A good actor is constantly learning, no matter how far they are in their career journey. Vivian Vance was lucky enough to learn from more than one famous entertainment pal to learn from.

Before Vance co-starred alongside Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, she worked with famed theatre director and producer, George Abbott.

Vance explained that looking back, she considered Abbott the best teacher at the beginning of her career. "I think I learned more about comedy from George Abbott than anyone else," said Vance during an interview with The Buffalo News. "He once had me do a scene 47 times." 

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Vivian Vance commented on the ''desperation'' in later episodes of I Love Lucy

To force an actor to perform a scene over and over feels like a rather stressful situation, but Vance was nothing but grateful. She explained that the experience taught her an invaluable lesson when Abbott offered her a bit of wisdom that she carried with her for the rest of her career.

"He finally said, 'Viv, you're being funny in a funny part.,'" said Vance. "At last, I knew what he meant: If the writer has done his job, all you have to do is read it. It was a flop show, but that didn't matter. Think of what I'd learned."

Vance was talented enough to take a hundred percent of the good fortune of her career, the fortuitous direction her life turned in. However, Vance was quick to point out that her successes were certainly the result of hard work, as well as quite a bit of good luck. 

"Believe me, when I add it all up, fate had a lot to do with my staying in the business," said Vance. "I had the good luck to work with some of the greats."

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