Vivian Vance: America’s Favorite Female Sidekick

by Lisa Stanley

Everybody loved Lucy. Part of what made America tune in week after week was the anticipation of what new scheme Lucy and Ethel would cook up next! More importantly- how were the girls going to wiggle out of this weeks minor catastrophe unscathed. Indeed, I Love Lucy remains one of the most beloved TV shows in history, and still in syndication over 5o years after its first premiered. But Lucy couldn’t pull it off alone- she had the best girlfriend any gal could ask for.

Vivian Vance portrayed Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s partner in crime. Vivian Roberta Jones was born July 26, 1909, in Cherryvale, Kansas, not in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, she would sometimes claim in later interviews. Ethel Mertz was the frumpy old housewife to an even older, frumpier Fred Mertz (played by vaudevillian William Frawley). In real life Lucille Ball was older than Vivian but she changed that in the shows plotline, demanding more makeup, better lighting, and other measures that did cause at times heavy animosity between the 2 women. But the actresses would remain close friends until Vivian’s death.

Vivian’s mother, Euphemia, was a religious fanatic, with destroyed ambitions for a stage career, and was bitterly opposed to Vivians early love of acting. As soon as Vivian could, she left her parents home with her sights set on Broadway. About her childhood, Vivian would later recall, “ Dorothy was so happy to wake up in Kansas. No, not I! I’d have looked for another cyclone and stood right in its path!” She was a trained soprano, and in the years preceding I Love Lucy, had moderate success performing in Broadway plays and comedies. She would share the stage with legends Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Ed Wynn, and Gypsy Rose Lee.

In 1945, while performing in the play, Voice of the Turtle, Vivian suffered a mental breakdown, and for the next 3 years secluded herself with her husband, Phil Ober, at their New Mexico ranch. While playing the same character again 3 years later she was spotted by Ball’s husband, bandleader Desi Arnaz, and deemed perfect as the best friend/ neighbor for his wife’s character in the new TV sitcom they were getting ready to film. Hesitant at first because TV was such a new medium at the time, Vivian decided that at least she would get 13 weeks of salary from it, expecting the project to fail.

 

It was a move that would make her financially sound for the rest of her life and would endear her to millions long after her death. From 1951 thru 1959, Ball and Vance played their zany characters of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz, a truly magical time in TV history. The show ended and by 1961 both women were in new marriages. She continued guest appearances through the early 1970’s on various TV shows, but she became ill and in 1973 was diagnosed with breast cancer. On August 17, 1979, Vivian died shortly after bone marrow cancer was discovered.

Vivian made her mark on television history with her role of Ethel Mertz. She was the first female actress to be awarded an Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress in 1954. Vivian was blessed with a rare comedic talent that matched Lucille Ball step by step and in doing so proved to herself and to TV viewers that she earned the right to be called America’s Favorite Female TV Sidekick.
 

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