Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball eloped and lied about their ages on the marriage certificate. The 29-year old lessened their six year age gap by claiming she was 26. Arnaz also listed himself as 25 although he was 23.
editorial comment: That is so awesome. They had such chemistry too, no?
I thought they were kinda awkward and stilted together, especially in their later colorized works when they had Desi playing as someone other than Rickie Ricardo. She was clearly the stronger energy, yet their plots kept having him be in the position of power.
Lucille had actual talent, she was a very talented television pantomimer. She knew how to be overly expressive in a comical way that lent to a lot of her more iconic scenes on I Love Lucy's successes, and unlike many a failed female comedian she knew how to be a ham by having the jokes be truly at her expense. Even her voice for her character was a bit, stressed to make her into a more exaggerated character, and it worked.
Desi meanwhile... could sing I guess? I never got the appeal. Even William Frawley (Fred Murtz) was a considerably better actor, unlike the Lucy/Ethel chemistry where she actually had to both look and be worse than her for the "ugly friend" effect.
Is six years really that big of a deal these days?
It definitely was back then, though. Also explains how she came off stronger than he did if she was six years more seasoned than he was.
