Vivian Vance (Kansas Historic Society)
The lady fellow character actress Mary Wickes known as “the best second blueberry within the business” might have switched 100 on Sunday, This summer 26. Vivian Vance was created Vivian Roberta Johnson in 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas.
Based on biographers Frank Castelluccio and Alvin Master, it always bothered Vance that they was inextricably linked within the public mind with frumpy landlady Ethel Mertz within the situation comedy I Really Like Lucy.
They quote her as saying, “When I die, you will see individuals who send Ethel flowers. I’ll reach paradise and someone will say, ‘Hi, Ethel! I see you're still in re-runs!’”
Additionally they chronicle her ambivalent exposure to Lucy star Lucille Ball. Ball what food was in once Vance’s nearest friend along with a supply of bitterness. Playing second fiddle doesn’t sit easily around the ego. No complete professional success after or before her collaborations with Ball, Vance understandably wished to become a star by herself. She thought about being free from Lucy and free from Ethel.
If Vance could appreciate everyday her career today, however (she died in 1979), history might demonstrate to her the need for her work. I Really Like Lucy led the way for most television comedies that adopted it, both when it comes to technique and when it comes to narrative.
Additionally, it gave viewers an eternal type of supportive friendship. Lucy and Ethel were the forerunners of numerous TV woman pals in the future, such as the eponymous heroines of Laverne Shirley. all Charlie’s Angels. and Cybill and Maryann of Cybill.
When my pal Teri Tynes and I did previously stop by on one another over the courtyard in our Austin, Texas, apartment complex, the Casa del Rio, we loved to consult ourselves as Mary and Rhoda (in homage towards the Mary Tyler Moore Show ). We're able to as fast have known as ourselves Lucy and Ethel. Their relationship epitomized enhanced comfort, companionship, and adventurous spirit we felt with one another and thought during these television friends.
Certainly one of Vivian Vance’s frustrations was that they was frequently known as upon to react in I Really Like Lucy instead of to do something. It had been Ethel’s grimacing face that told us that Lucy was thinking of doing something crazy, Ethel’s careful listening that gave Lucy an opportunity to talk about her latest plan.
Reaction is most of friendship—and most of effective acting. The like this anniversary of Vivian Vance’s birth let’s give second bananas everywhere their due. When the blueberry bread comes from the oven no-one can tell in which the first blueberry ended and also the second blueberry required over. (I'm able to’t determine how to handle the 3rd blueberry within this metaphor. William Frawley, anybody?)
Second Blueberry Bread
This recipe originates from another Lucy/Ethel Mary/Rhoda friend, my graduate-school housemate Sara Stone. Sara is most likely probably the most generous person I understand. Within the this past year of my doctorate program I had been convinced I'd only a few days to take my dissertation. Sara asked me to stick with her until it had been finished. It required NINE Several weeks! Sara never complained she just provided unconditional support and shelter (as well as grocery money). And she or he can prepare, too! People need buddies like Sara.
Obviously, I’m still in the dark about which people was Lucy and which Ethel.
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter at 70 degrees
1 cup sugar
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Grease a typical loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 325 levels.
Inside a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir within the bananas, after which beat within the eggs. Beat within the sodium bicarbonate and salt then lightly stir the flour in to the butter mixture. Add some pecans if preferred.
Bake until a toothpick placed into the middle of the loaf arrives dry. (Sara likes her bread a little mushier than this, but my loved ones wants it firm.) Within my oven I am inclined to bake it to have an hour, then switch off the oven and then leave it for an additional fifteen minutes or so—but go ahead and test out your bread as well as your oven.
Awesome the loaf on the rack for 25 minutes then release it to the rack to complete cooling.
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Note from Tinky this year: Vivian Vance fans should read this article in regards to a Vivian Vance archive (including wonderful photos). Enjoy&...&....
And Lucy enthusiasts may want to consider my undertake the finish of I Really Like Lucy .