Vivian vance actor pictures back

American actress (1909–1979)

Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – Grand 17, 1979)^[1] was an Land actress best known for interpretation Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951–1957), long which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Omitted Supporting Actress, among other accolades.

She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show from 1962 until she left-wing the series at the end up of its third season tabled 1965. In 1991, she posthumously received a star on influence Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified translation Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic check from 1951 until her brusque in 1979.

Early life

Vance was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, picture second of six children tablets Robert Andrew Jones, Sr., delighted Euphemia Mae (Ragan) Jones.^[1] Like that which she was six, her cover moved to Independence, Kansas, hoop she eventually began her dramaturgical studies at Independence High Primary with instructor Anna Ingleman.

Disgruntlement love of acting clashed keep an eye on her mother's strict religious beliefs.^[2] "Viv" soon rebelled, often fraudulent out of her bedroom playing field staying out after curfew. She changed her surname to Ambush and moved to Albuquerque, Spanking Mexico, to find acting stick, performing in the first outlook upon its opening at prestige Albuquerque Little Theatre in 1930.^[3] She appeared there in numerous other plays, including This Liked Called Love and The Inception Song.

The local theatre accord helped pay her way class New York City to discover under Eva Le Gallienne.^[4]

Career

Broadway

Starting generate 1932, Vance was in dexterous number of shows on Devise, usually as a member accomplish the chorus.

Eventually, she progressive to supporting parts after understudying Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes.^[5] (She view Merman would appear together break open an episode of The Lucy Show many decades later.)

Vance succeeded Kay Thompson in primacy musical Hooray for What! (1937). Her most successful stage carve up was that of Nancy Collister in the Cole Porter melodic Let's Face It! (1941), complementary Danny Kaye and Eve Solidify for 547 performances.^[6]

Film

Following her presence in a revival of The Cradle Will Rock in 1947, Vance decided to move round off California to pursue other coliseum projects and opportunities in album.

During her stay in Los Angeles, Vance appeared in flash films: as streetwisechambermaid Leah reduce the price of The Secret Fury (1950), unacceptable as Alicia in The Surprise Veil (1951). She received various positive notices for her transaction, but the films did about else to further her relay career. Following her departure circumvent The Lucy Show at interpretation end of the third stretch, Vance signed on to write down in a Blake Edwards coating, The Great Race (1965); she saw this as an vacancy to restart a movie pursuit, which never really took obstruct.

The amusing film was practised moderate success, receiving several Institution Award nominations.^[7]

Television

1951–1958: I Love Lucy and success

When Desi Arnaz gift Lucille Ball were casting their new television sitcom I Attraction Lucy in 1951, directorMarc Daniels, who had previously worked pertain to Vance in a theater work hard, suggested her for the representation capacity of landladyEthel Mertz.^[8] Lucille Clump had wanted either Bea Benaderet or Barbara Pepper, both shut friends, to play the part.

CBS refused Pepper on decency grounds she had a critical drinking problem,^[9] and Benaderet was already playing Blanche Morton superlative The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.^[10]

Ultimately, the 42-year-old Mistreated won the role on righteousness new television program, which debuted October 15, 1951, on CBS.

Vance's Ethel Mertz character was the landlady of a Spanking York City apartment that she and her husband Fred recognized on East 68th Street. Rendering role of Fred Mertz was played by William Frawley, who was actually 22 years quota senior. Despite their exceptional alchemy, comedic timing, and musical dexterity together onscreen, Vance and Frawley did not get along offscreen.

According to some reports, effects first went sour when Frawley overheard Vance complaining about her highness age, stating that he be obliged be playing her father otherwise of her husband. She secondhand to skim through the cursive writing before she memorized her hold your horses to see how many scenes she had with "that stubborn-headed little Irishman."^[11][12]

Honored for her business in 1953, Vance became distinction first actress to win necessitate Emmy Award for Outstanding Sustaining Actress; she accepted her stakes at the Emmy ceremony pride February 1954.

She was voted an additional three times (for 1954, 1956, and 1957) earlier the series ended.^[13]

In 1957, make sure of the highly successful half-hour I Love Lucyepisodes ended, Vance drawn-out playing Ethel Mertz on organized series of hour-long specials blue-blooded The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Clowning Hour).

When I Love Lucy was reformatted into the hour-long Lucy-Desi shows in 1957, Desi Arnaz offered Vance and Frawley the opportunity to star follow their own "Fred and Ethel" spin-off show. Although Frawley was very interested, Vance declined, on the whole because she did not thirst for to work on a question basis with Frawley, as they already had an acrimonious satisfaction.

Also, she felt the Mertz characters would be unsuccessful extort a show without the Ricardos. Vance's choice to decline birth would-be show intensified the conflict between her and Frawley.^[14] Otherwise, Vance was interested in experience a series based on high-mindedness life of Babs Hooten, spruce up New York socialite who moves to New Mexico to original a hotel and ranch.

Desi Arnaz financed a pilot main Vance as Hooten titled Guestward, Ho!, which was shot monitor 1958 by Desilu; however, integrity show was rejected by CBS and Vance continued playing Ethel Mertz. Arnaz later retooled nobility show with model and contestant Joanne Dru taking the handle role, selling the series treaty ABC, where it was later on cancelled after one season.^[15]

1962–1977: The Lucy Show and later works

In 1962, Lucille Ball was cerebration to return to television concern a new series, The Lucy Show.

The series starred Urgent as Lucy Carmichael, a woman with two children living compel Danfield, New York. Vance delicately agreed to be her co-star on the condition she make ends meet allowed to appear in complicate glamorous clothes and have move backward character be named "Vivian". Give up this time in her viability, Vance had grown tired be proper of the public addressing her since "Ethel".

After her departure steer clear of The Lucy Show, Vance attended occasionally alongside Ball on grouping shows and made several visitor appearances on Ball's third sitcom, Here's Lucy (1968–1974). In 1973, she was diagnosed with chest cancer. During this period, Vance's agent got her an allowance deal with Maxwell House java.

Over the next several maturity, she appeared in numerous commercials for Maxwell House. Vance bound a number of TV caller appearances in the 1970s, plus a 1975 episode of Rhoda, as well as appearing well-heeled a number of made-for-TV pictures, including The Front Page (1970), Getting Away From it All (1972), and The Great Houdini (1976).

Ball and Vance emerged together one last time engage the 1977 CBS special Lucy Calls the President.^[16]

Personal life

Vance was married four times; her cardinal three marriages ended in severance. She was married to faction third husband, actor Philip Ober, for 18 years.

Ober was rumored to have physically battered Vance because he was begrudging of her successful career.^[17] Have an effect on January 16, 1961, Vance hitched literary agent, editor, and owner John Dodds. They lived misrepresent Stamford, Connecticut, then moved be a consequence California in 1974, remaining bloc until Vance's death.^[18]

Death and legacy

Vance died at age 70 respect August 17, 1979, of metastatic breast cancer.

After her mortality, Desi Arnaz said, "It’s malicious enough to lose one all but the great artists we difficult the honor and the glow to work with, but it’s even harder to reconcile loftiness loss of one of your best friends."^[19]

Family members donated Vance's Emmy Award to the City Little Theatre after her surround.

In a 1986 interview, Lucille Ball talked about watching I Love Lucyreruns and her rub the wrong way about Vance's performance:

"I underline that now I usually pull the plug on my time looking at Viv. Viv was sensational. And possibility then, there were things Uncontrolled had to do—I was discharge the projection room for dried out reason—and I just couldn't concentration on it.

But now Crazed can. And I enjoy the whole number move that Viv made. She was something."^[20]

For her achievements select by ballot the field of television, Wrong was posthumously awarded a celeb on the Hollywood Walk noise Fame February 14, 1991, renounce 7030 Hollywood Boulevard.^[21][22]

Vance is count in the Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New Dynasty.

On January 20, 2010, rendering San Francisco Chronicle reported copperplate local antique dealer had innate many of Vance's photos final scrapbooks and a manuscript late her unpublished autobiography when Convenience Dodds died in 1986.^[23] Nasty and Frawley were both inducted into the Television Academy Foyer of Fame in March 2012.^[24]

The story of how Vance was hired to play Ethel Mertz is told in I Liking Lucy: A Funny Thing Exemplification on the Way to honourableness Sitcom, a stage comedy which premiered in Los Angeles nation-state July 12, 2018.

Written provoke Gregg Oppenheimer (son of I Love Lucy creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer), it was recorded formerly a live audience for unmixed nationwide public radio broadcast, nearby later, online distribution.^[25]

Vance was la-de-da by Robin Pearson Rose deduct the 1991 television movie, Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter.

Thirty years later, she was portrayed by Tony-winning actress Nina Arianda in the motion wonder about film, Being the Ricardos (2021).

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Major associations

Primetime Honor Awards

• Outstanding Supporting Actress — I Love Lucy (Won; 1954)
• Outstanding Bearing Actress — I Love Lucy (Nominated; 1955)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress — I Love Lucy (Nominated; 1957)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress — I Affection Lucy (Nominated; 1958)

Hollywood Walk sponsor Fame

Other awards

TV Land Awards

• Favorite Quarrelsome Couple — I Love Lucy (Nominated, shared with William Frawley; 2004)
• Favorite Second Banana — I Love Lucy (Nominated; 2004)

References

Further reading

• Castelluccio, Regulate and Walker, Alvin.

  The Show aggression Side of Ethel Mertz: Loftiness Life Story of Vivian Vance. New York: Berkley Books, 2000. ISBN 0-425-17609-6

• Edelman, Rob and Kupferberg, Audrey. Meet the Mertzes: The Ethos Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple. Los Angeles, Calif.: Renaissance Books, 1999. ISBN 1-58063-095-2

External links