Vivian Vance~Ethel Mertz

"I Love Lucy" director Marc Daniels, who had worked with Vance in a theater production of "Counselor at Law," suggested her for the role of Ethel Mertz. Daniels took Desi Arnaz to see her in a revival of "The Voice of the Turtle," and they both knew at once that they had found the right actress to play opposite Lucille Ball.

Ball and Vance were not easily convinced. Vance, who was starting to get some movie roles, viewed herself as a glamorous Broadway actress--not as a frumpy, overweight, comedic landlady. For her part, Ball saw Vance as direct competition. Vance was a svelte young lady with beautiful hair. Lucille Ball complained that Vance was not the peroxide-blond-in-an-old-frayed-bathrobe that Ball envisioned.

Once Vance had decided she wanted the role she did everything possible to convince Lucille Ball that she was Ethel Mertz. She even spent the entire run of the "I Love Lucy" show twenty pounds overweight. This commitment to the role gained Vance several Best Supporting Actress Emmy nominations. She finally won an Emmy in 1953.

After "I Love Lucy" ended, Vance auditioned for a comedy series of her own- "Guestward Ho!"-but the lead role eventually went to another actress. Vance went happily into retirement with her new husband, literary agent John Dodds, and moved to Stamford Connecticut.

In 1962 it took quite a bit of pressure and some complicated contract negotiations to persuade Vance to commute weekly to the west coast for "The Lucy Show." Vance asked that her character name be changed to Vivian from Ethel and she also asked permission to lose the extra twenty pounds that she had carried during "I Love Lucy." She also bargained for a more glamorous wardrobe as well.

After three seasons (1962-1965), Vance had had enough of her weekly coastal commutes and she returned to her life of retirement in Connecticut She did, however, appear in yearly reunion episodes of "The Lucy Show" until 1972. She continued to make appearances on Lucille Ball's specials as well as on other television series, including "Love American Style" and "Rhoda."

Vivian Vance died on August 17, 1979.

Born Ethel Mae Potter of Alburquerque, New Mexico, Ethel married bit-part vaudeville performer, Fred Mertz. The Mertzes settled in New York City and invested their money in an apartment building at 623 East 68th Street. This gives the Mertzes a place to live and a comfortable income, but not much else as Ethel has discovered over her nearly 25 years of marriage to tightwad Fred. When the Ricardos moved in upstairs, life became more interesting. Now Ethel can scheme with the best of them and put some fizz back into a marriage that went flat long ago.