Who Was Edith Mack Hirsch?
Edith Mack Hirsch is widely known as the second wife of Desi Arnaz, the Cuban-American bandleader, actor, and TV pioneer who played Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy. Born Edith McSkimming, she married Desi on March 2, 1963, his 46th birthday. After their wedding, Desi stepped back from show business. The couple later settled in Del Mar, California, and stayed married for 22 years until Edith died of cancer on March 23, 1985.
Quick Facts: Edith Mack Hirsch
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Birth Name | Edith McSkimming |
| Known As | Edith Mack Hirsch, Edith Arnaz |
| Known For | Second wife of Desi Arnaz |
| Husband | Desi Arnaz (1917–1986) |
| Wedding Date | March 2, 1963 |
| Home | Del Mar, California |
| Length of Marriage | 22 years |
| Stepchildren | Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. |
| Died | March 23, 1985 |
| Cause of Death | Cancer |
The Woman Who Came After Lucy
For most of America, Desi Arnaz will always be paired with one name: Lucille Ball. Together, they made I Love Lucy one of the most loved shows in TV history.
But Desi’s life did not end when that famous marriage did. For more than two decades afterward, the woman by his side was Edith Mack Hirsch.
Her name is far less known. Yet she shared the longest stretch of his later life, from his early 40s until just before his own death. To understand her place in his story, it helps to know the life Desi had lived before she arrived.
The Man Edith Married
From Cuba to Miami
Desi was born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III on March 2, 1917, in Santiago de Cuba. His father was the city’s youngest mayor and later served in Cuba’s House of Representatives.
In 1933, a revolution forced the family to lose everything. Desi escaped to Miami with his father. They arrived with no money and lived for a time in a garage.
He worked odd jobs, including cleaning canary cages, before turning to music.
The Conga King
Desi joined Xavier Cugat’s orchestra, playing the conga drum and singing. Soon he started his own band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. In New York, he became a club star and helped make the conga line popular in the United States.
In 1939, Rodgers and Hart cast him in the Broadway musical Too Many Girls. When the film version was made in Hollywood, his co-star was Lucille Ball.
Lucy and Desi
Desi and Lucy married on November 30, 1940. In 1950, they founded Desilu Productions. On October 15, 1951, I Love Lucy premiered on CBS.
The show changed television. Desi helped develop the multi-camera filming style in front of a live audience. He and Lucy also kept the rights to their filmed episodes, which helped invent the TV rerun.
They had two children, Lucie Arnaz (born 1951) and Desi Arnaz Jr. (born 1953).
A Painful Ending
Behind the laughter, the marriage struggled. Lucy divorced Desi on March 2, 1960, which happened to be his birthday. In 1962, he sold his share of Desilu to her.
That was the man Edith met: famous, proud, and starting over.
A Wedding on His Birthday
March 2, 1963
Edith and Desi married on March 2, 1963, on Desi’s 46th birthday.
There is something striking about that date. Just three years earlier, the same day had marked the end of his marriage to Lucy. Now, it marked the start of a new one.
Whether by chance or by choice, Desi’s birthday became the doorway to a different chapter of his life.
A Name Tied to Her Past
Edith was born Edith McSkimming. By the time she married Desi, she was known as Edith Mack Hirsch, and that is the name history remembers her by.
A Slower Life Together
Stepping Back From Show Business
One of the clearest facts about this marriage is how much it changed Desi’s pace. After marrying Edith, he greatly reduced his show business work.
For a man who had built a TV empire, this was a big shift. The years with Edith were quieter, slower, and more private than anything he had known since he was a teenager.
Work He Still Took On
Desi did not leave the business entirely. He formed Desi Arnaz Productions and produced the NBC sitcom The Mothers-In-Law, which ran from 1967 to 1969. He even made four guest appearances as a Spanish matador named Señor Delgado.
In the 1970s, he co-hosted a week of shows with Mike Douglas and headlined a Kraft Music Hall special that featured his two children.
Building a Home in Del Mar
Life by the Sea
Edith and Desi eventually moved to Del Mar, California, a seaside town north of San Diego. Desi would live there in semi-retirement for the rest of his life.
Horses, Boats, and Cuban Cooking
Their Del Mar years were filled with the things Desi loved most:
- Horses: He owned a horse-breeding farm in Corona, California, and raced Thoroughbreds.
- The sea: A skilled sailor since childhood, he enjoyed sailing his yacht and fishing.
- Food: He loved cooking Cuban dishes.
Today, the Desi Arnaz Stakes at the Del Mar Racetrack carries his name, a reminder of the horse-racing life he enjoyed in those years.
Teaching the Next Generation
Desi also taught classes at San Diego State University in TV studio production and acting. The man who helped invent the sitcom passed on what he knew to young students.
Life With a Famous Family
Stepmother to Lucie and Desi Jr.
Through her marriage, Edith became stepmother to Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. Both children were already growing up in the public eye as the kids of America’s most famous TV couple.
Living Alongside the Lucy Legend
Edith’s marriage existed next to one of the most famous love stories in TV history. Fans never stopped connecting Desi with Lucy.
Lucy also remarried, to comedian Gary Morton. Over time, Desi and Lucy became friends again, especially in Desi’s final decade.
In 1976, CBS aired a special called CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years. It was the first time Desi and Lucy had appeared on screen together in 16 years. Edith was Desi’s wife throughout this period.
Desi’s Book and a Return to the Spotlight
A Book (1976)
In 1976, Desi published his autobiography, simply titled A Book. It told his life story up to 1960, the year his marriage to Lucy ended.
Saturday Night Live
To promote the book, Desi hosted Saturday Night Live on February 21, 1976, with his son Desi Jr. appearing too. He sang “Babalú,” read a poem in his famous accent, and led the whole cast in a conga line.
Final Screen Role
His last acting role came in the 1982 film The Escape Artist, where he played Mayor Leon Quiñones.
That same year, Desi was guest of honor at Carnival Miami, performing with his children in front of 35,000 people.
Health Struggles Along the Way
Hard Years for Desi
Desi faced many health problems during his marriage to Edith. In the late 1960s, he was seriously hurt in an accident at his home in Baja California. In 1971, he had a severe attack of diverticulitis that required surgery and years of recovery.
Edith was his wife through these difficult years.
Edith’s Final Year
Losing Edith in 1985
On March 23, 1985, Edith died of cancer. She and Desi had been married for 22 years.
Her death marked the end of the longest marriage of Desi’s later life.
A Turning Point for Desi
After Edith’s death, Desi’s children encouraged him to seek help for his long struggle with drinking. Lucie Arnaz later shared how proud she felt attending a support meeting with her father.
In a way, even Edith’s passing became part of a final chapter of change in Desi’s life.
Desi’s Last Months
A Final Call From Lucy
Desi was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1986. Lucy visited him, and the two watched old episodes of I Love Lucy together.
On November 30, 1986, Lucy called him. It would have been their 46th wedding anniversary. They told each other “I love you.”
Saying Goodbye
Desi died two days later, on December 2, 1986, in Del Mar, at age 69. His ashes were scattered in the Sea of Cortés in Mexico.
A Correction in The New York Times
When The New York Times first reported Desi’s death, it wrongly listed his wife as a survivor. Two days later, the paper ran a correction. It noted that his wife, the former Edith Mack Hirsch, had died in 1985.
It is a small detail, but it shows how easily Edith’s place in history could slip out of view.
Desi’s Last Words for Lucy
Desi had written a statement for Lucy’s Kennedy Center Honors, held just days after his death. Actor Robert Stack read it aloud. Desi had written:
“P.S. I Love Lucy was never just a title.”
Desi Arnaz’s Lasting Legacy
Desi’s work still shapes television today:
- He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- As executive producer of I Love Lucy, he earned four Emmy nominations and won twice.
- In 1956, he won a Golden Globe for Best Television Achievement.
- He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
- In 2021, Javier Bardem played him in Being the Ricardos, earning an Oscar nomination.
Why Edith’s Story Still Matters
Edith Mack Hirsch spent 22 years beside one of the most important figures in TV history. She was there when he stepped back from fame, when he built a quieter life by the sea, and when his health began to fail.
She did not seek attention. She did not write a memoir. Yet her years with Desi made up a large part of his adult life, a part that the bright lights of I Love Lucy often hide.
Final Thoughts
Some love stories are written for the whole world to watch. Others unfold out of sight, in seaside towns and quiet kitchens, far from cameras and studio audiences.
Edith’s place in history is a reminder that a person’s life does not stop at its most famous chapter. Sometimes the second half holds the slower, steadier kind of love that never makes headlines but still carries someone through.
When we remember the great names of entertainment, it is worth asking who walked beside them after the applause faded. Edith was one of those people, and her quiet years deserve to be remembered too.
For more honest, well-researched stories about the people behind famous names, keep reading The Ripple Magazine.
