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| ==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
| Born and raised around ], Liberto was the daughter of Irene (Robinson) and Thomas Peter Liberto. Her paternal grandparents were from ], ], ]. Her mother was German and Irish. |
Born and raised around ], Liberto was the daughter of Irene (Robinson) and Thomas Peter Liberto. Her paternal grandparents were from ], ], ]. Her mother was German and Irish.<ref name=fdr1>Stated on '']'', February 23, 2020</ref> Genealogists from the show '']'' discovered that one of her maternal great-great-grandmothers, Sarah A. Shields, was a mixed-race woman born into slavery, who was freed along with her eight siblings by their white father.<ref name=fdr2>Stated on '']'', February 23, 2021</ref> | ||
| Vivian met Cash at a roller-skating rink in 1951 when he was based at ]. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Marini |first1=Richard |title=Johnny Cash's Alamo City Courtship |url=https://www.expressnews.com/150years/culture/article/Johnny-Cash-courted-married-SA-woman-while-at-6294562.php |work=] |date=May 31, 2015 |page=D 7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hilburn|first1=Robert|title=Johnny Cash: The Life|year=2013|publisher=Little, Brown and Company| edition=ebook|isbn=978-0-316-19475-4}}</ref> The couple courted for three weeks before the Air Force deployed Cash to ] for a three-year tour. During the separation, the couple exchanged thousands of letters that would eventually form the basis for Liberto’s book ''I Walked the Line'', which was published in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title=When Man in Black Was Just Johnny|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/books/30masl.html |work=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2007 |page=D 7}}</ref> | Vivian met Cash at a roller-skating rink in 1951 when he was based at ]. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Marini |first1=Richard |title=Johnny Cash's Alamo City Courtship |url=https://www.expressnews.com/150years/culture/article/Johnny-Cash-courted-married-SA-woman-while-at-6294562.php |work=] |date=May 31, 2015 |page=D 7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hilburn|first1=Robert|title=Johnny Cash: The Life|year=2013|publisher=Little, Brown and Company| edition=ebook|isbn=978-0-316-19475-4}}</ref> The couple courted for three weeks before the Air Force deployed Cash to ] for a three-year tour. During the separation, the couple exchanged thousands of letters that would eventually form the basis for Liberto’s book ''I Walked the Line'', which was published in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title=When Man in Black Was Just Johnny|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/books/30masl.html |work=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2007 |page=D 7}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 01:12, 4 March 2021
First wife of Johnny Cash| Vivian Cash | |
|---|---|
| File:Vivian and Johnny Cash in the 60s at the Music Awards.jpgVivian and Johnny Cash at the Music Awards in the 1960s | |
| Born | Vivian Dorraine Liberto (1934-04-23)April 23, 1934 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 24, 2005(2005-05-24) (aged 71) Ventura, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Homemaker, author |
| Spouse(s) |
Johnny Cash
(m. 1954; div. 1966) Dick Distin (m. 1968; "her death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2005) |
Vivian Liberto Cash Distin (April 23, 1934 – May 24, 2005) was an American homemaker, author, and the first wife of singer Johnny Cash.
Biography
Born and raised around San Antonio, Texas, Liberto was the daughter of Irene (Robinson) and Thomas Peter Liberto. Her paternal grandparents were from Cefalù, Palermo, Sicily. Her mother was German and Irish. Genealogists from the show Finding Your Roots discovered that one of her maternal great-great-grandmothers, Sarah A. Shields, was a mixed-race woman born into slavery, who was freed along with her eight siblings by their white father.
Vivian met Cash at a roller-skating rink in 1951 when he was based at Brooks Air Force Base. The couple courted for three weeks before the Air Force deployed Cash to West Germany for a three-year tour. During the separation, the couple exchanged thousands of letters that would eventually form the basis for Liberto’s book I Walked the Line, which was published in 2007.
On August 7, 1954, Liberto and Cash were married at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in San Antonio, one month after his discharge from the Air Force. Together they had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara. The couple divorced in 1966 after twelve years of marriage. In 1968 Liberto married Dick Distin, a police officer in Ventura, California, to whom she remained married until her death on May 24, 2005, following complications from lung cancer surgery.
Liberto's story has become the basis of a 2020 documentary film, My Darling Vivian, which premiered as part of the South by Southwest 2020 Film Festival Collection, presented by Prime Video.
References
- Stated on My Darling Vivian Documentary, February 23, 2020
- Stated on Finding Your Roots, February 23, 2021
- Marini, Richard (May 31, 2015). "Johnny Cash's Alamo City Courtship". San Antonio Express News. p. D 7.
- Hilburn, Robert (2013). Johnny Cash: The Life (ebook ed.). Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-19475-4.
- Maslin, Janet (August 30, 2007). "When Man in Black Was Just Johnny". The New York Times. p. D 7.
- Johnson, Brett (August 30, 2007). "The Man in Black's first wife, Vivian Cash, tells of romance, heartbreak". VC Star. Camarillo, California. p. D 7.
- Betts, Stephen (April 29, 2020). "Johnny Cash's First Wife Profiled in New Doc 'My Darling Vivian': What We Learned". Rolling Stone. New York City.