There probably has never been a marriage more famous than that of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, and probably never has the breakup of a marriage left so many people wondering how it could happen.

Lucy met Desi in 1940, on the set of Too Many Girls. One wonders if she ever found that to be prophetic.

Lucy had been in several films by that time, having been a model and a Goldwyn Girl prior to meeting Desi. In the America of the 40s, there couldn’t have been a stranger pairing than the soon-to-be famous redhead (she was blonde when Desi met her, brunette originally) and the dark, debonair, Cuban band leader who had a wicked way with a drum. She could trace her ancestors back to the original colonies and Plymouth. He was the son of the mayor of Santiago de Cuba, and his grandfather was one of the founders of the Bacardi Rum company.

Their careers pulled them apart, and the marriage suffered. Although it isn’t often mentioned, Desi did have extramarital affairs. Lucy filed for divorce in 1947 but Desi went to her side and they managed to kiss and make up. At the same time Desi was going to be with Lucy, the bus carrying his band crashed, but Desi wasn’t on it and so escaped harm.

In 1949 they remarried in a Catholic ceremony, believing that their marriage would be stronger if they made a committment in a church and in front of God. But the strains of careers still loomed and Lucy had an idea for them to do a television show based on the radio show she played in, called My Favorite Husband. Producers did not think America would watch the show about this “mixed” marriage. Lucy and Desi took to the road with a vaudeville act and audiences loved it. CBS was convinced and I Love Lucy hit the airwaves in 1951. They formed their own production company, Desilu, which became responsible for some of television’s best loved series over the years.

The show continued through 1957 and following that, they did 13 hour-long episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. The last episode featured Ernie Kovacs and his wife Edie Adams. Edie said later that the atmosphere on the set was very heavy and depressing. It was only a few weeks after the filming that Lucy and Desi divorced.

Despite marriages to other people, there was still a feeling you got when Lucy and Desi spoke about each other. There was a kind of awe in their voices, a gentle look on their faces, a pride in their former spouse. Each when interviewed would invariably downplay his or her own role in their success and give all the credit to the other, using words like “genius” and “talent”. Lucy last spoke to Desi only a month before his death in 1986. They remained friends to the end. Lucy died in 1989 at the age of 77.

The marriage of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz was more than just one of television’s greatest marriages. Theirs was a marriage you wanted to work, a romance that you wanted to last, a love story that you wanted to stay true. In spite of many obstacles they tried to stay together, seemed to need each other. Like millions of Americans, I would say “I love Lucy and Desi”.