Vivian Vance: Summary

Recent Role:: Herself (archive footage) on I Love Lucy

Gender:: Female

Birthday:: 7-26-1909

Death:: 8-17-1979

Birthplace:: Cherryvale, Kansas

Birth Name:: Vivian Roberta Jones

She was born Vivian Roberta Jones, with a brother and four sisters. After the family moved from Cherryvale to Independence, Kansas, she studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albequerque NM brought her to the Albuquerque Little Theatre, which provided her the money she needed to study under Eva Le Gallienne in New York. After arriving in 1932 she had trouble finding work until she began a two-year stint in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Music in the Air." She next understudied Ethel Merman in "Anything Goes." Her first starring role was as Kay Thompson's last minute replacement in "Hooray for What!" starring Ed Wynn. Other Broadway costars included Danny Kaye, Eve Arden and Nanette Fabray. In 1945 while starring in a touring company of "Voice of the Turtle" she had a nervous breakdown. After undergoing psychotherapy and limited movie work, she returned to "Voice of the Turtle" at the La Jolla Playhouse, where she was seen by Desi Arnaz who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz in the "I Love Lucy" television series. At first she didn't want the part (too frumpy), and she always hated being cast as the wife of William Frawley (she was 42, he was 64; the two never got along). After Lucy ended she divorced her third husband, married again, and moved to Stamford Connecticut. In 1962 she began work on a new Lucy show, but the pressures of long-distance comuting didn't suit her, so after three years she limited her performances to guest appearances. In 1974 she and her husband moved to Belvedere (just north of Francisco Bay) so she could be near her sister. Five years later she died there, of cancer. She was born Vivian Roberta Jones, with a brother and four sisters. After the family moved from Cherryvale to Independence, Kansas, she studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albequerque NM brought her to the Albuquerque Little Theatre, which provided her the money she needed to study under Eva Le Gallienne in New York. After arriving in 1932 she had...

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port5170
member since: Nov 23, 2005
Loved her ...Continue »
from a town only an hours drive from my home town was born a comedic genius, she was the perfect second hand to Lucille Ball, and a great comedian in her own right, any of the Lucy shows would not of been the same without her right hand woman Vivian Vance..a great that I miss still today
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