Vivian Austin (born Irene Vivian Coe, February 23, 1920 – August 1, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in a number of films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, although most were

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

Early years

Austin was born Irene Vivian Coe in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California, and attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. His ...

. She was named Miss Hollywood in 1939.

Career

Austin played a variety of bit parts (as well as extra and stunt work) in movies before being cast as the female romantic lead in ''

The Adventures of Red Ryder ''The Adventures of Red Ryder'' is a 1940 American 12-chapter movie serial from Republic Pictures, directed by William Witney and John English and starring Don "Red" Barry and Noah Beery, Sr., based on the Western comic strip ''Red Ryder'' by ...

'' (1940). She was signed to a stock contract in 1943 by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

and as Vivian Austin (for Universal) or Terry Austin (under contract to

Eagle-Lion Films Eagle-Lion Films was the name of two distinct, though related, companies. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank created an American distribution company with the name to handle his British films. The following year, under a reciprocal distrib ...

) appeared in movies such as ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

'' (1944), '' Trigger Trail'' (1944), '' Born To Speed'' (1947) and ''

Philo Vance Returns ''Philo Vance Returns'' is a 1947 American mystery film directed by William Beaudine and starring William Wright (actor), William Wright, Vivian Austin and Leon Belasco.Marshall p.333 It is one of a series of films featuring private detective Phil ...

'' (1947). Her career was cut short in the late 1940s by kidney failure and resultant blindness.

Later years

After her retirement, Austin helped

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films throughout her career. R ...

to found the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) and herself founded the Braille Auxiliary of the Desert, an organisation to support the charitable activities of the

Braille Institute The Braille Institute of America (BIA) is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Los Angeles providing programs, seminars and one-on-one instruction for the visually impaired community in Southern California. Funded almost entirely by pri ...

. In 1996 she lived in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

Personal life

Austin married millionaire auto dealer Glenn Austin (d. 1967) when she was 17. She later wed ophthalmic surgeon Kenneth A. Grow (d. 1993), who had operated on her and helped to improve her sight.

Death

On August 1, 2004, Austin died from natural causes in a hospital in Los Angeles, California. Because Grow had served in the United States Army, she and he are interred at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers . It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the n ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Vivian 1920 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses Actresses from Palm Springs, California Burials at Riverside National Cemetery 21st-century American women