Vivian Roberta Jones was born on 26 July 1909, in Cherryvale, Kansas USA, and was a singer and actress, perhaps best remembered for being part of the sitcom “I Love Lucy” as Ethel Merts, Lucille Ball’s sidekick. She was also part of “The Lucy Show”, and all of her endeavors helped put her net worth to where it was prior to her passing in 1979.
How rich was Vivian Vance? As of late-2016, sources estimate a net worth that was at $10 million, mostly earned through a successful career in acting and music. She had parts in numerous films and was also a part of several Broadway productions. All of these achievements ensured the position of her wealth.
Vivian Vance Net Worth $10 million
Vance attended Independence High School, and during her time there, focused on dramatic studies. However, she was discouraged by her mother, and this led her to move to New Mexico, finding work as an actress, debuting in 1930 when she performed at the Albaquerque Little Theatre, which would be the start of an extensive career on stage. She appeared in productions of “The Cradle Song” and “This Thing Called Love”. The theatre community would later help her move to New York City and study there.
In 1932, Vance started appearing in various Broadway productions, usually as a member of the chorus. Eventually, she began getting supporting roles including in the musical “Hooray for What!” One of her most successful performances was in “Let’s Face It”, in which she played Cole Porter; the production would go on to have over 500 performances, increasing her net worth significantly. In 1947, Vivian decided to move to California to pursue theatre and film projects, and during this period, she appeared in films such as “The Secret Fury” and “The Blue Veil”, which got her a little bit of attention but not much else.
In 1951, the new television sitcom “I Love Lucy” was casting, and Vance was recommended for the role of Ethel Mertz – Desi Arnaz saw her performance in the play “The Voice of the Turtle” which helped him decide on offering her the role, despite hesitations from Lucille Ball, and the two would eventually grow to become friends. In the show, Vance played the landlady opposite her on-screen husband William Frawley. Despite the chemistry the two had on screen, they never got along off-screen. For her performances, Vivian became the first actress to win a TV Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and her popularity on the show helped her rise in net worth. She was nominated three more times in the following years before the series ended. After the end of “I Love Lucy”, she continued to play Ethel Mertz in the specials entitled “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show”.
In 1962, Vivian was cast in “The Lucy Show” with conditions that she would be named Vivian and that she would wear better clothing; she portrayed the first divorcee to ever appear in a weekly television series in America, and would play the role until 1965, subsequently making three more guest appearances in the show. She was then cast in the film “The Great Race” which was a moderate success and received several nominations for an Academy Award. She would make her return to Broadway in 1969’s “My Daughter, Your Son” which had a successful national tour.
In the later part of her career, she appeared more as a guest in various television shows, including a recurring appearance in “Here’s Lucy”. She also became an endorser of Maxwell House Coffee.
For her personal life, it is known that Vivian was married four times, firstly to Joseph Shearer Danneck, Jr. from 1928 to 1931, secondly in 1933 to George Koch and their marriage would last for seven years. She then married Philip Ober in 1941 divorcing in 1959. Her final marriage was to John Dodds from 1961 until her death in 1979. She passed away due to bone cancer which resulted from breast cancer that was diagnosed years earlier. She was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.
