938, Ricky immigrated to the United States, flying from Havana to Miami Beach with forty musicians. Ricky never returned to Cuba from the time he first left until 1956, when he took his family there. Ricky's first gig in New York City was starring in the Broadway show, *Too Many Girls*. He also played at the Copacabana early in his American career. Ricky went through naturalization sometime before 1955 to become an American citizen; he proudly stores his naturalization papers in his safe deposit box at home. He also briefly mentions having been in the US Army at some point, and that he received a Good Conduct medal.

Shortly after he came to this country, in 1940, Ricky agreed to go on a blind date with a lovely redhead, set up by her friend Marion Strong. This redhead was Lucy McGillicuddy. They fell madly in love. They danced, and Lucy made many blunders the first time she met Ricky. She says that she "said awful things, spilled stuff all over [Ricky], and acted like a first-class nincompoop."

In 1940, only a couple of months after they met, Lucy and Ricky got married at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ricky mentions multiple times how Lucy "tricked" him into marriage by telling him that common wedding traditions like saying "I do" were really common American customs.

On 6 August 1948, the couple moved into a small brownstone apartment in Manhattan, located at 623 East 68th Street, although they would later claim many times that they lived at this apartment from the start of their marriage. They lived in apartment 4A until 1953, when they moved to apartment 3B (later named 3D) so there would be an extra room for their son, Little Ricky. Lucy and Ricky quickly developed a very close friendship with their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. Ricky and Fred quickly became best friends. Ricky took a job as an orchestra leader at the Tropicana, a local nightclub. He became manager of the Tropicana in mid-1952, when then-owner Alvin Littlefield offered him the position.

In 1954, he was asked to audition for the lead role in a MGM film about Don Juan. Ricky gave a great screen test and won the role. While in Hollywood making Don Juan, the movie was shelved, but Ricky was put into another movie. After his movie opened at Radio City Music Hall in February 1956, Ricky had a minor celebrity status. He later says that actor Claude Akins was in "a picture" he did in California. In 1955, one month after returning home from Hollywood, Ricky landed a great gig playing all over Europe. Bilingual Ricky didn't have to learn any language for the trip, since he used his native Spanish most everywhere. He played at the Roxy, a longtime dream, only days after coming home from the European tour. In 1956, Ricky was making around $20,000 a year salary. He bought the Tropicana and changed the name to Club Babalu. He also was in a documentary about Florida in 1956 while his band performed at the exclusive Eden Roc hotel. Ricky was in the part of the documentary about modern-day Florida.

In 1957, Lucy decided that she wanted to leave the city and move to the country. So, the Ricardos packed up their things and moved to Westport, Connecticut. Ricky still performs at the Club Babalu, commuting to New York by train every weekday. He also has some extra income coming in from selling the eggs his 200 hens lay each day for 60 cents a dozen.

## Inconsistencies

* He was said to be 35 in 1952, but he was then said to be 36 in 1957 when he bought his house in Connecticut.

## References

1. ↑ Lucy Raises Tulips]]
2. ↑ Lucy says in 1955 that this blind date happened 15 years prior.