Shows · Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show from 1962 until she left the series at the end of its third season in 1965. In 1991, she posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979.
On stage 10 productions, 37 years
| 1932 | Music in the Air Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Oscar Hammerstein II (Note in program: The direction is “after the pattern of the original staging, credit for which [Hammerstein shares] with the composer.”) | 342 perf. |
| 1934 | Anything Goes Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Howard Lindsay | 420 perf. |
| 1936 | Red, Hot, and Blue Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Howard Lindsay | 183 perf. |
| 1937 | Hooray For What! Winter Garden · Original · directed by Vincente Minnelli, Howard Lindsay | 200 perf. |
| 1939 | Skylark Morosco Theatre · Original | 256 perf. |
| 1940 | Out From Under Biltmore Theatre · Original · directed by Antoinette Perry | 9 perf. |
| 1941 | Let’s Face It Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Edgar MacGregor | 547 perf. |
| 1947 | It Takes Two Biltmore Theatre · Original | 8 perf. |
| 1947 | The Cradle Will Rock Mansfield Theatre · Revival · directed by Howard Da Silva | 34 perf. |
| 1969 | My Daughter, Your Son Booth Theatre · Original · directed by Larry Arrick | 47 perf. |
Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in. That is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.
Worked with more than once12 names
| Houston Richards | 3 productions |
| Stella Bailey | 2 productions |
| Ruth Shaw | 2 productions |
| Ruth Bond | 2 productions |
| Mickey Moore | 2 productions |
| May Abbey | 2 productions |
| Mary Joan Martin | 2 productions |
| Mary Ann Parker | 2 productions |
| Joel Friend | 2 productions |
| Jean Scott | 2 productions |
| Frances Stewart | 2 productions |
| Finette Walker | 2 productions |
Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership. A long-running company puts the same forty people together every night, but it is where one would start looking. 10 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.
In the literature5 passages
- Cast: William Gaxton, Ethel Merman, Victor Moore, Bettina Hall, Vera Dunn, Leslie Barrie, Vivian Vance, Helen Raymond, George E. Mack, Houston RichardsBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
- Cast: Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Polly Walters, Paul & Grace Hartman, Vivian Vance, Lew ParkerBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
- “Broadway is glamour. It’s the best! And you have to be at your best when you’re on it.”—VIVIAN VANCE , who worked on Broadway before I Love LucyBroadway Babylon - Boze Hadleigh
- (One of Inge’s students, in a dramatics class, was fellow Kansan Vivian Vance, who soon left for what she hoped was Broadway stardom. After middling stage success, she finally achieved national recognition on television in I Love Lucy .)Broadway Babylon - Boze Hadleigh
- VIVIAN VANCE, nee Jones, 66, Kansas-born actress on stage and tv, died of cancer Aug.Theatre World, 1979-80 Season, v. 36 (Willis)
Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.
What this page does not know
- What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
- Which of the credits above the roles on this record (actor) apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.
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