Blaine, Vivian, 1921-1995

Although she appeared in nightclubs, film, television, and theater from the late 1930s through the mid 1980s, singer and actress, Vivian Blaine (1921-1995), is best remembered for having originated the role of Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (1950).

Born Vivian Stapleton in Newark, New Jersey, Blaine was exposed to the word of show business at an early age through her father, Lionel Stapleton, a theatrical booking agent. She attended the Academy of Dramatic Art at age twelve, and, by fourteen, she was working as a big band singer in nightclubs in New Jersey and New York. During her early singing career, she tried out a series of stage names, finally settling on Vivian Blaine. Blaine was spotted by a talent scout from 20th Century Fox Motion Picture Studio, who signed to her first film contract. After playing a series of minor roles, Blaine filled in for Alice Faye in a starring role in Greenwich Village (1944). Although she continued to have starring roles in such films as Doll Face (1945) and State Fair (1945), Blaine became frustrated with the progress of her film career and she decided to buy up her contract from Fox. She moved back to New York, where she booked nightclub singing and touring theater engagements. After Blaine had been back in New York for a few years, she was cast as Miss Adelaide, the nasal-voiced, long-suffering fiancé of gambler Nathan Detroit in Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls. For this role, she won the Donaldson Award for Best Debut Performance by an Actress. Blaine went on to recreate her performance in the London production, the 1955 film version, and various revivals. After her stage triumph in Guys and Dolls, Blaine made a few unsuccessful attempts to reestablish a film career with Skirts Ahoy (1952) and Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957) and she worked steadily in television and as a recording artist during the 1950s. However, in the latter part of her career, she primarily worked in theater. Blaine made her first foray into serious acting when she replaced Shelley Winters in A Hatful of Rain in 1954. She originated starring roles in the Jule Styne/Comden & Green musical, Say, Darling (1958), and the comedy, Enter Laughing (1963). From the 1960s through the early 1980s, Blaine continued to perform in many touring, regional, and stock productions and also did occasional work on film and television projects. Blaine retired from performing in 1985.

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