Rating: 
Summary: Blech
Review: I couldn't imagine in my WILDEST dreams that someone could have taken a interesting life like Vivian Vance's and made it boring...the author has.
Check it out at the library for the photos...borrow it from a friend...buy it if you have to...but only at a deep discount...you won't be happy that you purchased it...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Rating: 
Summary: A EXCELLENT BOOK! YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN.
Review: This book is excellent! It was very interesting and well written. I couldn't put it down. Vivian Vance was one of the most under-rated actresses. I have watched "I Love Lucy" episodes all my life and wondered who Vivan Vance really was, since I really knew nothing about her. For that matter, never heard much about her. She was a excellent actress! Vivan Vance was the opposite of the charatcher she played as "Ethel Mertz" on "I love Lucy". You will be surprised, saddened, and just totally caught up in this book. I couldn't get enought of it. I throughly enjoyed this detailed story of her life. I highly reccomend it!
Rating: 
Summary: The other side of the second banana that we never saw
Review: Whenever you hear the name Ethel Mertz, you think of the cheap, overweight, second banana that has entertained us for years. But, believe it or not, she was very different from the well known, Ethel Mertz. She started out as Vivian Jones, born in Kansas. She grew up with a family that discouraged her from show business. Although it was her dream, it was taken away from her in her later childhood. But even with the discouragement from her mother, she found her way into broadway and eventually into her Ethel Mertz part. This book gives so many interesting facts about her that no one could have known. It tells about her relationship with Lucy and Desi, their kids, and Bill Frawley. It tells you about the inside facts of the I Love Lucy set and what happened afterwards, as well as many facts about her life before I Love Lucy. It shows her life up until she died in 1979 and even adds here and there what Lucy was what up to after I Love Lucy for those who can't stand to be without her for long periods of time. There are many really nice black and white rare pictures that are great! This book is definetely for any fan of Lucy and Desi and Vivian who wants to know more about that second banana who has charmed the lives of all for the past 50 years.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully written biography on Vivian Vance!
Review: I have been a fan of "The I Love Lucy show" for many years,
and also of Vivian Vance. I really enjoyed this book, and learned a lot about her professional and personel life. It's a great book, and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great biography on the very talented actress Vivian Vance
Review: Having been a fan of the "I Love Lucy" show for years I decided to read this book, as I'm a fan of Vivian Vance. She was just perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz. This biography on her is well written and researched.
Rating:
Summary: a salute to the "Queen of second bananas..."
Review: THE OTHER SIDE OF ETHEL MERTZ is a highly readable and very informative biography on the life and work of Vivian Vance. I have been watching I Love Lucy for years, and the magic of Ethel Mertz's sarcasm, wit and outspoken spirit are no doubt the mirror of Vivian Vance's real-life personality. She fought for her place on the Lucy Show, despite Lucille Ball's animosity towards her, and several attempts at having Vance fired. Of course, money was often at the center of the disputes. Vance fairly enough wanted her fair share of the loot as a leading actress on a hit TV show of its time.The first-time authors, Mr. Castellucio and Mr. Walker, have done excellent work culling all their research into a very absorbing Hollywood tv-land bio. There's plenty of anecdotes to laugh and cry over. Vivian Vance was a master at playing "second banana" to Lucille Ball. She got her start in Vaudeville and radio, before making it to the TV Big Time with I Love Lucy, then later rejoining Ball on the Lucy Show. Vance was a very gifted comedienne, and she took her work very seriously. There are many stories of her conflicts with not only Ball, but especially with her tv husband, Fred, played by William Frawley. I won't give away any details, but the stories are a real insider's look at the all-time classic of sitcoms. I Love Lucy is where it all started and where it ends. No one has even come close to matching the sense of not only comedy, but camaraderie and friendship that has been and will continue to be a nightly fixture on TVs in living rooms around the world. Hopefully, we'll see a comprehensive DVD collection of all the episodes with documentary features sometime soon. Highly recommended not only for LUCY fans, but for fans of the golden age of show biz!!
Rating:
Summary: What I didn't know DID hurt ME
Review: This was a very well written and researched book. The funny stories and interviews had me laughing and crying for Vivian Vance because it depicted her as a real person with problems, worries, and anxieties just like the rest of us in this world. The FLip side of the coin is that knowing all this about Vivian and receiving information on other characters such as her relationship with William Frawley has made me a little leary about watching the I Love Lucy Show. Knowing that Bill Frawley was as mean to her as he was, how he hated to speak to her and abhored doing scenes with her, and that Lucille BaLL had this little "competition" thing going on with Viv, kind of sheds a different light on the show entirely. The truth of the matter is that for me I Love Lucy should be I Love Vivian! Vivian Vance was the reason that LuciLLe BaLL was as successful as she was on the I Love Lucy series. Knowing everything that I now have learned about Vivian Vance from reading this book has in a way cooled the flame of the show a little bit for me. I now find that I have a hard time actually sitting and watching the show without knowing something about a particular scene, or comment that I find disturbing in an ethical, moral sort of conflict... but I'LL never go "Lucy or Viv free", no matter what! The book was wonderfuLLy informative, and very heart felt. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An enlightening look at the life of Vivian Vance
Review: I was really pleased to find this bio of Vivian Vance, as the multitudinous books about Lucille Ball & the I Love Lucy Show never really told much, if anything, about her. This was an extremely talented woman, who worked hard at her craft. It could very well be that had she not been discovered by Desi Arnaz, Jess Oppenheimer & Marc Daniels while performing in the play Voice Of The Turtle, Vivian may have become one of the finest stage actresses of her generation. Desi & his producers knew immediately that she was THE ONE to portray Ethel Mertz. Needless to say, despite all of her insecurites & ailments, Vivian went on to become a television icon, albeit very reluctantly. There was a love-hate relationship with Lucille Ball, who soon realized with Viv's perfect timing that she couldn't have done her shows without her. Lucy grew to respect & admire Vivian, allowing her to come up with ideas & suggestions to make the I Love Lucy show even better as time went on. Most of us fans of the show are all too well aware of Vivian's bitter feud with Bill Frawley, they hated each other on sight. Viv resented having the 20-something years older Frawley portraying her husband, Fred, as well as having to look frumpy next to Lucy Ricardo(something Ms. Ball demanded from the very start). The story of Vivian Vance was not always a happy one, but this wonderful woman was more than just a television pioneer, she was all too human & had her quirks & insecurities like everyone else. Despite failing health, Ms. Vance performed on stage up until she became too seriously ill to continue. It's all here, her many stage & television roles, an occasional film role, her friendships & marriages. Highly recommended not just for fans of the I Love Lucy show, but especially for fans of the late, great Vivian Vance.
Rating:
Summary: Lots Of Interesting Info...
Review: on the lady who played Ethel Mertz in the classic "I Love Lucy" television series. One of the things I found most interesting was the passion this lady had for life and her profession. Also covered is the nervous breakdown she endured and the well documented feud between her and co-star William Frawley. This is a special glimpse at one of the best character actors we have ever had. As an added bonus, there are many rare photographs in this book. This is a must for any fan of "I Love Lucy."
Rating:
Summary: Solid job except...
Review: As is observed in this book, I LOVE LUCY without the Mertzes would probably not have been an immortal show, and more properly it was Vivian Vance who was key to the chemistry that made this show such an icon. It was high time there was a book about her, and what we get is a solid narration of an interesting story. Vance was a working third banana on the New York stage of the Golden Era, respected and dependable but never quite hitting the top, just missing getting Mary Martin's spot in LEAVE IT TO ME, just missing a key role in CAROUSEL, etc. One can read quite a bit about musicals and straight plays of this era without realizing that the future Ethel Mertz was one of the people regularlly filling key character roles on the Great White Way. The "slice of life" of one of the "state-of-the-art" performers in this world is great reading. After this we get to Vance's work with Lucille Ball, and at this point, if one has already read the growing number of books on Lucy and her television work, there is really only so much more to be said that hasn't been said before. This is not the authors' fault, however, and they more than compensate with fascinating information about Vance's two main marriages and her bout with depression. If there is one flaw in this book, it is that the authors appear to lose interest in their subject after Vance leaves THE LUCY SHOW. Vance was quite distraught that she was forever associated with the Ethel character, and yet for the last fifteen years of her life, the authors -- belying that what they are at heart is Lucy fans who came to wonder what was up with Vivian Vance -- seem mainly interested in her life to the extent that it occasionally reconnected with Lucy's. Yet during this period Vance did several theatre tours and stock appearances and television productions. Things like this can make interesting reading as well -- witness William Henry III's book on Jackie Gleason, THE GREAT ONE -- but the authors seem to consider all of this mere "postscripts", not having gone to the trouble to view the TV appearances, dig up info on most of the plays. I now feel like I more or less knew the Vance of her New York days, but the post-LUCY Vance remains a kind of footnote. However, overall, hats off to the authors for bringing this wonderful performer to light. Now it's time for someone to give Eve Arden similar treatment...
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