# Did Lucille Ball speak Spanish in real life?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucille-ball-speak-spanish-in-real-life/574629>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 14, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucille-ball-speak-spanish-in-real-life/574629 "2011-03-14T05:30:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucille-ball-speak-spanish-in-real-life/574629/1 "2011-03-14T05:30:28Z")

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I’m not sure wether this belongs in Cafe Society or not (Mods if it does please move it). I’ve been watching Hallmark’s marathon of **I Love Lucy** over the weekend. One of the shows longest running recurring gags is that Lucy Ricardo (despite being married to a Cuban for over a decade) cannot speak or understand a word of Spanish. Desi Arnaz was actually Cuban and naturally his native language was Spanish. His marriage to Ball lasted more or less as long as the Ricardos’ fictional marriage. Did Lucille Ball ever actually learn to speak Spanish herself?

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lucille-ball-speak-spanish-in-real-life/574629/2 "2011-03-14T12:59:39Z")

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> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Did Lucille Ball ever actually learn to speak Spanish herself?

Not more than a few phrases, according to her daughter Lucie Arnaz.