Everyone knows Lucy. You can’t think of Desi Arnaz without picturing Lucille Ball, the fiery redhead who helped him build an empire. They were the First Family of Television. But their divorce in 1960 wasn't the end of the story for Desi. Not even close. While Lucy went on to marry Gary Morton, Desi found a different kind of peace with his second wife, Edith Mack Hirsch.
Most folks treat Edith like a footnote. A "rebound." A quiet replacement who stayed in the shadows of the Del Mar racetrack while Lucy stayed in the spotlight. Honestly, that's a pretty lazy way to look at a woman who arguably saved Desi from himself during his most turbulent years.
Who Was Edith Mack Hirsch?
Edith wasn't a Hollywood starlet. She wasn't looking for a three-camera sitcom deal or a recording contract. Born in 1917 as Edith McSkimming, she was a redhead—just like Lucy—but the similarities mostly stopped there. She was a socialite, sure, but she was also someone who understood the grind of the industry without needing to be the center of it.
Desi met her at a time when he was spiraling. Post-Lucy life wasn't easy. He was drinking heavily, struggling with the pressures of running Desilu Productions, and dealing with the fallout of a very public, very painful divorce. They married on March 2, 1963. It was a small ceremony in Las Vegas. No circus. No cameras. Just two people trying to figure out the second act of their lives.
She was Mrs. Arnaz for 22 years. That's a long time. It’s actually longer than Desi was married to Lucille Ball. Think about that for a second. The marriage everyone talks about lasted 20 years, while the marriage nobody talks about lasted until Edith’s death in 1985.
The Del Mar Years and the Great Escape
After the wedding, Desi started pulling back from the Hollywood madness. He eventually sold his share of Desilu to Lucy for a cool $2.5 million. He was done. He wanted out of the boardroom and onto the track.
Edith and Desi moved down to Del Mar, California. This is where the narrative usually gets "boring" for gossip columnists, but it's where the real life happened. They lived a life centered around thoroughbred horse racing. Desi loved the track. He loved the gamble, the smell of the stables, and the lack of script rehearsals.
Edith was his anchor here.
People who knew them in Del Mar described their relationship as incredibly stable. While his marriage to Lucy was a high-octane mix of passion and professional rivalry, his life with Edith was about companionship. They traveled to Baja California for fishing trips. They hosted small dinners. It was a "normal" life, or as normal as it gets when you’re the man who invented the modern sitcom.
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The Elephant in the Room: Lucy and Edith
You’d expect drama, right? The ex-wife versus the new wife. But Hollywood history is weirder than fiction.
Lucille Ball and Edith Mack Hirsch actually got along. Seriously. It wasn't just for the cameras, either. Lucy once famously said that Edith was "a wonderful girl" and she was genuinely happy that Desi had found someone who could handle his temperament. Desi had a lot of demons—alcoholism and a legendary temper being the big ones—and Edith had a way of leveling him out that Lucy, for all her genius, never quite mastered during their marriage.
There’s a famous story about Lucy visiting Desi and Edith at their home. They were all adults about it. They shared birthdays, holidays, and milestones with Desi Jr. and Lucie Arnaz. Edith wasn't trying to be their mother, but she was a constant, stabilizing presence in their lives.
Desi's Health and the Final Years
By the late 70s and early 80s, the years of hard living started catching up with Desi. He developed diverticulitis and later lung cancer.
Edith’s health also began to fail. She was diagnosed with cancer herself. It’s one of those tragic Hollywood endings that doesn't get enough play: these two people, who had found a quiet harbor in each other, were both fighting for their lives at the same time.
Edith passed away on March 25, 1985.
Desi was devastated. Those who were around him during that year say he was never the same. He had lost his "buffer." He survived her by only about twenty months, passing away in December 1986. There’s a certain poetic sadness to the fact that once Edith was gone, Desi’s own grip on life seemed to loosen.
What We Get Wrong About the "Second Wife" Label
We love a comeback story, but we hate a sequel. That’s why Edith gets ignored. We want Desi and Lucy to be the only story. But if you look at the letters Desi wrote and the way his children speak about that era, Edith Mack Hirsch was the reason Desi Arnaz lived to be 69 years old.
She provided the structure he lacked. She didn't compete with his ego. She didn't need him to be "Ricky Ricardo." She just needed him to be Desi.
Real Insights for History Buffs
If you're looking into the Arnaz legacy, don't just stop at the "I Love Lucy" reruns. The real Desi—the man who revolutionized television production—spent his final decades in a state of semi-retirement that wouldn't have been possible without the emotional foundation Edith provided.
- Look at the Del Mar archives: Local newspapers from the 60s and 70s often mention the couple at local charity events or at the racetrack. It paints a much more vivid picture of their life than any tabloid.
- Read Lucie Arnaz’s interviews: She has been incredibly vocal and gracious about Edith’s role in her father’s life. She credits Edith with giving her father a "peaceful" second half.
- Check the business records: When Desi sold his stakes in the company, it wasn't just a business move. It was a lifestyle choice influenced by his desire to build a life with Edith away from the "meat grinder" of the studio system.
The takeaway here is simple. Desi Arnaz was a complex, flawed, brilliant man. Lucille Ball was the love of his youth and his professional partner, but Edith Mack Hirsch was the partner of his soul when the lights went down. She wasn't a replacement. She was the completion of his journey.
To understand the full scope of Desi Arnaz, you have to look past the black-and-white screen and into the sunny, quiet days in Del Mar. That’s where Edith was. And that’s where Desi finally found a way to be happy without a script in his hand.
To truly appreciate this era of TV history, start by watching "The Desi Arnaz Story" documentaries through the lens of his later life. Notice how the tone shifts when the narrators reach the 1960s. Instead of looking for "the next Lucy," look for the woman who gave a tired pioneer a place to rest. You’ll find that Edith Mack Hirsch isn't a footnote—she's the heart of the final chapters.