A Guide To I Love Lucy
Vivian Vance was born Vivian Roberta Jones on July 26, 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas. (Many sources claim that Vance was one year younger than Lucille Ball. But the truth is, she was actually two years older.) She spent most of her youth in Independence, Kansas. When she was in her late teens, her family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was there that she started acting. She took the last name "Vance" after one of her drama teachers.
In Albuquerque, Vance made various performances at the Little Theater. She showed a talent for singing. She became a local celebrity, and the star of the community playhouse. In fact, she was so successful, that the audience took up a collection to send her to New York City to study acting, and get started in the big time.
In 1932, she came to New York City. She had trouble finding work, but she was finally hired to appear in the Broadway musical "Music In The Air". She stayed with them for two years. She later played minor roles in other Broadway musicals, including becoming the understudy for Ethel Merman in "Anything Goes". Later she was Kay Thompson's understudy in the starring role of "Hooray For What!" with Ed Wynn. On opening night, Thompson couldn't make it, so Vance substituted for her. It was Vance's first starring role.
Later she moved back to the west coast, and continued to perform in theater productions.
In 1951, when the producers were casting for I Love Lucy, one of the directors was Marc Daniels. He had worked with Vance before, and he suggested her to Desi Arnaz for the role of Ethel Mertz. He took Desi and producer Jess Oppenheimer to see Vance in the play "The Voice Of The Turtle" at the La Jolla Playhouse. Daniels and Arnaz saw Vance in the play, and they thought she would be perfect.
At first, Vivian didn't want the part. It was too frumpy. But she finally agreed. She was hired on the spot that very night, without an audition. She stayed with the show throughout its entire run.
After I Love Lucy ended, she co-starred again with Lucille Ball on Ball's next TV series, The Lucy Show. Vance took the role on the condition that she be allowed to appear in more glamorous clothes, and that her character be named "Vivian". (She was tired of the public calling her "Ethel".) After three years on The Lucy Show, Vance retired from acting, although she did take occasional roles.
During the 1970s, she starred in a series of commercials for Maxwell House Coffee. She played the part of Maxine, who wheeled around a catering truck, dispensing coffee to office workers.
She died in Belvedere, California on August 17, 1979. Her body was cremated.
Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Vivian Vance William Frawley Jerry Hausner
Elizabeth Patterson Doris Singleton Richard Keith Mary Jane Croft Frank Nelson