Lucie Desireé Arnaz was born on July 17, 1951 in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in the public eye with parents Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and brother Desi Arnaz, IV, Lucie has cemented her own footprints in history as an actress, singer, dancer, business executive, producer, director, and Broadway star - and a darn good one at that!
Lucie began her long career at age 12 when she played Chris
Carmichael's friend, Cynthia, on her mother's hit TV program, "The Lucy Show"
(episodes 23 and 27). In 1968, at age seventeen, she became a series
regular on Here's Lucy, co-starring with her reel-life and real-life brother
Desi Arnaz, Jr. (photo at left) and the irrepressible Gale Gordon. Here's
Lucy ran for six seasons, and at its conclusion in 1974, Lucie started production
on her first TV movie "Who is the Black Dahlia?", which was broadcast on
ABC in 1975. For further details about Lucie's movies, please visit
Lucie Goes to the Movies. Since then,
Lucie has made a handful of feature films, including the 1980 feature film
"The Jazz Singer" with Neil
Diamond and Sir Laurence Olivier, and her most recent feature film, "Down
To You", with Henry Winkler and Freddie Prinze, Jr. ,which premiered on January 21st, 2000. But despite all her movie
credits, Lucie's real passion lies in live theatre.
Lucie's amazing talent shines through when it comes to
Broadway and the theatre. Her most successful and well-renowned play was
the Neil Simon/Marvin Hamlisch hit musical
"They're
Playing Our Song", where Lucie played the lovable goof, Sonia Wolsk, receiving
outstanding reviews. Lucie has had so many other stage, theatre and Broadway
hits throughout the years, some of which include - "Vanities" (Kathy); "Seesaw"
(Gittle Mosca); "Annie Get Your Gun" (Annie Oakley); "Educating Rita" (with
husband, Laurence Luckinbill); "Who's Life is it Anyway?"; "I Do! I DO!";
"The Guardsman"; the internationally acclaimed Gershwin musical "My One and
Only"; "Social Security"; the Tony Award winning "Lost in Yonkers" (Bella);
"Grace and Glorie" (Glorie); "Wonderful Town" (Ruth, she "revamped" in
LA, October, 1999); "Master Class"
(Maria Callas); the esteemed "The Witches of
Eastwick," playing the role of Alex (as played by Cher in the movie
version), in London's prestigious West End; and her most recent successes,
"Once Removed," "A Picasso" and "Ann &
Debbie," all three of which Lucie starred in at the Coconut
Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. Lucie has just summed up a very
memorable run in "Sonia Flew," also at the Coconut Grove Playhouse,
which nearly didn't go ahead after financial troubles threatened not only the
run of the play, but the future of the historic playhouse. With
exceptional backing from Lucie, the play was able to go ahead and the future of
the playhouse, while still in jeopardy, is looking a little more
promising. Read
more about Lucie's help for the Coconut Grove Playhouse in this article from
BroadwayWorld.com. Lucie is currently starring in the acclaimed
Broadway hit musical, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in the Imperial
Theatre - especially poignant for Lucie as this is the theatre in which she made
her Broadway debut in 1979, starring in "They're Playing Our Song!"
Lucie has made many television appearances -- too many
to list here -- and in 1985 she starred in her own TV series, "The Lucie
Arnaz Show." Another television success was the critically acclaimed
series "Sons and Daughters" on CBS (in USA).
For more information on Lucie's television career, visit Lucie's Filmography.
Lucie's first album "Just In Time" was released in 1993 by Concord Jazz, Inc. One of Lucie's own tunes can be heard on this CD, "View From Here", written by Lucie with Madeline Stone in the late 70s. You can find out more about the tracks on Lucie's first album by clicking here. Lucie can also be heard on several other music CDs, including the soundtrack to her hit Broadway musical, Simon and Hamlisch's "They're Playing Our Song".
In 1980, Lucie married fellow actor, theatre and Broadway star Laurence Luckinbill. In 1990, Lucie and Larry formed the film and television production company ArLuck Entertainment (ARnaz + LUCKinbill). They went on to produce the superb documentary "Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie" in 1993, for which Lucie won her first Emmy Award as producer. Lucie and brother Desi Jr. also head the company Desilu, too, which they formed in 1990 to manage the estates of their parents. In 1997, Lucie and Larry formed Education Through Entertainment, producing two CD ROMS, "Lucy & Desi: The Scrapbooks" and "How To Save Your Family History: A 10 Step Guide by Lucie Arnaz". These two excellent CD ROMs are now retired from the public distribution, but they can still be found on sites such as ebay, amazon, etc.
Lucie proudly admits that a far greater success than any
of her, or husband Larry's, professional work are their three children, Simon,
Joe and Kate Luckinbill, and Larry's two sons Nicholas and Ben. Aside
from all her credits on the stage, screen and television, Lucie takes most
pride in her role as mother.
Lucie's "biography" was compiled and written by Laura Johansen, 1999 - 2006. For use strictly for LucieArnaz.com ONLY. Any comments, suggestions or corrections, please contact me. All material presented on this website is strictly copyright and cannot be reproduced in any format without express written permission. Thanks!-- Laura