Too Many Girls (1940): An overprotective father allows his daughter to go away to college, but hires four bodyguards to follow her around. They get drafted onto the football team, and she falls in love with one of them. Desi has his film debut as Manuelito Lynch, apparently a football player that moonlights as a bongo player.
Father Takes a Wife (1941): Desi is Carlos Bardez, a stowaway on a boat a passionate and argumentative newly-married couple is using for their honeymoon. He's completely broke, but dreams of being a singer and this couple tries to help him make his debut, almost resulting in the end of their marriage.
Four Jacks and a Jill (1942): Plays both Steve Sarto and King Stephan VII of Aregal. A struggling 4-piece orchestra has finally gotten a gig, and the vocalist claimed to know the King of Aregal. Steve shows up pretending to be the king, complicates a romance between the vocalist and another band member, until he runs off with another woman. Then the real king shows up and things get even more complicated.
The Navy Comes Through (1942): Pat Tarriba, a sailor aboard a Marine merchant the ship that's fighting the Nazis.
Bataan (1943): Minimal role as Pvt. Felix Ramirez, but a very touching death scene. The US forces choose 13 men to destroy a bridge on the Bataan peninsula in the Phillipines and keep the Japanese from repairing it.
Cuban Pete (1946): Plays himself as a band leader that an advertising exec wants to do an American radio program. Everything goes fine until someone else decides she wants to do the vocals.
Jitterumba (1947): As himself, he explains the rhumba and performs some songs.
Holiday in Havana (1949): Desi is Carlos Estrada, a busboy in a cuban hotel who wants to be a composer. He tries to get a singer, Lolita Veldez, to sing one of his songs, but her mother turns him down, and he assumes it was Lolita herself who rejected him. He unexpectedly becomes the leader of the hotel band, and Lolita sneaks onto his tour bus while trying to escape her mother. She gives him a false name and he agrees to take her with him. He learns her real name eventually and the relationship starts to break down.
"I Love Lucy" (1951) TV Series: His most famous role, Ricky Ricardo (Enrique Alberto Ricardo y de Acha III), where he is a Cuban band leader at the Tropicana club, and his zany wife Lucy is always trying to get on stage and perform there, since she is obsessed with becoming a star. Hilarity ensues.
The Long, Long Trailer (1954): Desi is Nicholas 'Nicky' Collini, newly married to Tacy. Instead of saving up and buying a house, the couple buys a trailer and starts to travel around, encountering humorous disasters at every turn.
Forever, Darling (1956): As Lorenzo Xavier Vega, Desi is a man who has been married to his wife for 5 years, and the relationship has started to go stale. His wife Susan sees an angel that tells her if they don't work out their problems, there will be trouble.
I Love Lucy Christmas Special (1956): Ricky and Lucy both tell Little Ricky about Santa Claus
"The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1957) TV Series: A sequel to "I Love Lucy," this time with a new celebrity gueststar every episode.
"Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" (1958) TV Series:Desi was the host of this show, which was a series of dramatic episodes.
"The Mothers-In-Law" (1967) TV Series: Raphael del Gado (1967-69)
The Escape Artist (1982) (as Desiderio Arnaz): Desi plays the crooked Mayor Leon Quinones, whose out of control son becomes acquainted with a young teen who is the son of the late Harry Masters, "The greatest escape artist except for Houdini." The teen, Danny Masters, is overconfident and claims to be able to escape from jail in an hour. His doings lead to the downfall of the mayor and his son. 9
