An immigrant, a movie extra, a newspaper employee, a gambler, a husband, a father, the man behind the character name for one of the greatest and most influential American sitcoms— I Love Lucy— Ricky has led a full life, and he’s ready to share it.
Born May 20, 1916, Leonard “Ricky” Ricardo will be celebrating his 100th birthday with a private event at the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) with a documentary revealing some of the twists and tales that have freckled his life growing up mostly in Los Angeles.
Born in Puerto Rico, Ricky and his birth family moved to Indiana when he was 5 years old. After his mother passed away, he was put up for adoption and raised by a foster family before moving to Los Angeles at the ripe age of 16.
“All I knew was that I wanted to make my mark,” Ricky said. “So here I am, just turning 17, 3,000 miles away from home. I had no plan, no relatives, I had no help. I was just there.”
Ricky then delved into a life of odd jobs, self-employment and good times with friends like Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Ricky met Arnaz in an after-hours establishment, where Arnaz was part of a no-name three-piece orchestra.
“Then we used to run together,” Ricky said, casually.
Ricky became a “pool shark,” playing billiards for cash. They would frequent coffee shops, putting on their best and looking for those in show business. And then came Lucy. Arnaz and Ball met while filming a movie together, and the rest was a passionate and rocky history.
“He couldn’t control her!,” Ricky said. “She didn’t care. She just knew she wanted him.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-19-at-3.15.11-PM.png” credit=”Courtesy Ricky Ricardo ” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Leonard “Ricky” Ricardo ” captionposition=”left”] A tightknit friendship formed between the three, and Ricky was then wed to Ball’s best friend’s sister, Billie Jo, for 17 years. Not to be bested by Ricky, Arnaz then married Ball.
Ricky remained friends with Arnaz and Ball for several years. They were still good friends when I Love Lucy began, and the show’s character “Ricky Ricardo” was named after him as a little joke.
“So they put the show out for the country to see, and then they’ve got a hit on their hands,” Ricky said. “Well, they can’t change it now!”
As the show became more famous, Ball was concerned that Ricky could sue them for using his likeness, so they paid him $10,000 to use his name in the show.
“I’ve been the real Ricky Ricardo my whole life!” Ricky said jokingly. “I would have done it for a lot less, had she asked.”
Soon Arnaz and Ball “outgrew” Ricky, and his life progressed. He had a child with Billie Jo named Ricky, Jr., who passed away during his service in the Korean War. Ricky, Sr. held jobs, including international bookkeeping and service to the mafia. Ricky stayed in Los Angeles all of his adult life, picking up work where he saw fit.
“I never got tired of [Los Angeles],” Ricky said. “If I didn’t like what I was doing, or I got bored, I would pick up and move to another area.”
Now settled into retirement in Long Beach, Ricky is still looking to the future.
“Now that I’ve entered this point, what do I do? I’ve done it all,” Ricky said. “I know every day is a new day, and I wake up wondering what’s in store.”
So, Ricky enters another chapter in his life: triple digits. Denise Wilson, a long-time friend and a co-producer of the documentary to be aired at MoLAA Friday, has been working with Ricky for three years, documenting his life stories and thus creating his legacy.
“Rick is just an ordinary person who stumbled on extraordinary situations,” Wilson said. “I mean, at the age of 100, he’s a living piece of history.”
Aside from the documentary airing at Ricky’s birthday celebration, Wilson and her other co-producers, Danny Donare and Gregory Linde, are currently fundraising and researching for a full-length tell-all documentary on Ricky.
“Everything I did, I loved,” Ricky said fondly, thinking back on decades of life experiences.
For more information on the documentary fundraiser visit generosity.com/education-fundraising/the-real-ricky-ricardo-legacy-project–2 .
