Introducing: Starring: Desi Arnaz & Wilmer Valderrama

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
What do you get when you mixed nineteen fifties Hollywood,
a Cuban musician with a dream and one of the
most iconics had comes of all time. You get Dessi Arness,
a trailblazer, a businessman, a husband, and maybe most importantly,
the first Latina to break primetime wide open.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Please thank you very much, Yet, just make sure that
you moucha grass your uncle Albert all over the place.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
He likes it. I'm Wilmer Valdorama, and yes, I grew
up watching him, probably just like you and millions of others.
But for me, I saw myself in his story. Before
there was I Love Lucy, before there was Dessie lou Way,
before there were reruns of that seventies show, before anyone
believed that a Cuban immigrant could change the face of
TV forever, there was a young Dessi fleeing Cuba with nothing,

(00:51):
and one day he picked up a konga drum and
never looked back. On starring Dessi Arness and Wilmer Valdorama.
I'll take you on a journey to Dessi's life, the
moments he has overlapped with mine. How he redefined American
television and what that meant for all of us watching
from the sidelines, waiting for a face like hours on screen.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
From plenty Canary Cages to this night here in New York.
It's a long ways and I don't think there's any
other country in the world that could give you that opportunity.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
He wasn't a sidekick or just Lucy's husband. He was
a boss, the studio, the blueprint. This is a story
of how one man's spotlight lit the path for so
many others, and how we carry his legacy today. Listen
to starring Desi RNs and Wilmer Valderrama on the Iheire
radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.