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Vivian Vance 1909 - 1979

Vivian Vance of Belvedere Tiburon, Marin County, CA was born on July 26, 1909 at Cherryvale, KS, USA in Cherryvale, Montgomery County, Kansas United States, and died at age 70 years old on August 17, 1979 in Belvedere, Marin County, CA. Vivian Vance was buried on August 28, 1979 Cremated. Ashes scattered at sea..

Vivian Vance

Belvedere Tiburon, Marin County, CA 94920

July 26, 1909

Cherryvale, KS, USA in Cherryvale, Montgomery County, Kansas, 67335, United States

August 17, 1979

Belvedere, Marin County, California, United States

Female

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Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (1909 - 1979)

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Vivian Vance's History: 1909 - 1979

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Introduction

Vivian Vance Born July 26, 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas, USA Died August 17, 1979 in Belvedere, California, USA (breast and bone cancer) Birth Name Vivian Roberta Jones Height 5' 6" (1.68 m) Born as Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas, she had a brother and four sisters. Her family moved to Independence, Kansas, and later studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought her to that city's 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 stage 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 the hit "Anything Goes." Her first starring role was as Kay Thompson's last minute replacement in "Hooray for What!", starring Ed Wynn. 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 the play at the La Jolla (California) Playhouse, where she was seen by Desi Arnaz who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz (Ball and Arnaz's first choice, Bea Benaderet, was unavailable) in the I Love Lucy (1951) television series. At first she didn't want the part (too frumpy), and hated being cast as the wife of William Frawley (she was 42, he was 64, and the two never got along). Frawley, an alcoholic and on the professional skids had actively campaigned for the role of Fred Mertz after learning that Gale Gordon was also unavailable. Desi Arnaz hired him, but only under strict conditions regarding alcohol consumption and professionalism. The runaway success of the series forced the two to work together but Frawley never forgave Vance for a comment she made about the disparity in their ages, which he overheard. After I Love Lucy (1951) ended she divorced her third husband, married again, to the considerably younger John Dodds, and they moved to Stamford, Connecticut, the first time she had lived east of the Mississippi (aside from work) in many years. In 1962, she began work on The Lucy Show (1962), but the pressures of long-distance commuting didn't suit her, so after three years she limited her herself to guest appearances. In 1974, she and her husband moved to Belvedere, California (just north of San Francisco Bay) so she could be near her sister. She battled ill-health throughout much of the 1970 and died in 1979, aged 70, of breast and bone cancer. Spouse (4) John Richard Dodds (16 January 1961 - 17 August 1979) ( her death) Philip Ober (12 August 1941 - 24 April 1959) ( divorced) George Nathan Koch (6 January 1933 - 11 July 1940) ( divorced) Joseph Shearer Danneck, Jr. (6 October 1928 - 20 April 1931) ( divorced) First person to win an Emmy Award for 'Best Supporting Actress' [1954] Made her talkie debut in Take a Chance (1933) as a singer in the "Eadie Was a Lady" number. Appeared in nine Broadway shows, including playing Babe in the original production of "Anything Goes," before she was tapped to play Ethel Mertz on television. Personal Quotes (5) Lucille Ball was supposedly brutally cold to her at their first meeting and later that same day one of the show's staff asked her how she could work for such a b**** to which Vivian Vance replied, "If this show's a success then I'm going to learn to love that 'female dog'. "Champagne, for everyone!" While dining at a restaurant, upon hearing of former co-star William Frawley's death on Thursday, March 3rd, 1966. When I die, there will be people who send flowers to Ethel Mertz. Advice to actress Kaye Ballard on doing a series: Kaye, you must use your own first name because I go through life just being called Ethel Mertz. No one even knows who Vivian Vance was. Desi (Arnaz) sometimes came on the set of "The Lucy Show" and they acted like they were still married, him hugging her and she asking him for advice.
07/26

1909

Birthday

July 26, 1909

Birthdate

Cherryvale, KS, USA in Cherryvale, Montgomery County, Kansas 67335, United States

Birthplace

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Professional Career

Film Year Title Role Notes 1926 The Patent Leather Pug 1933 Take a Chance Dancehall Girl Uncredited 1945 Eadie Was a Lady Lady On The Stairs Uncredited 1950 The Secret Fury Leah 1951 The Blue Veil Alicia Torgersen 1953 I Love Lucy Ethel Mertz Unreleased 1965 The Great Race Hester Goodbody Television Year Title Role Notes 1951–1957 I Love Lucy Ethel Mertz 179 episodes 1954 Texaco Star Theatre Ethel Mertz Episode - "Episode #6.23" 1955 Shower of Stars Mrs. Mullins Episode - "High Pitch" 1957–1960 The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour Ethel Mertz 13 episodes 1959 The Deputy Emma Gant Episode - "Land Greed" 1960 Guestward, Ho! Babs Episode - "The Hootens Buy a Ranch" 1960–1964 The Red Skelton Show Clara Appleby 5 episodes 1962–1968 The Lucy Show Vivian Bagley 81 episodes 1967 Off to See the Wizard Sarah's Mother Episode - "Rhino" 1968–1972 Here's Lucy Vivian Jones 6 episodes 1969 Love, American Style Madame Zimia Zygmundt Segment: "Love and the Medium" 1970 The Front Page Mrs. Grant TV movie 1972 Getting Away from It All Mary Brodey TV movie 1972 The Lorax Singer TV special, Voice 1975 Rhoda Maggie Cummings Episode - "Friends and Mothers" 1976 The Great Houdini Minnie (Nurse) TV movie 1977 Lucy Calls the President Viv TV special 1978 Sam Episode - "Episode #1.6", (final appearance) Theater Music in the Air (1932) Anything Goes (1934) Red, Hot and Blue (1936) Hooray for What! (1937) Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1939) Skylark (1939) Out From Under (1940) Let's Face It! (1941) The Voice of the Turtle (1945) It Takes Two (1947) The Cradle Will Rock (1947) Springtime for Henry (1948) Here Today (1960) Over 21 (1965) Don't Drink the Water (1966) (replaced during previews by Kay Medford) The Time of the Cuckoo (1966) Everybody's Girl (1967) Barefoot in the Park (1968) My Daughter, Your Son (1969) The Marriage-Go-Round (1971) Butterflies Are Free (1973) Arsenic and Old Lace (1973) Light Up the Sky (1973) Everybody Loves Opal (1974) Harvey (1977)
Personal Life & Family

Actress. She was an American veteran Broadway actress fondly remembered for playing Lucille Ball's landlady, 'Ethel Mertz' in the hit 1950s television sitcom "I Love Lucy." She was born Vivian Roberta Jones on July 26, 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas, the second of six children. After her family moved to Independence, Kansas, she was able to study drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. However, throughout her childhood, Vivian's desire to be an actress clashed with her mother's strict religious beliefs, and at the age of sixteen she ran away to Tulsa, Oklahoma to become an actress, taking the stage name "Vivian Vance," after a high school classmate she admired. Unfortunately for Vance, her first attempt at a show business career was a failure. Later, when the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Vance joined the Albuquerque Little Theatre, and began the long path that would lead her to stardom. In 1932, she headed for the Broadway stage, where she struggled as a chorus girl. She got her first break in the musical "Music in the Air," and after understudying for Ethel Merman in "Anything Goes," she starred with comic actor Ed Wynn in "Hooray for What!" as Kay Thompson's last minute replacement. Although she had become a top performer, the demands of the onstage life took their toll on Vance, and in 1945 she suffered a mental collapse. After her recovery, she returned to the stage in "Voice of the Turtle" at the La Jolla Playhouse, where she was spotted by Desi Arnaz and offered the role that would make her a household name. Paired with William Frawley as 'Fred and Ethel Mertz,' Vance and Frawley made a convincing couple despite their twenty-five year age difference. However, their offstage relationship was less than cordial, a situation exacerbated by Frawley's heavy drinking. Moreover, Vance didn't exactly relish playing the role of a frumpy "older" neighbor, since in reality she was only 2 years Lucille Ball's senior. In 1954, she became the first actress to be awarded an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress. After "I Love Lucy" ended in 1957, she divorced her husband, remarried, and moved to Stamford, Connecticut. In 1962 she reprised her role as Lucy's sidekick on "The Lucy Show," but the grind of bicoastal commuting did not suit her, so after three years she limited her performances to guest appearances, which also continued into "Here's Lucy," the third Lucille Ball sitcom. In 1974 she and her husband moved to Belvedere, California, north of San Francisco Bay where she could be near her sister. Bio by: Edward Parsons
08/17

1979

Death

August 17, 1979

Death date

Breast Cancer.

Cause of death

Belvedere, Marin County, California United States
Death location

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08/28

1979

Gravesite & Burial

August 28, 1979

Funeral date
Cremated. Ashes scattered at sea. in CA
Burial location
Obituary

AUG. 18, 1979 4AM Vivian Vance, the Ethel Mertz of I Love Lucy and one of the most beloved comediennes in television, died Friday at her home in northern California after a long fight against cancer. She was 66. She costarred with Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and the late William Frawley for seven years (1951-58) in the landmark TV comedy I Love Lucy, the most popular program in television history, and later costarred with Miss Ball and Gale Gordon for six years (1962-68) in a sequel, The Lucy Show, both for CBS. She made her final appearance as Lucy’s foil in a 1977 CBS special, “The President Visits Lucy.” Though her television image was of a bubble-headed matron consistently led into bizarre situations by her wacky red-headed friend and neighbor Lucy, Miss Vance was a woman of wide-ranging intellectual interests and enthusiasms, whose literary judgement was highly regarded by her husband, publisher John Dodds. She was a tireless worker for mental health and had served on the board of the National Mental Health Assn. and had been active in other philanthropic and civic organizations. She was born in Cherryvale, Kan., but her family moved to Albuquerque when she was in her teens and she had a lifelong love for New Mexico. She made her home in Santa Fe for many years. Her flair for dramatics first surfaced in Kansas and, for a time, she studied with William Inge, long before he became a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Her early work with the Albuquerque Little Theater was of such quality that a benefit performance was held to send her to Broadway. However, instead of doing Shakespeare, as she had planned, she wound up in the chorus of the Oscar Hammerstein-Jerome Kern musical, “Music in the Air.” Other musicals followed. She understudied Ethel Merman in “Anything Goes” and she often complained: “Just my luck. Ethel Merman never missed a performance for five years!” Featured roles on Broadway followed with Ed Wynn in “Hooray for What!” and with Philip Ober in “Kiss the Boys Goodbye.” She and Ober were married in 1941 and a decade later celebrated their 10th anniversary by costarring in a play in Santa Fe. They were divorced in 1959. Miss Vance was featured with Danny Kaye in “Let’s Face It” for 86 weeks on Broadway and left the play to do the comedy “Over 21” in North Africa, the first legitimate stage production to play the combat zones of World War II. She was on tour playing Olive Lashbrook in “The Voice of the Turtle” after the war when a nervous breakdown almost ended her career. She later said she was advised after treatment to return to the stage in a part she knew. In the summer of 1951, Mel Ferrer had scheduled a production of “The Voice of the Turtle” at the La Jolla Playhouse and she joined the company. Arnaz and Miss Ball saw her on stage and said to each other: “There’s our Ethel.” Miss Ball said Friday: “I have lost the best friend I ever had. And the world has lost one of the best performers it ever had. I shall miss her terribly.” After her marriage to Dodds in 1961, Miss Vance lived in and around New York and commuted here for The Lucy Show. When its long run ended, she regularly toured in summer theater, regularly appeared on Candid Camera and did television game shows. In recent years, she appeared in a television commercial. She and her husband moved to Belvedere on San Francisco Bay five years ago. In addition to her husband, Miss Vance leaves four sisters. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Mental Health Assn. or to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [contact link]

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Vivian Vance lived 1 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 70.

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