Vivian Austin (born Irene Vivian Coe, February 23, 1920 – August 1, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in a number of films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, although most were B movies.
Austin was born Irene Vivian Coe in Hollywood, California, and attended Hollywood High School. She was named Miss Hollywood in 1939.[1]
Austin played a variety of bit parts (as well as extra and stunt work) in movies before being cast as the female romantic lead in The Adventures of Red Ryder (1940).[2] She was signed to a stock contract in 1943 by Universal and as Vivian Austin (for Universal) or Terry Austin (under contract to Eagle-Lion Films) appeared in movies such as Destiny (1944), Trigger Trail (1944), Born To Speed (1947) and Philo Vance Returns (1947). Her career was cut short in the late 1940s by kidney failure and resultant blindness.[3]
After her retirement, Austin helped Jane Russell to found the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) and herself founded the Braille Auxiliary of the Desert, an organisation to support the charitable activities of the Braille Institute. In 1996 she lived in Palm Springs, California.[4]
Austin married millionaire auto dealer Glenn Austin (d. 1967) when she was 17.[5] She later wed ophthalmic surgeon Kenneth A. Grow (d. 1993), who had operated on her and helped to improve her sight.[citation needed]
On August 1, 2004, Austin died from natural causes in a hospital in Los Angeles, California.[3] Because Grow had served in the United States Army, she and he are interred at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.[citation needed]
