Amy Laura Bargiel is best known to many readers as Amy Arnaz, the ballet dancer, dance teacher, and author who married Desi Arnaz Jr. in 1987. Searches for Amy Laura Bargiel net worth usually come from that connection, because Desi Arnaz Jr. is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, two of the most famous names in American television history. Yet Amy Laura Bargiel built a life and career of her own long before that marriage, mainly in dance studios, classrooms, and a small Nevada theatre community.
This guide brings together what can be verified about Amy Laura Bargiel, from her early life and dance career to her family, her books, and her later years in Boulder City, Nevada.
Key Takeaways: Amy Laura Bargiel, later known as Amy Arnaz, was born on September 12, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, and died on January 23, 2015, in Boulder City, Nevada, at the age of 63. She was a principal dancer with the Nevada Dance Theatre, the founder of Dance Etc., and the executive director of the Boulder City Ballet Company. She married Desi Arnaz Jr. on October 8, 1987. Her exact net worth was never publicly disclosed, and no reliable public source confirms a specific figure, so this article does not present one as fact.
Who was Amy Laura Bargiel?
Amy Laura Bargiel was an American dancer, dance teacher, and children’s author. After her marriage she was widely known as Amy Arnaz, and in her dance community she was often called Miss Amy. She is remembered less for Hollywood fame than for decades of teaching ballet and leading a local ballet company in Nevada.
What is Amy Laura Bargiel’s net worth?
The exact net worth of Amy Laura Bargiel is not publicly disclosed. No reliable public record, financial filing, or estate report confirms a specific dollar figure for her, and this article does not invent one.
That absence of a figure is not unusual for someone whose career was mainly in local dance education and community theatre rather than in commercial film, television, or large-scale business. Dance teachers, studio founders, and local arts leaders can earn a stable living from teaching, performances, and related work, but their income is rarely published in the way a film star’s salary or a chief executive’s pay might be.
Readers should therefore treat any website that states a precise net worth for Amy Laura Bargiel with caution. Unless a figure comes from a named, verifiable source, it is best understood as an unverified guess rather than a fact.
What was Amy Laura Bargiel’s early life and family background?
Amy Laura Bargiel was born on September 12, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Her parents were Charles and Libby Kral Bargiel. She grew up with her brother, Tom Bargiel, and her sister, Lisa Bargiel.
She attended San Diego State University. She also trained with the San Diego Ballet Company, a step that placed her on a professional path in classical dance and prepared her for the teaching and leadership roles that defined much of her adult life.
Quick facts about Amy Laura Bargiel
| Detail | What is known |
|---|---|
| Full name | Amy Laura Bargiel, later Amy Laura Bargiel Arnaz |
| Known as | Amy Arnaz, Miss Amy |
| Date of birth | September 12, 1951 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Date of death | January 23, 2015 |
| Place of death | Boulder City, Nevada, United States |
| Age at death | 63 |
| Parents | Charles and Libby Kral Bargiel |
| Siblings | Tom Bargiel and Lisa Bargiel |
| Education | San Diego State University |
| Profession | Ballet dancer, dance teacher, author |
| Spouse | Desi Arnaz Jr., married October 8, 1987 |
| Daughter | Haley Arnaz |
| Net worth | Not publicly disclosed |
How did Amy Laura Bargiel build her dance career?
Amy Laura Bargiel trained as a ballet dancer with the San Diego Ballet Company before moving into professional performance. Her most widely reported stage role was as a principal dancer with the Nevada Dance Theatre, where she performed for ten years under the mentorship of Vassili Sulich.
A decade as a principal dancer is a serious achievement in classical ballet. It requires sustained technical skill, stamina, and stage presence, and it gave her the knowledge she later used as a teacher and director.
After her performing career, teaching became her main focus. She taught ballet at the University of Nevada, according to biographical profiles, and she worked with students across a wide range of ages and abilities.
What did Amy Laura Bargiel found in Boulder City?
In Boulder City, Nevada, Amy Laura Bargiel founded Dance Etc., a dance studio where she taught ballet and other dance classes. The studio became a local centre for dance education and a place where many children in the community had their first formal lessons.
She also co-founded the Boulder City Ballet Company and served as its executive director. In that role she helped organise performances, including productions of The Nutcracker, and she directed young dancers on stage. Her daughter Haley danced in the role of the older Clara in a Boulder City Ballet Company production of The Nutcracker, under her mother’s direction, in a performance reported in 2008.
The couple also owned the Boulder Theatre, a restored cinema in Boulder City that became a home for the ballet company.
Was Amy Laura Bargiel an author?
Yes. Amy Laura Bargiel was also a children’s author. She wrote Little Haley Stories, a trilogy of semi-biographical children’s books centred on a young ballet dancer. The books drew on her daughter Haley’s love of ballet and on her own experience as a dancer and teacher.
Her books include titles such as The Magic Tutu, Juliana Cuddles, and Clara’s Nutcracker. The Magic Tutu was co-written with Ellen Dickstein, according to biographical sources.
Who was Amy Laura Bargiel married to?
Amy Laura Bargiel married Desi Arnaz Jr. on October 8, 1987. Desi Arnaz Jr. is an American actor and musician, and the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The couple lived in Boulder City, Nevada, with their daughter Haley.
Before that marriage, Amy Laura Bargiel had been married to Gary Frederick Charf, also reported as Gary Frederick Charf-Wilkinson. They married in 1976 and had a daughter, Haley, in the same year. After Amy married Desi Arnaz Jr., he adopted Haley, who then became known as Haley Arnaz.
Amy and Desi remained married until her death in 2015, a marriage of more than 27 years. Their life together was centred in Boulder City rather than in Hollywood, and much of their shared work involved the ballet company and the theatre.
What happened to Amy Laura Bargiel in her later years?
Amy Laura Bargiel was diagnosed with brain cancer in January 2013. She lived with the illness for about two years, and she died on January 23, 2015, at her home in Boulder City, Nevada, at the age of 63.
Her obituary, shared by Star Mortuary, described her as a loving wife, mother, and friend to all, and as an extraordinary dance teacher. Her sister Lisa Bargiel said, in words quoted in biographical reports, that Amy was her soulmate and was always there for her. Those tributes underline how she was remembered in her family and community, as a teacher and a loved family member rather than only as a celebrity spouse.
She was also described in profiles as an animal activist, although public sources do not provide a full record of that work, so this article notes it only in that general form.
How did Amy Laura Bargiel earn a living?
Amy Laura Bargiel’s working life was built on dance, teaching, and community arts. The main strands of her career, as reported in biographical sources, were:
- Performing as a ballet dancer, including ten years as a principal dancer with the Nevada Dance Theatre.
- Teaching ballet, including work at the University of Nevada and at her own studio, Dance Etc.
- Running a dance studio, as the founder of Dance Etc. in Boulder City.
- Leading a ballet company, as co-founder and executive director of the Boulder City Ballet Company.
- Owning and running a theatre, with her husband, as owners of the Boulder Theatre.
- Writing children’s books, including the Little Haley Stories trilogy and The Magic Tutu.
None of these roles, on its own, would normally produce a publicly reported fortune, and together they describe a working life in arts education rather than a high-profile commercial career. It is also worth noting that her husband’s family background sometimes leads readers to assume a shared celebrity fortune, but that assumption should not be transferred to Amy Laura Bargiel herself, whose own income, assets, and estate were private.
What is Amy Laura Bargiel’s legacy?
Amy Laura Bargiel’s legacy is most visible in Boulder City, where she taught thousands of students to love dance, in the words used by biographical profiles. Through Dance Etc. and the Boulder City Ballet Company, she gave children and young people regular access to ballet training and performance, and she helped keep a small theatre active as a community venue.
Her place in the wider Arnaz and Ball family story is also part of her public record. She was the wife of Desi Arnaz Jr., the daughter-in-law of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and the mother of Haley Arnaz. Those family links explain why people search for her name, but her dance career began before her marriage and continued throughout it, and it is that career that best explains her lasting local reputation.
Readers who enjoy profiles of people connected to famous families may also like other net worth profiles on DigitalGeekSpot, including the Autumn Rosalia Busey net worth profile, the Destiny Perez net worth profile, and the Elena Gilyard net worth profile. Each one follows the same approach used here, separating verified biography from unverified figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amy Laura Bargiel’s net worth?
Her exact net worth is not publicly disclosed. No reliable public source confirms a specific dollar figure, so no figure is presented here as fact.
Who was Amy Laura Bargiel?
She was an American ballet dancer, dance teacher, and children’s author, born Amy Laura Bargiel and later known as Amy Arnaz. She was the wife of Desi Arnaz Jr.
When was Amy Laura Bargiel born?
She was born on September 12, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.
When did Amy Laura Bargiel die?
She died on January 23, 2015, in Boulder City, Nevada, at the age of 63, after a battle with brain cancer.
What was Amy Laura Bargiel’s cause of death?
She died after a battle with brain cancer. The cancer was diagnosed in January 2013, about two years before her death.
Who was Amy Laura Bargiel married to?
She married Desi Arnaz Jr., the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, on October 8, 1987. They remained married until her death in 2015.
Did Amy Laura Bargiel have children?
Yes. She had a daughter, Haley Arnaz, from her first marriage to Gary Frederick Charf. Desi Arnaz Jr. adopted Haley after he married Amy.
What did Amy Laura Bargiel do for a living?
She was a principal dancer with the Nevada Dance Theatre, a dance teacher, the founder of Dance Etc., the executive director of the Boulder City Ballet Company, a co-owner of the Boulder Theatre, and the author of children’s books including The Magic Tutu.
Conclusion
Amy Laura Bargiel lived a full working life in dance, from professional performance with the Nevada Dance Theatre to decades of teaching, studio leadership, and community theatre in Boulder City. She also wrote children’s books that shared her love of ballet with young readers, and she spent more than 27 years married to Desi Arnaz Jr.
Her exact net worth remains undisclosed, and the responsible answer is to say so plainly rather than to repeat an invented figure. What can be stated with confidence is the shape of her career, the organisations she founded and led, and the affection with which she was remembered as a teacher, a wife, and a mother.
