00:00Desi Arnaz died today of lung cancer. He was 69 years old.
00:04In the 1950s, Cuban exiled Desi Arnaz was one of the most famous faces on television.
00:10Hi, Lucy. I got something for you.
00:15Acting alongside his real wife, Lucille Ball,
00:18Desi won the hearts of Americans as her on-screen husband, Ricky Ricardo.
00:22All right, break it up.
00:24The success of I Love Lucy has never been equal.
00:28They changed the face of television.
00:33Their company, Desilu Productions, would make Desi one of the most powerful men in TV.
00:39There was Desilu fingerprints on everything in Hollywood.
00:43That became a monster.
00:45But with fame and fortune came escalating troubles.
00:49He began to play harder and his addictions flared up.
00:52He was always a man of excess.
00:55His uncontrollable vices would ultimately be his downfall.
00:59When he drank, he was a different man.
01:03If he was going to drink, he was going to drink.
01:05Desi did it all the way.
01:07Desi didn't have a natural governor that many people do.
01:10Discipline.
01:11Desi Arnaz's death certificate clearly states his cause of death as lung cancer.
01:17If detected early, the current five-year survival rate of people with lung cancer is 56%.
01:23But Desi died just nine months after his diagnosis.
01:27It makes me question whether his was a late diagnosis or if there was already something
01:33in Desi's body that sped up his demise.
01:35By investigating his life, I hope to uncover the truth behind the death of one of TV's most
01:43loved characters.
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