By 1962, after Lucille Ball’s divorce from Desi Arnaz Sr., she bought out his share of Desilu and became the first woman in history to run a major Hollywood studio. Under her leadership, Desilu expanded its production slate, eventually producing two series in 1966 that had been rejected by every other major studio: Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Both became cultural touchstones, their influence reverberating decades later.
For Lucie and Desi Jr., Desilu was more than just a studio—it was home, school, and workplace. They witnessed the intersection of creativity, business acumen, and sheer determination that had propelled their parents to unprecedented success. By the late 1960s, they had begun to carve their own roles within this institutional legacy.
The Third Generation on Screen
In 1968, when Lucie was sixteen and Desi Jr. was fifteen, they were cast as their mother’s children on Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball’s third television vehicle following I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. Over the course of the series, which ran until 1974, they performed as working professionals, earning wages and gaining first-hand experience in a medium their parents had helped to define. This period of their lives underscored a duality: they were both ordinary children navigating adolescence and inheritors of a television dynasty, learning to manage fame and responsibility simultaneously.
The siblings’ experiences on screen mirrored, in some ways, the structure of the family institution. Lucie and Desi Jr. were not merely actors—they were participants in the continuation of a media empire, one that demanded both creativity and an understanding of business, legacy, and audience.
Lucille Ball Son Desi Arnaz Jr. Surfaces in Rare Picture Posted by Sister Lucie – Showbiz411
Divergent Paths: Music, Theater, and the Arts
After Here’s Lucy ended, Lucie and Desi Jr. pursued different avenues, each aligning with their personal passions while remaining connected to the institutional legacies they inherited.
Desi Arnaz Jr. spent the mid-1960s in the teen-pop trio Dino, Desi & Billy, alongside Dean Martin’s son, Dino Martin Jr., and Billy Hinsche. He also appeared in a number of films during the 1970s and 1980s, developing his own identity outside of the immediate shadow of his parents’ fame. In 1987, he married Amy Laura Bargiel, a former principal dancer with the Nevada Dance Theatre. Together, they purchased the Historic Boulder Theatre in Boulder City, Nevada, a 1932-era cinema constructed during the Hoover Dam project. The theatre became a vibrant center for the arts, housing the Boulder City Ballet Company, co-founded by Amy. Desi Jr. remained a steadfast supporter of the arts in Boulder City even after Amy’s death from cancer in 2015, maintaining a quieter, community-focused life away from Hollywood’s spotlight.
Lucie Arnaz, in contrast, pursued a path in theater. She made her Broadway debut in 1979 in They’re Playing Our Song, earning a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. In 1980, she married actor Laurence Luckinbill and continued to perform on Broadway, regional theater, and in cabaret for decades. Her one-woman show, An Evening with Lucie Arnaz, has toured extensively, demonstrating her commitment to live performance and storytelling.
