Vivian Blaine

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Vivian Blaine (born Vivian Stapleton; November 21, 1921 – December 9, 1995) was an American actress and singer, best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the

Blaine was born in Newark, New Jersey to Leo Stapleton, an insurance agent,^[1] and Wilhelmina Tepley.^[2] The cherry-blonde-haired Blaine appeared on local stages as early as 1934 and she started touring after graduating from South Side High School.^[3]

Personal appearances

Blaine was a touring singer with dance bands starting in 1937.

At one point in the 1940s, she was the top-billed act at New York's Copacabana nightclub. In his book, Dean and Me: (A Love Story), Jerry Lewis wrote about appearing at the club when Blaine was on the same bill: "We [Lewis and Dean Martin, as the double act Martin and Lewis] weren't even the top-billed act. That honor went to a Broadway singing star named Vivian Blaine, who'd conquered Manhattan, gone out to Hollywood to make movies for 20th Century Fox, then returned to the Big Apple in triumph. Vivian was a lovely and very talented actress and singer ..."^[4]

Film

In 1942, Blaine's agent and soon-to-be husband Manny Franks signed her to a contract with

Following her Fox years, Blaine returned to the stage, making her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls in 1950. Her character Miss Adelaide has been engaged to inveterate gambler Nathan Detroit played by Sam Levene for 14 years, a condition which, according to her song "Adelaide's Lament", has given her a psychosomatic cold as well as chronic heartbreak.^{[citation needed]}

After the show's 1,200-performance Broadway run, Blaine and Levene reprised their roles as Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit in the first UK production of Guys and Dolls, which opened at London's

Blaine was a special guest during the This is Your Life tribute episode to Laurel and Hardy, seen over NBC-TV on December 1, 1954. Blaine had worked with the duo in the film Jitterbugs and had fond memories of the experience.

On the 25th annual

Blaine always commented that working with manager Rob Cipriano reminded her of working with her first husband Manny Franks.^{[citation needed]}

Later in her career, her television career took off, with guest appearances on shows like Fantasy Island, The Love Boat (S2 E9 1978), and a recurring role in the cult hit Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.^[5]

Her final onscreen appearance was in "Broadway Malady", a

Blaine died of congestive heart failure on December 9, 1995, aged 74.[10]

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage work

References

Further reading

• Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2. BearManor Media, 2009.
  ISBN 1-59393-320-7

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vivian Blaine.

• Vivian Blaine at
  IMDb
• Vivian Blaine at the Internet Broadway Database
• Vivian Blaine at Rotten Tomatoes
• Vivian Blaine at AllMovie
• Vivian Blaine at Find a Grave
• Vivian Blaine Papers at the New York Public Library
• Blaine performing "Adelaide's Lament" on Tony Awards on
  YouTube
• Vivian Blaine papers, 1916-1995, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts