VIVI JANISS

May 29, 1911

Vivi Janiss was born Vivian Audrey Jamison in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents were traveling theatricals in the Midwest in the 1920s and 1930s, eventually settling in California.  On Broadway,

she introduced what became the Vernon Duke standard, “I Like the Likes of You” in the 1934 Ziegfeld Follies. 

She made her screen debut on TV’s courtroom drama “Your Witness” in December 1949.  

Vivi Janiss makes her first appearance on “I Love Lucy” as a member of the bridge club in “No Children Allowed” (ILL S2;E22). 

Filmed on March 20, 1953, it was aired a month later. 

She would later play return to play Louanne Hall in “The Charm School” (ILL S3;E15).  Louanne is married to Tom (Tyler McVey). They are the third couple at the party where the men are always in the kitchen and the women are always in the living room – until sexy Eve Whitney shows up!  Filmed December 10, 1953, it aired on January 25, 1954. 

She was married to Tyler McVey again in a January 1957 episode of “Gunsmoke”.  She played Sara Braxton, battered wife of Sam (McVey), who is jailed for his abuse. 

In April 1956, she appeared on Desilu’s “Cavalcade of America” in “The Jackie Jennsen Story”. 

In May 1959, she made an appearance on “The Danny Thomas Show”, a series filmed by Desilu Studios.  A few months earlier, the series did a cross-over episode with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in which Lucy and Desi played The Ricardos.  

In December 1959 she appeared on “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” production “The Hanging Judge” introduced by Desi Arnaz and starring James Whitmore. 

Her final screen role was the 1983 direct-to-video film The Young Landlords, released in Spain as Modernos Robin Hoods. 

She was the second wife of actor Bob Cummings, to whom she was wed from 1935 to 1943. She was also the voice of Walt Disney’s Daisy Duck.  

Vivi Janiss died on September 7, 1988, at age 77.