Vivian Smolen (March 7, 1916 – June 11, 2006) was an actress in the era of

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

. She is best known for her work in

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s, especially portraying Sunday Brinthrope, the title character in ''

Our Gal Sunday ''Our Gal Sunday'' is an American soap opera produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, network broadcast via CBS from March 29, 1937, to January 2, 1959, starring Dorothy Lowell and, after Lowell's 1944 death, Vivian Smolen in the title role. The orig ...

'' and Laurel, the daughter of the title character in '' Stella Dallas''. Decades after those roles ended, an article in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' said: "When Vivian Smolen Klein speaks, people listen. There is something in her voice, a memory, a hint of something bygone, something that once was very important."

Early years

Smolen was born in New York City. As an elementary school student, she auditioned and won a part in ''The Children's Hour'' in New York. That work brought her $2 per program. She recalled later: "They liked me. I stayed with them a long time." While she was still in school, she also performed on the children's program ''The Lady Next Door''. She graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933 and attended

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Career

In 1941, Smolen was picked to play Laurel Dallas in ''Stella Dallas''. Her work on that program helped her to obtain the lead in ''Our Gal Sunday'', a role that she played from 1946 to 1959. The two programs were on the air concurrently, but Smolen said, "It wasn't uncommon to have two big parts at once. I did many parts on many radio programs all the time." Smolen's other work on radio included playing Veronica Lodge on ''

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

'' and Marge Barclay in ''Doc Barclay's Daughters''.. In 1957, Smolen was a member of the supporting cast on a recording of ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' that was issued by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

Later years

In the 1970a, Smolen acted on Chicago Radio Theater and did commercials.

Personal life

Smolen married Harold Klein, an executive with

Plitt Theatres Plitt Theatres was a major movie theater chain in the United States and went under a number of names, Publix Theaters Corporation, Paramount Publix Corporation, United Paramount Theatres, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres and ABC Theatres a ...

References

1916 births 2006 deaths American radio actresses Actresses from New York City 20th-century American actresses James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American women {{US-radio-bio-stub