Vivian Vance, who played the late Lucille Ball's pal Ethel Mertz in the hit television series "I Love Lucy," has been honored posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
About 100 people turned out for the recent ceremony sponsored by the Vivian Vance Memorial Foundation. Vance died of cancer in 1979.Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Ball and the late Desi Arnaz, said the blond-haired, blue-eyed Vance inspired her to pursue acting.
"Vivian always told me to follow my heart," said the star of the new CBS television series "Sons and Daughters."
Madelyn Pugh, one of the original writers for "I Love Lucy," said, "Whenever Lucy was doing a comic stunt, we'd pan the camera to Vivian and she always had a look of horror or astonishment that made it twice as funny. There will never again be an Ethel Mertz."
Vance's star, at Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive, was the 1,930th on the Walk of Fame. It's nine blocks from the star honoring Ball.
The "I Love Lucy" veteran began her career as a stage actress. Desi Arnaz discovered her in 1951 in a production of "The Voice of the Turtle" at the La Jolla Playhouse and immediately signed her to the role of Ethel.