Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz formed Desilu Productions in the early 1950’s. By 1957 their company was in high demand, growing and needed more space. While filming the episode “The Celebrity Next Door” for The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, Desi struck a deal to buy RKO. This was the same studio where they met and worked for some 17 years prior. When Desilu took over they now owned multiple lots, many soundstages and all the props and wardrobe from Hollywood’s Golden Age. This included production equipment which Desi had all studio lights painted green and stenciled Desilu.
This studio light – number 692 – retains that original green paint and stencil and has all inner workings, cord and lens. The light still works and casts an extremely bright, very warm spotlight. A detachable arm allows it to be mounted from the rafters or on a rolling stand. This light may have lit some of the biggest film productions like Citizen Kane or King Kong in the RKO days to I Love Lucy and Star Trek for television.