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
''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...
'' (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
in ''
The Lucy Show
''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...
'' 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
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979.
Early life
Vance was born in
Cherryvale, Kansas, the second of six children of Robert Andrew Jones, Sr., and Euphemia Mae (Ragan) Jones.
When she was six, her family moved to
Independence, Kansas
Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the ...
, where she eventually began her dramatic studies at
Independence High School with instructor Anna Ingleman. Her love of acting clashed with her mother's strict religious beliefs. "Viv" soon rebelled, often sneaking out of her bedroom and staying out after
curfew
A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...
. She changed her
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
to Vance and moved to
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
, to find acting work, performing in the first show upon its opening at the
Albuquerque Little Theatre in 1930. She appeared there in many other plays, including ''This Thing Called Love'' and ''The Cradle Song''. The local theatre community helped pay her way to New York City to study under
Eva Le Gallienne.
Career
Broadway
Starting in 1932, Vance was in a number of shows on Broadway, usually as a member of the chorus. Eventually, she graduated to
supporting parts after understudying
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
as Reno Sweeney in ''
Anything Goes''. (She and Merman would appear together in an episode of ''
The Lucy Show'' many decades later.)
Vance succeeded
Kay Thompson in the musical ''
Hooray for What!'' (1937). Her most successful stage role was that of Nancy Collister in the
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...
musical ''
Let's Face It!'' (1941), alongside
Danny Kaye,
Edith Meiser, and
Eve Arden
Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
Beginning her film career in 1929 an ...
for 547 performances.
Film
Following her appearance in a revival of ''
The Cradle Will Rock'' in 1947, Vance decided to move to California to pursue other theatre projects and opportunities in film. During her stay in Los Angeles, Vance appeared in two films: as
streetwise chambermaid
A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids a ...
Leah in ''
The Secret Fury'' (1950), and as Alicia in ''
The Blue Veil'' (1951). She received several positive notices for her performances, but the films did little else to further her screen career. Following her departure from ''The Lucy Show'' at the end of the third season, Vance signed on to appear in a
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter.
Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts ...
film, ''
The Great Race
''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor epic slapstick comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross) and with music by Henr ...
'' (1965); she saw this as an opportunity to restart a movie career, which never really took off. The amusing film was a moderate success, receiving several Academy Award nominations.
Television
1951–1958: ''I Love Lucy'' and success

When
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', in whi ...
and
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
were casting their new television sitcom ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...
'' in 1951,
director Marc Daniels, who had previously worked with Vance in a theater production, suggested her for the role of
landlady
A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...
Ethel Mertz. Lucille Ball had wanted either
Bea Benaderet or
Barbara Pepper, both close friends, to play the role.
CBS refused Pepper on the grounds she had a serious drinking problem, and Benaderet was already playing Blanche Morton on ''
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', sometimes called ''The Burns and Allen Show'', is a half-hour television sitcom broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts in entertainm ...
''.
Ultimately, the 42-year-old Vance won the role on the new
television program
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...
, which debuted October 15, 1951, on CBS. Vance's Ethel Mertz character was the landlady of a New York City apartment that she and her husband Fred owned on East 68th Street. The role of Fred Mertz was played by
William Frawley, who was actually 22 years her senior. Despite their exceptional chemistry, comedic timing, and musical prowess together onscreen, Vance and Frawley did not get along offscreen. According to some reports, things first went sour when Frawley overheard Vance complaining about his age, stating that he should be playing her father instead of her husband. She used to skim through the script before she memorized her lines to see how many scenes she had with "that stubborn-headed little Irishman."
Honored for her work in 1953, Vance became the first actress to win an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for
Outstanding Supporting Actress; she accepted her award at the Emmy ceremony in February 1954. She was nominated an additional three times (for 1954, 1956, and 1957) before the series ended.
In 1957, after the highly successful half-hour ''I Love Lucy''
episodes
Episodes may refer to:
* Episode, a part of a dramatic work
* Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011
* Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal
...
ended, Vance continued playing Ethel Mertz on a series of hour-long
specials titled ''
The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show'' (later retitled ''The Lucy-Desi Comedy 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 in their own "Fred and Ethel"
spin-off show. Although Frawley was very interested, Vance declined, mainly because she did not want to work on a one-on-one basis with Frawley, as they already had an acrimonious relationship. Also, she felt the Mertz characters would be unsuccessful in a show without the Ricardos. Vance's choice to decline the would-be show intensified the animosity between her and Frawley. Instead, Vance was interested in doing a series based on the life of Babs Hooten, a New York socialite who moves to New Mexico to run a hotel and ranch. Desi Arnaz financed a pilot starring Vance as Hooten titled ''
Guestward, Ho!'', which was shot in 1958 by
Desilu; however, the show was rejected by CBS and Vance continued playing Ethel Mertz. Arnaz later retooled the show with model and actress
Joanne Dru taking the lead role, selling the series to
ABC, where it was subsequently cancelled after one season.
1962–1977: ''The Lucy Show'' and later works

In 1962, Lucille Ball was planning to return to television in a new series, ''
The Lucy Show
''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...
''. The series starred Ball as Lucy Carmichael, a widow with two children living in
Danfield, New York. Vance reluctantly agreed to be her co-star on the condition she be allowed to appear in more glamorous clothes and have her character be named "Vivian". By this time in her life, Vance had grown tired of the public addressing her as "Ethel".

After her departure from ''The Lucy Show'', Vance appeared occasionally alongside Ball on reunion shows and made several guest appearances on Ball's third sitcom, ''
Here's Lucy
''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third ...
'' (1968–1974). In 1973, she was diagnosed with
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. During this period, Vance's agent got her an endorsement deal with
Maxwell House coffee. Over the next several years, she appeared in numerous commercials for Maxwell House. Vance made a number of TV guest appearances in the 1970s, including a 1975 episode of ''
Rhoda,'' as well as appearing in a number of made-for-TV movies, including ''The Front Page'' (1970), ''Getting Away From it All'' (1972), and ''
The Great Houdini'' (1976). Ball and Vance appeared together one last time in the 1977 CBS special ''Lucy Calls the President.''
Personal life
Vance was married four times; her first three marriages ended in divorce. She was married to her third husband, actor Philip Ober, for 18 years. Ober was rumored to have physically abused Vance because he was envious of her successful career. On January 16, 1961, Vance married
literary agent, editor, and publisher John Dodds. They lived in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...
, then moved to California in 1974, remaining together until Vance's death.
Death and legacy
Vance died at age 70 on August 17, 1979, of metastatic
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. After her death,
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', in whi ...
said, "It’s bad enough to lose one of the great artists we had the honor and the pleasure to work with, but it’s even harder to reconcile the loss of one of your best friends."
Family members donated Vance's
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
to the
Albuquerque Little Theatre after her death. In a 1986 interview, Lucille Ball talked about watching ''I Love Lucy''
rerun
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. The two types of reruns are those that occur during a hiatus and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
Variations
In the United Kingdom, the word "repe ...
s and her feelings about Vance's performance:
"I find that now I usually spend my time looking at Viv. Viv was sensational. And back then, there were things I had to do—I was in the projection room for some reason—and I just couldn't concentrate on it. But now I can. And I enjoy every move that Viv made. She was something."
For her achievements in the field of television, Vance was
posthumously
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death
* Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...
awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
February 14, 1991, at 7030
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...
.
Vance is memorialized in the
Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Center in
Jamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...
. On January 20, 2010, the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' reported a local antique dealer had inherited many of Vance's photos and scrapbooks and a manuscript of her unpublished autobiography when John Dodds died in 1986. Vance and Frawley were both inducted into the
Television Academy Hall of Fame in March 2012.
The story of how Vance was hired to play Ethel Mertz is told in ''I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom'', a stage comedy which premiered in Los Angeles on July 12, 2018. Written by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of ''I Love Lucy'' creator-producer-head writer
Jess Oppenheimer), it was recorded before a live audience for a nationwide public radio broadcast, and later, online distribution.
Vance was played by
Robin Pearson Rose in the 1991
television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
, ''
Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter''. Thirty years later, she was portrayed by
Tony-winning actress
Nina Arianda in the
motion picture film
Film stock is an analog device, analog medium that is used for recording film, motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, film developing, developed,
film editing, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie proj ...
, ''
Being the Ricardos'' (2021).
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
* ''
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
Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl'' and the Funny Girl (film), film adaptati ...
)
* ''
The Time of the Cuckoo
''The Time of the Cuckoo'' is a play by Arthur Laurents. It focuses on the bittersweet romance between Leona Samish ( Shirley Booth), a single American executive secretary vacationing in Europe and Renato Di Rossi, a shopkeeper she meets in Venic ...
'' (1966)
* ''Everybody's Girl'' (1967)
* ''
Barefoot in the Park'' (1968)
* ''My Daughter, Your Son'' (1969)
* ''
The Marriage-Go-Round'' (1971)
* ''
Butterflies Are Free
''Butterflies Are Free'' is a 1972 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Milton Katselas from a screenplay by Leonard Gershe, based on Gershe's 1969 play. The film stars Goldie Hawn, Eileen Heckart, and Edward Albert. It follows ...
'' (1973)
* ''
Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1973)
* ''Light Up the Sky'' (1973)
* ''Everybody Loves Opal'' (1974)
* ''
Harvey'' (1977)
Awards and nominations
Major associations
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
*
Outstanding Supporting Actress — ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...
'' (Won; 1954)
* Outstanding Supporting Actress — ''I Love Lucy'' (Nominated; 1955)
* Outstanding Supporting Actress — ''I Love Lucy'' (Nominated; 1957)
* Outstanding Supporting Actress — ''I Love Lucy'' (Nominated; 1958)
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
* Star (
Posthumously
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death
* Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...
honored; 1991)
Other awards
TV Land Awards
* Favorite Cantankerous Couple — ''I Love Lucy'' (Nominated, shared with
William Frawley; 2004)
* Favorite Second Banana — ''I Love Lucy'' (Nominated; 2004)
References
Further reading
* Castelluccio, Frank and Walker, Alvin. ''The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance.'' New York:
Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an American imprint founded in 1955 by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein owned by the Penguin Group unit of Penguin Random House.
History
Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Compa ...
, 2000.
* Edelman, Rob and Kupferberg, Audrey. ''Meet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple.'' Los Angeles, Calif.: Renaissance Books, 1999.
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Vivian
1909 births
1979 deaths
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Actresses from Kansas
People from Independence, Kansas
Deaths from breast cancer in California
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American singers
Singers from Kansas
People from Belvedere, California
People from Cherryvale, Kansas
20th-century American women singers
Albuquerque High School alumni