Vivian Tobin

Vivian Tobin (August 12, 1902—August 6, 2002) was an American film and stage actress active from the mid-1910s to the early 1940s. Most famously, she played the recurring role of "Mrs. Errol", wife of "Leon Errol" (played by Leon Errol), in several Hollywood productions from 1938 through 1942.

Vivian Tobin was born on August 12, 1902, in New York City, New York, to Thomas Jerome Tobin (1866–1946) and Mary Genevieve White Tobin (1878–1963). She was the younger sister of Genevieve Tobin (1899-1995) and George Tobin (1898-1979)—both actors.

Vivian Tobin began her acting career as a child actress in a duo with her older sister Genevieve Tobin.

In February-April 1914, she was seen on Broadway in Guy Bolton's play The Rule of Three, sharing the stage with Francis Byrne, Mary Alden, and Katherine Grey.

In March-April 1915, Tobin played "Alice" in the first stage production of Alice in Wonderland—playwright Alice Gerstenberg's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel, with incidental music by Eric Delamater. She shared the stage with J. Gunnis Davis and Frederick Annerley, among others.

In 1915, Tobin made her silver screen debut as "Polly" in Will S. Davis' drama The Avalanche, starring Cathrine Countiss and William H. Tooker. The same year, she starred in Frank Powell's crime drama From the Valley of the Missing alongside Jane Miller and Harry Spingler.

Tobin's Broadway credits in the following years include On the Hiring Line (Oct 20, 1919 - Dec 1919), Give and Take (Jan 15, 1923 - Jun 1923), The Padre (Dec 27, 1926 - Jan 12, 1927), and March Hares (Apr 02, 1928 - Apr 1928).

After performing in vaudeville on The Orpheum Circuit, Tobin left the stage and began working exclusively in Hollywood productions, beginning with Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross (1932). In 1934, she played "Rita" in John Cromwell's romance drama This Man Is Mine, starring Irene Dunne, Constance Cummings, and Ralph Bellamy.

After appearing in Archie Mayo's Bordertown (as Mrs. Garner, 1935); Mervyn LeRoy and Michael Curtiz's Anthony Adverse (1936); and Leslie Goodwins' Kennedy's Castle (as Edgar's Wife, 1938), Tobin played the recurring character of "Mrs. Errol", wife of "Leon Errol" (played by Leon Errol) for the rest of her acting career—The Jitters (1938), Stage Fright (1938), Major Difficulties (1938), Crime Rave (1939), Who's a Dummy? (1941), Home Work (1942), and Hold 'Em Jail (1942), and Mail Trouble (1942).

On September 15, 1935, Tobin married Karl O. Von Hagen (July 16, 1905—October 31, 1995), a neurologist and psychiatrist and a former Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University of Southern California Medical School. They had two children.

Tobin died in Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California, on August 6, 2002, at age 100.

Stage

• The Rule of Three (Feb 16, 1914 - Apr 1914)
• Alice in Wonderland (Mar 23, 1915 - Apr 1915)
• On the Hiring Line (Oct 20, 1919 - Dec 1919)
• The Grand Duke (Nov 01, 1921 - Mar 1922)
• Give and Take (Jan 15, 1923 - Jun 1923)
• The Rivals (May 07, 1923 - May 1923)
• Sweetheart Time (Jan 19, 1926 - May 22, 1926)
• Just Life (Sep 14, 1926 - Nov 1926)
• The Padre (Dec 27, 1926 - Jan 12, 1927)
• Take My Advice (Nov 01, 1927 - Dec 1927)
• March Hares (Apr 02, 1928 - Apr 1928)
• The Perfect Alibi (Nov 27, 1928 - Jul 1929)

Movies

• The Avalanche (as Polly, 1915)
• From the Valley of the Missing (as Fledra Vandecar, 1915)
• The Sign of the Cross (as Dacia, 1932)
• If I Were Free (as Jewel Stribling, 1933)
• This Man Is Mine (as Rita, 1934)
• The World Accuses (as Lola Weymouth, 1934)
• Bordertown (as Mrs. Garner, 1935)
• Anthony Adverse (1936)
• Kennedy's Castle (as Edgar's Wife, 1938)
• The Jitters (as Mrs. Errol, 1938)
• Stage Fright (as Mrs. Errol, 1938)
• Major Difficulties (as Mrs. Errol, 1938)
• Crime Rave (as Mrs. Errol, 1939)
• Who's a Dummy? (as Mrs. Errol, 1941)
• Home Work (as Mrs. Errol, 1942)
• Hold 'Em Jail (as Mrs. Vivian Errol, 1942)
• Mail Trouble (as Mrs. Errol, 1942)