Editing Desi Arnaz (section)

=== Marriages ===
[[File:Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz 1955.jpg|thumb|left<span class="plainlinks"></span>|250px|Ball and Arnaz in 1955]]
Arnaz and Lucille Ball were married on November 30, 1940. Their marriage was always turbulent. Convinced that Arnaz was being unfaithful to her, along with him coming home drunk several times, Ball filed for divorce in September 1944.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz |collaboration=Sanders, Coyne; Gilbert, Tom |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc |year=1993 |isbn=0-688-11217-X |location=New York |pages=19 |language=English}}</ref> The interlocutory decree became final in October 1944, but because they had spent the night together the day before, California state law at the time had declared it null and void.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz |collaboration=Sanders, Coyne; Gilbert, Tom |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc |year=1993 |isbn=0-688-11217-X |location=New York |pages=20 |language=English}}</ref> Arnaz and Ball subsequently had two children, [[Lucie Arnaz]] (born 1951) and [[Desi Arnaz Jr.]] (born 1953).

Hollywood procurer of prostitutes [[Scotty Bowers]] claimed in his memoir ''[[Full Service (book)|Full Service]]'' that he had procured as many as two to three prostitutes per week for Arnaz, each of whom was paid 200 dollars, as opposed to the usual 20. [[Lucille Ball]] confronted Bowers about this and publicly slapped him in the face, yelling "You! Stop pimping for my husband!"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Scotty |author-link=Scotty Bowers |title=[[Full Service (book)|Full Service]] |date=2012 |publisher=Grove Press |location=UK |page=191}}</ref>

Arnaz's marriage with Ball began to collapse under the strain of his growing problems with alcohol, gambling, and infidelity. According to his memoir, the combined pressures of managing the production company, as well as supervising its day-to-day operations, had greatly worsened as the company grew much larger, and he felt compelled to seek outlets to alleviate the stress.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arnaz |first=Desi |title=A Book |date=January 1, 1976 |publisher=Buccaneer Books |isbn=9781568492544 |publication-date=January 1, 1976 |language=English}}</ref> Arnaz also suffered from [[diverticulitis]]. Ball divorced him on March 2, 1960, which was coincidentally his birthday. When Ball returned to weekly television, she and Arnaz worked out an agreement regarding Desilu, wherein she bought him out.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoABABSnX7oC&q=%22he+sold+his+share+of+desilu%22&pg=PA16|title=Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia|page=16|author=Karol, Michael|publisher=iUniverse|year=2008|isbn=9780595752133|access-date=December 23, 2016}}</ref>

Edith Mack Hirsch (née McSkimming) was Arnaz's second wife.<ref name="Harris Book"/> After the two married on March 2, 1963 (Arnaz's 46th birthday), he greatly reduced his show business activities.<ref name="Harris Book">{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Warren |title=Lucy & Desi : the legendary love story of television's most famous couple |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=NY |isbn=0671747096 |pages=273–274 |url=https://archive.org/details/lucydesilegendar0000harr_n1d6/page/274/mode/1up?q=edith}}</ref> The two were married for 22 years until Edith died from cancer on March 23, 1985.<ref>{{cite news |title=Correction: An obituary of Desi Arnaz yesterday listed a survivor incorrectly. His wife, the former Edith Mack Hirsch, died in 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/04/nyregion/c-correction-676786.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406030649/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/03/obituaries/desi-arnaz-tv-pioneer-is-dead-at-69.html |archive-date=April 6, 2009 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 4, 1986}}</ref>

Although Arnaz and Ball both married other spouses after their divorce in 1960, they remained friends and grew closer in his final decade. For Lucy's appearance at the [[Kennedy Center Honors]] in 1986, Arnaz had written a statement.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz |collaboration=Sanders, Coyne; Gilbert, Tom |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc |year=1993 |isbn=0-688-11217-X |location=New York |pages=357 |language=English}}</ref> Read by [[Robert Stack]] as a posthumous statement, Arnaz wrote, "P.S. I Love Lucy was never just a title."<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 26, 2008 |title=The Kennedy Center Honors Lucille Ball (Pt 3 of 3) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZUUTbzDVI |access-date=February 7, 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref>