Vivienne Osborne (born Vera Vivienne Spragg; December 10, 1896 – June 10, 1961) was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theatre and in silent and sound films.[1]
Career
Osborne began her career on stage when she was 5 years old, and by the time she was 18 years old, she had spent many years touring throughout Washington with a stock theater company. She made her Broadway debut in The Whirlwind (1919),[2] and her screen debut in 1919 in a film that never was released. She continued work on Broadway, and appeared in films when not working theater.[1]
Osborne's first silent film was in The Gray Brother, but the film did not have distribution and never was released. From March through December 1928, she appeared in the Florenz Ziegfeld musical version of The Three Musketeers.[3] It was after her performance that Douglas Fairbanks Sr. offered her a role in The Iron Mask (1929), his last silent film, made as a sequel to his 1921 film The Three Musketeers.[1] Rather than accept the offer, she chose to remain in New York City and continue her career. She signed with Paramount Studios in 1931 and was assigned to character roles,[1] but left to sign with Warner Studios to get better roles. She then left Warners and signed a three-year contract with Radio Pictures.[4] She alternated between film and stage roles for the rest of her career.[1]
Of her work in the musical The Three Musketeers, Theatre Magazine wrote her voice was "of true operatic quality."[5] Of her work as Mary Boyd in the 1931 film Husband's Holiday, Spokesman-Review wrote "Vivienne Osborne does fine work," and noted the several scenes which "tugged at the heartstrings" that were well done by Osborne and her co-star Juliette Compton.[6]
