She was already an accomplished nightclub performer and band singer by the time 20th Century-Fox signed her to a contract (from 1942-1947). But before her contract was finalized her agent & soon to be husband Manny Franks made her loose 40 pounds, despite this her early film work in 1942, "Thru Different Eyes" & "Girl Trouble", paled alongside her show stopping work on the stage & showed little promise. Vivian then improved with the help of Laurel and Hardy was the only person to share top billing with the dynamic duo in "Jitterbugs" (1943).”Jitterbugs" is considered by many to be the duo's best film at 20th.

After threatening to quit unless her roles improved Vivian, got an opportunity to strut her stuff in the Technicolor escapism of "Greenwich Village" (1944) & "State Fair" (1945),the film in which she introduced the song "That's For Me", & with Dick Haymes, "Isn't It Kinda Fun?". "State Fair" featured the only original score written exclusively for film by Rodgers and Hammerstein, (the film also won an Oscar for the song "It might as well be spring"). Vivian become known, & was promoted, as the cherry blonde, because of her extraordinary hair color as shown in the Technicolor films "If I'm Lucky" & , the remake of "Three Blind Mice" ,"Three Little Girls in Blue"  (both 1946), which followed "State Fair" in rapid succession, along with "Doll Face" (1945) in which Vivian received, for the first time, top billing as the burlesque queen "Doll Face Carol" , The film was written by Gypsy Rose Lee & also stared Carmen Mirranda & Perry Como (who introduced the hit song "A Hubba, Hubba, Hubba" in the film), but unusually Vivian had very few songs of interest.

Vivian than returned to the stage touring in various musicals & in vaudeville acts, before making her Broadway debut in "Guys and Dolls" (1950). Here she created one of musical theatre's best-loved characters, & is best noted for her characterization of, Miss Adelaide. Vivian gave a delightful performance, & stopped the show every night, as the dancer who has been waiting for 14 years in the hope that her fiancé, Nathan Detroit, will finally abandon his floating crap game & marry her. Her frustration boiled over in "Sue Me", & was splendid in the ensemble numbers "Take Back Your Mink" & "A Bushel and a Peck" with the girls at the "Hot Box" nightclub.

However, her stand-out song was "Adelaide's Lament", in which she shared the knowledge, that there seems to be a direct relationship between long engagements & ill-health. Vivian turned out to be a top comedian & became the toast of Broadway. Her performance as a tough but Virtuous dumb blonde helped make it the biggest musical of the season & in 1953 she repeated her success at the London Coliseum.

Following her triumph in "Guys & Dolls”; Vivian replaced Shelly Winters in the dramatic Broadway play "A Hat Full of Rain. She then consequently toured with the show. Ms Winters later wrote about Vivian's characterization of Celia in her autobiography: " Her interpretation was so different from mine - good but different". Evan though Vivian had briefly reappeared on screen as Pinky Lee’s co-host in the television series "Those Two” (1952 – 1953) & in the MGM patriotic film “Skirts Ahoy!” (1952), she almost exclusively devoted herself to the stage, however after appearing in the London Production of “Guys & Dolls”, Vivian returned to the silver screen to reprise her role as Adelaide in the 1955 film version (which also stared Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Jean Simmions). That same year Vivian appeared as a surprise guest to Laurel & Hardy in "This is Your Life" , this was the only time the comedic team made a live appearance on screen.

In 1956 Vivian divorced her first husband of 11 years, talent representative, Manny Franks, and married he second husband Milton Rackmil in 1959 - Milton was the President of Universal Studios and Decca Records. With her second marriage Vivian decided to retire from show business, but cut various mercury records during this time including: "Annie Get Your Gun", "Pal Joey", "The Great White Way" & "Vivian Blaine Live in Hollywood". Happiness was not to last however as her second marriage ended within 2 years, & Vivian returned to the stage.

Apart from her role in "Guys & Dolls" Vivian also originated roles in "Say Darling"(1959) & "Enter Laughing" (1963), on Broadway. She then subsequently appeared in a number of plays such as "Don’t Drink the Water" (partnered with Sam Levine C1967) & toured extensively in musical revivals, including "Hello, Dolly!", "Gypsy", "Cabaret", and "I Do! I Do!", Touring meant that Vivian had to endure the long train trips late at night as the company traveled from one engagement to the next while eating "Take out".

Vivian was prized for her comedic talent & had been touring extensively in “Don’t Drink the Water” when in the summer of 1969 Hal Prince cast her as Hortense in the National Tour of "Zorba". The tour did well & was seemingly better received than the Broadway version, running for about a year. In the spring of 1971 Vivian sang her signature song "Adelaide's Lament" at the "25th TONY Anniversary" an awards show which aired on National TV on November 1, 1971. This led to a revival of her TV career were Vivian guest stared in soap operas like: "Fantasy Island", "Love Boat", "Viva Los Vegas" &, "Murder, She Wrote". Vivian also secured a semi regular role on the soap opera spoof "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (a big T.V. series in the 1970’s).

In the fall of 1971 Vivian was back on Broadway succeeding Jane Russell as Joanne in “Company” and played it until the show closed in January 1972. This was an important and successful transition into older parts as Vivian was just turning 50 – a difficult time for women in show business – just seven years earlier she had been playing the daughter in “Enter Laughing” & five years earlier had reprised her role as Adelaide at the London Centre (1966). In the summer of 1973 Vivian appeared in summer stock with Robert Alda, Hildegarde, Lynn Bari and Selma Diamond in "FOLLIES". At some point after that Vivian was cast in the national road tour of "TWIGS".

For the next decade or more Vivian was back in Hollywood & while juggling with a flourishing stage career appeared in low budget Science Fiction films like: "Richard" (1972), "The Dark" (1978), "Parasite" (1982), & "I'm Going to Be Famous" (1983), among others. And In 1984 she steps in, for just a few weeks, in the reworked "Zorba" with Anthony Quinn, after which, & four decades of continuous work, Vivian decided to retire from theatre and film.

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