Top 44 Quotes & Sayings by Desi Arnaz

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Desi Arnaz.

Last updated on December 21, 2024.

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, in which he co-starred with his then-wife Lucille Ball. Arnaz and Ball are credited as the innovators of the syndicated rerun, which they pioneered with the I Love Lucy series.

American - Actor | March 2, 1917 - December 2, 1986

Source: Wikipedia

An audience is so important. I would never have had the guts to dub in that big a laugh.

Desi Arnaz

When we got married, nobody gave it more than two weeks. There were bets all over the country, with astronomical odds against us.

Desi Arnaz

Good things do not come easy. The road is lined with pitfalls.

Desi Arnaz

One of my biggest problems with comedy was that I did not understand some of the jokes.

Desi Arnaz

A single prop that does not look real to an audience can louse you up. The same is true of the smallest flaw in setting up the motivation in a story line.

Desi Arnaz

Motion-picture studio floors used to be all wooden and not smooth at all. This was difficult when moving a camera around on a dolly.

Desi Arnaz

Joe McCarthy and his Senate hearings were like witch-hunts.

Desi Arnaz

I learned a lot from Xavier Cugat.

Desi Arnaz

I don't think anyone can tell you what it is that makes you a star.

Desi Arnaz

Nobody bats 500. We all make mistakes.

Desi Arnaz

Lucy is such a perfectionist.

Desi Arnaz

Al Jolson was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived.

Desi Arnaz

Drinking intensifies all your pressures and your needs.

Desi Arnaz

Failure is the most terrible thing in our business. When we fail, the whole world knows about it.

Desi Arnaz

I had started calling her Lucy shortly after we met; I didn't like the name Lucille. That's how our television show was called I Love Lucy, not Lucille.

Desi Arnaz

An actor who is good at comedy can also be very good at drama, but not necessarily vice versa.

Desi Arnaz

Everyone seemed to be doing well except me and my career. And my accent was no helping me any.

Desi Arnaz

The success of I Love Lucy is something that happens only once in a lifetime, if you are fortunate enough to have it happen at all.

Desi Arnaz

The thing I remember about New York was how little I felt. I arrived with one small bag and $15.

Desi Arnaz

Lucy and I would love furiously and fight furiously.

Desi Arnaz

The way the Army does things is sometimes a little strange.

Desi Arnaz

Since I was very young I have always worked hard at whatever I have had to do.

Desi Arnaz

I learned a lot in those first years in Miami, while struggling just for survival, by observing my father's fortitude.

Desi Arnaz

American people have the ability to laugh at themselves. It is one of the things that makes this country the great country that it is.

Desi Arnaz

I went to high school with Al Capone.

Desi Arnaz

My Latin temper blows up pretty fast, but it goes down just as fast. Maybe that's why you seldom hear of ulcers in Latin America.

Desi Arnaz

At times we were criticized for doing too much slapstick. I don't believe in mild comedy, and neither does Lucy.

Desi Arnaz

It's really amazing that two people from such different backgrounds and geographical origins ever got together. That was perhaps part of the attraction.

Desi Arnaz

It was easy for viewers to identify with our show. The characters were believable.

Desi Arnaz

I could have stayed home and been kept by my wife.

Desi Arnaz

Making a television show is not like making Coca-Cola or Bacardi rum. The human element in our business prevents us from finding a successful formula every time.

Desi Arnaz

The Spanish and Cuban people have the same kind of wakes the Irish do. They go on for two or three days and drink a lot of booze and eat a lot of food.

Desi Arnaz

Mother came to New York to keep house for me.

Desi Arnaz

The custom of my grandfather's day is still going strong in Latin America. American girls do not seem to understand it.

Desi Arnaz

Real intellectuals like to escape once in a while from their world of intellect.

Desi Arnaz

I received my Greetings from Uncle Sam in May 1943. I applied for the Air Force.

Desi Arnaz

In 1934 there were very few Cubans in Miami.

Desi Arnaz

I was an only child, but I did have a hell of a lot of cousins.