Here’s Why You Never Heard About the First Time Lucille Ball Divorced Desi Arnaz
Not long after the end of Desi Arnaz, telling the world in 1960 that the marriage was “a nightmare” and nothing at all like the loving Ricardos on television. But that was the second time Ball divorced Arnaz. The first time occurred well before they made sitcom history.
Ball and Arnaz met in 1940 while filming the comedy, Too Many Girls. The comedienne and Cuban-born bandleader enjoyed a whirlwind romance before eloping in November of that year, but there was trouble from the start. Fierce fighting began right away, according to the biography Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television. Even though Ball once took a hammer and smashed every window in their new station wagon, “in those early years, our fights were a kind of lovemaking,” she ed. “Desi and I enjoyed them, but they exhausted our family and friends, I’m afraid.”
There were other problems, including ever-present in-laws, Arnaz’s professional jealousy (“There’s no way I’m going to stay here and become Mr. Ball”), and a significant age difference (Desi was nearly six years younger than his wife). But the biggest issue throughout the marriage was Arnaz’s infidelities. Bing Crosby once accused him of trying to “personify the Good Neighbor policy by seducing every eligible woman” on a goodwill tour.
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By the summer of 1944, Arnaz stopped coming home after shows, while gossip magazines reported his dalliances with starlets. Lucy had had enough. In September, she let Desi know she was filing for divorce. When he asked her why years later, she replied, “You were screwing everybody at Birmingham Hospital.”
Arnaz denied it, but in his memoir, he owned up to lies about cheating on Lucy. “If she had caught me in bed with a girl, unless it was right in the middle of the act, I would have jumped out and demanded to know how the girl got in there.”
The day before Lucy was to appear in divorce court, Desi called and asked her if she was doing anything for dinner. She accepted his invitation, and the couple spent the meal talking about how they’d do better in their next marriages. One thing led to another, and the two ended up in the sack.
All’s well? Nope — Lucy bolted out of bed the next morning, announcing she was late for her court date. “I told you, I’m divorcing you this morning,” she said. “All the newspaper people are down there. I got a new suit and new hat.”
As promised, she went to court and got the divorce decree before returning and jumping back in bed with Desi. That act invalidated the divorce — according to California law, there was a one-year period banning cohabitation after a provisional decree.
Lucy and Desi spent the afternoon in bed, reading about their split in the late editions of the newspapers. The “divorce” did accomplish one thing. After the court date, Desi started coming home on weekends again.
