Vivian Vance

Made her film debut in a silent film The Patent Leather Pug (1925), which is apparently now lost.

Born as Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas, she had a brother and four sisters. Her family moved to Independence, Kansas, and later studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought her to that city's Little Theatre, which provided her the money she needed to study under Eva Le Gallienne in New York. After arriving in 1932 she had trouble finding stage work until she began a two-year stint in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Music in the Air". She next understudied Ethel Merman in the hit "Anything Goes. " Her first starring role was as Kay Thompson's last minute replacement in "Hooray for What!", starring Ed Wynn.

Made her talkie debut in Take a Chance (1933) as a singer in the "Eadie Was a Lady" number.

In 1945, while starring in a touring company of "Voice of the Turtle" she had a nervous breakdown.

After undergoing psychotherapy and limited movie work, she returned to the play at the La Jolla (California) Playhouse, where she was seen by Desi Arnaz who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz (Ball and Arnaz's first choice, Bea Benaderet, was unavailable) in the I Love Lucy (1951) television series. At first she didn't want the part (too frumpy), and hated being cast as the wife of William Frawley (she was 42, he was 64, and the two never got along). Frawley, an alcoholic and on the professional skids had actively campaigned for the role of Fred Mertz after learning that Gale Gordon was also unavailable. Desi Arnaz hired him, but only under strict conditions regarding alcohol consumption and professionalism. The runaway success of the series forced the two to work together but Frawley never forgave Vance for a comment she made about the disparity in their ages, which he overheard.

After I Love Lucy (1951) ended she divorced her third husband, married again to John Dodds, and they moved to Stamford, Connecticut, the first time she had lived east of the Mississippi (aside from work) in many years.

First person to win an Emmy Award for 'Best Supporting Actress' [1954]

Divorced Philip Ober in 1959 under allegations of spousal abuse. Because the majority of the wealth was earned during the success of I Love Lucy (1951), she was forced to hand over half of her $160,000 in community property, which included, among other things, her ranch in Cubero, New Mexico and home in California.

She returned to Broadway in the late 1960s, early 1970s, and usually commanded a $2,500/week salary. When she would return to her hometown of Albequerque, New Mexico, she would only accept a maximum of $250/week for little theater performances.

After marrying publisher John Dodds in 1961, she left Los Angeles for good. The couple spent the next several years living in various locations. In 1961, they purchased an old white farmhouse in Stamford, Connecticut. They also purchased a 200 year old schoolhouse in Westchester County, New York to be used as a retreat for the two of them after her years on The Lucy Show (1962). As John's career took off, they lived in a penthouse at Beekman Place in Manhattan. Tiring of the big city life, in the late 1960s, they moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico owning and operating a Travel Agency. In 1974, after her first bout with cancer, they decided to sell the business along with property she owned in Solvang, California to finance a publishing business for John in San Francisco. She would live the rest of her life in Belvedere, California, near to her sister, in a shingle style house by the beach.

In 1962, she began work on The Lucy Show (1962), but the pressures of long-distance commuting didn't suit her, so after three years she limited her herself to guest appearances.

In the 1970s, she discovered commercials were a lucrative way to capitalize on fame, with a 3 year $250,000 contract. She became known as Maxine, in the Maxwell House Commercials.

In 1974, she and her husband moved to Belvedere, California (just north of San Francisco Bay) so she could be near her sister.

Appears on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Early Television Memories issue with Lucille Ball, as Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz in a scene from I Love Lucy: Job Switching (1952). The stamp was issued 11 August 2009.