Vivian Vance

(1998). Withers was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002. The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance by Frank Castelluccio & Alvin Walker, published by Knowledge, Ideas & Trends, Inc. Withers' most recent screen performance was as the music teacher in the film Shine (1996) for which she and the other cast members were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild for "Outstanding Performance By A Cast". She was also the first person to win the Best Supporting Actress Emmy. They are the parents of the actors Nicholas McCallum and Joanna McCallum. Vivan Vance played a significant part in the history of television She defined the role of second banana, paving the way for future female sidekicks. Married to Australian actor John McCallum since 1948, the couple met on a film set in Britain, and returned to Australia where both worked frequently in television together and appeared in a number of stage productions.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 1977 and died in 1979. Throughout her career she has appeared frequently in film, television, and theater. Her final television appearance was on the last CBS Lucy production, Lucy Calls the President, which aired November 21, 1977, and featured many of the cast members from The Lucy Show. Among her successes of the 1940s was One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942), a topical World War II drama in which she played a resistance fighter who helps British airmen return to safety from behind enemy lines. During the mid-1970s she took small roles on sitcoms such as Rhoda. Her best known work of the period was as one of Margaret Lockwood's friends in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). Over the next several years, Vance appeared occasionally alongside Ball on reunion shows and for guest appearances on Here's Lucy. During the 1930s she was constantly in demand in lead roles in minor films and supporting roles in more prestigious productions.

She remained with the show for three of its six years before retiring to Connecticut. She arrived on the set to find one of the major players in the production had been dismissed, and she was immediately asked to step into the role. Vance paired once again with Ball for The Lucy Show, her first post-Arnaz series, and this time was permitted to look more glamorous as Vivian Bagley, a divorced mother of one son. She was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work as a film extra. (Vance's then real-life husband, Phil Ober, frequently played small supporting roles on the series, most notably as producer Dore Scharey in one of the Hollywood episodes.). Born Georgette Lizette Withers she began acting at the age of 12. She and Frawley were a perfect match as the bickering Mertzes, since they detested each other in real life. Googie Withers (born March 12, 1917 in Karachi, Pakistan) is a British actress.

Vance's character was the less than prosperous resident of a New York City brownstone owned by her and her husband Fred (William Frawley). A somewhat youthful looking and attractive woman, Vance was required to wear frumpy clothes that were actually a size smaller than Vance usually wore in order to make her appear overweight. Lucille Ball was less than sure; she had envisioned Ethel Mertz as much older and less attractive than Vance. Upon seeing Vance, Arnaz knew he had found the perfect Ethel.

He found her at the La Jolla Playhouse's production of The Voice of the Turtle. Benadaret was unavailable due to a previous commitment so Arnaz went looking for another actress. When casting his new sitcom I Love Lucy, starring himself and wife Lucille Ball, Ball's first choice for the role of landlady Ethel Mertz was Bea Benadaret. During the early years of her career she played small roles in a few films, but worked primarily as a stage actress, appearing in a total of thirty-eight productions throughout her career.

. Vivian Vance (July 26, 1909-August 17, 1979) was an American actress, born in Cherryvale, Kansas as Vivian Roberta Jones.