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Vivian Blaine
Birth name	Vivian Stapleton
Born	November 21, 1921 Newark, New Jersey, USA
Died	December 9, 1995 (aged 74) New York, New York, USA
Spouse(s)	Manny Franks (1945-1956) Milton Rackmil (1959-1961) Stuart Clark (1973-1995)

Vivian Blaine (born 21 November 1921 in Newark, New Jersey; died 9 December 1995 in New York, New York) was an actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.

Born Vivian Stapleton, the cherry-blonde-haired Blaine appeared on local stages as early as 1924 and was a touring singer with dance bands starting in 1937. In 1942, her agent and soon-to-be husband Manny Franks got her signed to a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox, and she relocated to Hollywood, sharing top billing with Laurel and Hardy in Jitterbugs (1943) and starring in Greenwich Village (1944), Nob Hill (1945), and State Fair (1945), among other films.

Following her Fox years, Blaine returned to the stage, making her Broadway debut in the Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls in 1950. Her character Adelaide has been engaged to inveterate gambler Nathan Detroit for 14 years, a condition which, according to her song "Adelaide's Lament", can foster physical illness as well as chronic heartbreak. After the show's 1200-performance run on Broadway, in which she starred opposite Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit and Robert Alda as fellow gambler Sky Masterson, she reprised the role in London's West End in 1953, and then on film in 1955, with Frank Sinatra playing Nathan and Marlon Brando in Sky's role.

Blaine also appeared on the Broadway stage in A Hatful of Rain, Say, Darling, Enter Laughing, Company, and Zorba, as well as participating in the touring companies of such musicals as Gypsy. As she reached age 50, her television career took off, with a semi-regular role on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and guest roles on shows like Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.

Blaine's first marriage, to Franks, lasted from 1945 to 1956. She then married Milton Rackmil, president of Universal Studios and Decca Records, in 1959, and recorded several albums prior to their 1961 divorce. In 1973, Blaine married Stuart Clark. In 1983 she became the first celebrity to make public service announcements for AIDS-related causes. She made numerous appearances in support of the then fledgling AIDS-Project Los Angeles (APLA) and recorded her cabaret act which donated its royalties to the new group; this included the last recordings of her songs from "Guys and Dolls". She retired from show business in 1984, and died of congestive heart failure in 1995 at age 74.

• Vivian Blaine at the Internet Movie Database
• Vivian Blaine at the Internet Broadway Database