Lucille Ball’s great-granddaughter dies of breast cancer
Desiree Anzalone was proud to be the great-granddaughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz but never bragged about being descended from TV royalty.
“She was pretty cool about it,” said her mother, Julia Arnaz, 51, of Milford. “She was very humble.”
Anzalone, 31, of Stratford, died Sept. 27 of breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 2014 and, after chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, it seemed that her illness had gone into remission. But in 2017, it returned, her mother said.
Julia Arnaz, the daughter of Desi Arnaz Jr., said right up until her death, Anzalone wanted to spread the word that young women can get breast cancer and that they need to be advocates for their health.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month — a fact that is not lost on Arnaz, who said she hopes that other young women will learn from what her daughter endured.
“She wanted to write a memoir about her battle with cancer,” Arnaz said. “She was never able to do that. But she wanted young women of her age to know that, if you feel something, don’t ignore it.”
Though breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed in women 50 or older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report about / 11 percent of all new cases of breast cancer are found in women younger than 45.
Arnaz said when her daughter initially saw a doctor, she was 25 and told that she was too young to have breast cancer. But her daughter insisted that something was wrong and was eventually diagnosed. That likely bought her daughter years she might not have otherwise had, Arnaz said
That spirit was typical of Anzalone — a young woman who loved photography, animals and music, and seemed to get a kick out of her famous roots.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz starred in the iconic sitcom “I Love Lucy,” which ran from 1951 to 1957, and remained a cultural touchstone for years. Arnaz died in 1986; Ball died in 1989.
Arnaz recalled that Anzalone accompanied Desi Arnaz Jr. to the TV Land Awards in 2008 when Ball was posthumously honored with a Legacy of Laughter award.
“She got all glammed up,” her mom recalled of Anzalone.
Anzalone had her own brushes with show business, and modeled through her late teens and early 20s. She also photographed models, which her mother said she did for free.
“She did it out of the kindness of her heart, to help these young women, because portfolios can be expensive,” Arnaz said.
Anzalone, who was born in Norwalk, also enjoyed painting. One of the ways she stayed occupied during her illness was painting portraits of people’s pets, said her mother, who worked as her daughter’s assistant.
Arnaz said she and her daughter were always close.
“She was my best friend,” Arnaz said. “We would talk on the phone for hours.”
She recalled a time when she and her daughter were asked to make 100 cookies for a cookie swap, which was a laughable task for them both.
“We both loved to cook, but we’re the worst bakers,” Arnaz said. “We just couldn’t do the cookies. Ours were so bad. They were the ugliest cookies there.”
One thing the mother and daughter avoided discussing openly was Anzalone’s medical condition. Arnaz said for a long time, she was optimistic and upbeat about her daughter’s illness because she wanted so badly for her to recover.
“We didn’t talk about it that much,” Arnaz said. “When she would go to the hospital, I would call it ‘the hotel.’ ‘Oh, you’re going to the hotel.’ I just wanted to believe she was going to be OK.”
Eventually, though, Anzalone’s condition worsened, and both she and her mom knew she didn’t have long. Arnaz said the last thing her daughter said to her showed the deep love and concern between them.
“She said ‘Mom, you’re going to be OK,’ ” Arnaz said.
Weeks after her daughter’s death, Arnaz is coping with her grief by urging young women to be aware of their bodies and to stand up for themselves if they know something is wrong.
“You’re never too young. And you never know,” Arnaz said.