Vivian Vance Article
The Sunday Record, August 19, 1979
The Sunday Record, August 19, 1979
Vivian Vance, Actress
Belevedere, Calif. (AP) - "The world has lost one of the great performers of the stage, films, and television," said Miss Lucille Ball on the death of her friend, Vivian Vance.
Miss Vance, the actress known to millions as Ethel Mertz on the "I Love Lucy" television program, died of cancer Friday at age 66.
"I have lost one of the best friends I have ever had," said Miss Ball, who had visited Miss Vance shortly before her death. "I shall miss her terribly."
Miss Vance, who died at her home, had been ill "for quite a while," said Howard McClay of Lucille Ball Productions in Los Angeles.
No formal funeral services are planned, McClay said, but a private memorial probably will be held.
Born Vivian Bagley in Cherryvale, Kan., on July 26, 1913, Miss Vance appeared with Miss Ball, Desi Arnaz- Miss Ball's former husband and costar- and William Frawley on the CBS-TV show from 1950 to 1961. Frawley died in 1966.
Miss Vance also appeared intermittently as Miss Ball's sidekick in "The Lucy Show," which later became "Here's Lucy" on CBS. That show ran from 1962 to 1974.
Her last apperance with Miss Ball was in a 1977 TV special for the same network.
Broadway shows in which she appeared included "Music in the Air", "Anything Goes," "Red Hot and Blue," "Kiss the Boy's Goodbye," "Hooray for What," "Skylark," "Let's Face It," amd "Voice of the Turtle."
Among her film credits were "Secret Fury" and "Blue Veil."
Despite her links to Hollywood, Miss Vance said she never felt at home there and in 1962 moved to a 125 year-old, white, Colonial -style house in Connecticut.
She latter moved to San Francisco Bay area, McClay said.
The actress is survived by her husband, publisher John Dodds. She had one brother and three sisters.
This article appeared in The Sunday Record, August 19, 1979
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