Love Wasn't Kind To ‘I Love Lucy’ Star Vivian Vance: All About Her 4 Marriages

Feb 12, 2022

Vivian Vance was an American actress best known for portraying Ethel Mertz on the hit sitcom "I Love Lucy." Vance also portrayed Vivian Bagley on the series "The Lucy Show" from 1962 to 1965, with guest appearances from 1967 to 1968. She took home the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1954 for her role as Mertz. Vance was also nominated in the category three other times.

The actress was born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas on July 26, 1909. When she was 6-years-old her family moved to Independence, Kansas, where Vance attended Independence High School and studied drama. Her mother did not approve of her acting, feeling that it clashed with her religious beliefs, but Vance continued anyway. She later left home and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she changed her surname to Vance.

In 1930, the star performed with the Albuquerque Little Theatre and there she performed "This Thing Called Love" and "The Cradle Song," among other plays. In the early 1930s, the theater company gathered funds so Vance could move to New York City and study acting under Eva Le Gallienne. She got her big break when she was cast as Ethel on "I Love Lucy."

In her personal life, Vance was married four times. She divorced her first three husbands and was with her partner John Dodds until her death in 1979. Vance suffered a stroke in 1977 and later was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, which ultimately claimed her life. Keep reading to learn more about Vance's relationships with her friends as well as her marriages.

Actress Nina Arianda enjoyed "I Love Lucy" while she was growing up and was inspired by Vance. "Vivian was very much not Ethel," Arianda said in January 2022. "I didn't know that. This is a woman who had an extensive and successful theater career. She was a very famous torch singer. She was a leading lady. She was this ingenue. Then having known that it makes so much sense, this sort of frustration and struggle that she has in the story and the film and then playing Ethel."

Lucille Ball's daughter, Lucie Arnaz, shared how close her mother was with Vance outside of work. "I grew up with her around a lot. My mother and Vivian were really good friends in real life," Arnaz said in 2020. "They really were good friends. Like sisters good friends, tell each other exactly what's what good friends. And they adored one another. Vivian was one of the funniest people on the planet – truly, truly funny. And when she would get together with my mother, it was lovely."

Before Vance passed away, she spent time with her loved ones. "We had brought Viv down and she was lying on the couch in the living room. They ate lunch and they talked and talked. Viv knew she was dying," Paige Peterson said. "The pain on her face shook me to my core. She was in tears. She couldn't speak. I think Viv gave up after that."

Ball was especially affected by her friend's death. Lucie Arnaz added: "She cried about losing Viv for months after that. Viv was, in many ways, like a sister to my mother. She could talk to Mom like nobody else, and I don't think my mother could confide in many people the way she would with Viv."

Vance struggled in love until she met her husband John Dodds and married him in 1961. It is said that her first husband, Joseph Shearer Danneck Jr., was jealous of the actress's relationship with Ball. "'People are talking about you two,' he'd say. 'You ought to be careful about the hugging and kissing you do on the show,'" Vance shared. 

The star married her first husband in 1928 after she moved to New Mexico. Danneck was also involved with the theater community. However, their relationship wasn't meant to last and they got divorced in 1931. 

After moving to New York City, Vance began searching for work in theater. This was the time in her life when she met violinist George Koch and they soon began dating. The couple was married in 1933 and stayed together until 1940. It was during their marriage that Vance's Broadway career took off.

In 1939, Vance played the role of Myra Strahope in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" on Broadway. Her co-star was actor Philip Ober and the two got along really well. In 1941, he became her third husband. The couple stayed together for 18 years, however, rumors state that Ober was jealous of Vance's success and it ultimately led to their downfall. They were divorced in 1959.

Vance finally found her match when she married editor and publisher John Dodds a few years later, and they were together until the actress passed away in 1979. The star was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012 and is still an inspiration to actors and actresses today.

Are you a fan of Vance's work? Do you know her as Ethel Mertz or Vivian Bagley? Let us know and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family that enjoy "I Love Lucy."