Desi Arnaz
Cuban-born musician and actor, best remembered for the song ''Babalu'' and for his role as Ricky Ricardo in the television series I Love Lucy. Born to a wealthy family, Arnaz and his parents fled Cuba for Miami after a 1933 revolution. Desi worked a variety of odd jobs to help support his family, including cleaning out bird cages. In 1936, he got his first professional musician's job as a guitarist for the Siboney Septet. He later took a cut in pay to work for Xavier Cugat in New York.

Six months later, he returned to Miami to lead a combo of his own, with help from Cugat. It was there where he introduced the Conga Line to American audiences. It soon became a national phenomenon and lead to the formation of his own band and a return to New York, where he was offered a role in the successful 1939 Broadway musical Too Many Girls. Later, he sign with RKO and traveled to Hollywood to star in the film version. There he met his future wife, Lucille Ball. They were married in 1940.

Desi went on to make three more films with RKO and one, the classic war film Bataan, with MGM before being inducted into the Army during WWII. During his two years in the service, he was responsible for keeping stateside troops entertained. After being discharged, he went back into music, forming a new orchestra. It was an instant success and he went on recorded several hits during the late forties. He also served as orchestra leader on Bob Hope's radio show from 1946 to 1947.

The orchestra stopped recording in 1949, after which Desi concentrated his efforts on developing the hit television series I Love Lucy, which ran for six years on CBS and became the most successful television program in history. The orchestra remained together as part of the program and starred in the 1951 CBS radio series Your Tropical Trip.

Desi's marriage to Lucille Ball broke up in 1960 and he retired from active participation in show business. He eventually moved to Baja California with his second wife, Edith, where he lived the rest of his life, occasionally turning up on television or film. He passed away in 1986, a victim of lung cancer.