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Remembering a great lady 34 years later...

July 26, 1909 - August 17, 1979

This great actress had an incredible career on Broadway in the 1930's and 40's but it wasn't until she began playing the role of Ethel Mertz in 1951 that she became a household name.  On "I Love Lucy" she played Ethel to Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo and together they were two zany housewives always on a mission.  Their husbands were Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley) respectively.  The show ran from 1951 until 1957 and then the cast played the same characters on 13 Lucy-Desi specials between 1957 and 1960.  In 1962 she returned to television once again with Ball to appear as Vivian Bagley in "The Lucy Show."  This character would turn out to be the first divorced woman in prime time American television.  She left the series in 1965 but returned for regular guest appearances.  Ball's third series, "Here's Lucy", ran from 1968 to 1974, her old pal appeared in six episodes between 1968 and 1972.  She last worked with Lucille in the 1977 special "Lucy Calls the President."

On the big screen she appeared in three films, The Blue Veil, The Secret Fury and The Great Race.  Television guest appearances include "The Buick-Berle Show", "Shower of Stars", "The Deputy", "The Red Skelton Show" (5 episodes as Clara Appleby), "Love, American Style" and "Rhoda."  Her final screen apperance was in an episode of "Sam" which aired on April 18, 1978. 

In 1954 she became the first person to win an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series. 

She left us on this day 34 years ago...

In Memoriam Remembers:
Vivian Vance

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