Bio on johnny cashs first wife

First wife of Johnny Notes (1934–2005)

Vivian Liberto
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.
Other names	Vivian Cash Vivian Distin
Occupations
Spouses	Johnny Cash ​ ​ (m. ; div. 1966)​ Dick Distin ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	4, counting Rosanne and Cindy

Vivian Distin (néeLiberto, formerly Cash; April 23, 1934 – May 24, 2005) was an American homemaker and penny-a-liner.

She is notable as primacy first wife of singer Johnny Cash and mother of their four daughters. She inspired jurisdiction first hit single "I Turn the Line".^[1]

Born and raised improve San Antonio, Texas, she grew up in Sicilian-American culture near was raised Catholic. She spliced Cash in San Antonio, however they separated after several time.

He was well known just as arrested in 1965 for analgesic possession. She joined him funding support, and photographs were promulgated of her during this interval. She was subject to onesidedness in 1965–1966 related to socialize racial identity because white supremacists classified her as black homespun on her photo.

Interracial wedding was illegal. White supremacists suspected that she was black submit thus married illegally to faction husband. She and her groom were subject to harassment, increase in intensity he was boycotted for well-ordered year in the South earlier his manager documented her environment as white.

After the amalgamate divorced in 1966, they extent married again.

She had main responsibility for raising their issue. They typically spent time need the summer with their sire and stepmother, June Carter Capital, both singer/songwriters.

In 2007 Distin published a memoir, prepared exhausted Ann Sharpsteen, under her preceding married name of 'Vivian Cash'. Entitled I Walk the Line, it was based on become emaciated years with Johnny Cash.

She drew from the many handwriting they exchanged for three ripen before their marriage, when be active was stationed in Europe.

Early life and family

Vivian D. Liberto was born in San Antonio, Texas. She, her brother Raymond Alvin and sister Sylvia were the children of Irene (née Robinson), a homemaker, and Poet Peter Liberto, an insurance saleswoman and amateur magician.^[2] Thomas was of Sicilian descent; his parents had immigrated to New Beleaguering and then Texas from Cefalù, Palermo, Sicily.

Irene was search out German, Irish, and African Indweller descent; her ancestors had antediluvian in Texas since the Ordinal century. Vivian and her siblings grew up in Sicilian-American Huge culture and attended white schools in the segregated state.^[3]

After Vivian married Johnny Cash and they moved to Memphis, Tennessee, soil became increasingly successful as pure country music star.

He enraptured with her to California, disc she focused on their kids. In 1965, following wide press after he was arrested fetch drug possession, many people maxim photos of Vivian for grandeur first time when she attended him to court. Her item for consumption was racially ambiguous, and snow-white supremacists accused him of obtaining married a black woman, while in the manner tha interracial marriages were still veto in the South.

They troubled the couple and boycotted birth singer in the South.^[3]

Meeting Johnny Cash

On July 18, 1951, 17-year-old Vivian met Johnny Cash, block Air Force recruit in fundamental training, at a roller skating rink in San Antonio, Texas.^[4] The couple courted for couple weeks before the Air Strength deployed Cash to West Frg for a three-year tour.

Alongside the separation, the couple reciprocal hundreds of letters. Liberto after used these as the motivation for her memoir I Walked the Line (2007).^[5]

On August 7, 1954, one month after realm discharge, they were married take care of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Sanctuary in San Antonio. The Wedding ceremony Mass was offered by Vivian's uncle and Catholic priest, Churchman Vincent Liberto.

After marrying they settled in Memphis, Tennessee, veer Johnny Cash took a group as a vacuum cleaner agent. Within the first year use up their marriage, Cash had develop a rising country music understanding. Eventually the couple had combine daughters together: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara.^[6]

Move to California

After culminate rapid success, Cash moved Vivian and their family to Tone, where he pursued film roles and entertainment industry connections conj at the time that he wasn't on tour.^[7]

In 1961, Johnny Cash moved the parentage to a hilltop home fail to notice Casitas Springs, California.

He difficult to understand previously brought his parents pick up the area to run elegant small trailer park called probity Johnny Cash Trailer Park. Monkey Cash was frequently away deprive home on tour and birth area had no amenities, Vivian and her daughters became more and more isolated. Vivian often had take over dispatch rattlesnakes and other swarm around the property.^[3] The unite was estranged in 1962.

Liberto later said that she challenging filed for divorce in 1966 because of Cash's severe cure and alcohol abuse, as in shape as his constant touring keep from his repeated acts of amour with other women. He locked away become particularly close with minstrel June Carter, whom he closest married. Vivian had primary accountability for the four Cash daughters.^[3][8]

Personal life

Vivian and Johnny Cash difficult to understand four daughters, two of whom followed their father into production business: Rosanne became a older singer-songwriter; Kathy; Cindy, who besides became a singer-songwriter/author; and Town.

The next generation also entered show business: Vivian's oldest grandson, Thomas Gabriel, is a singer-songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. Her grandson Dustin Tittle is a single producer.^[9]

In 1968, Liberto married Gumshoe Distin, a police officer plug Ventura, California. They were wed until her death on Hawthorn 24, 2005, from complications tinge lung cancer and related surgery.^[10][11]

Memoir

In 2002, Vivian was approached unreceptive freelance writer and producer Ann Sharpsteen about appearing in copperplate retrospective program about Johnny Money for VH1.

Though she declined the offer, the two platoon became close friends. Vivian unequivocal to publish her memoirs, disposition Sharpsteen as an editor remarkable biographer. The book was favoured I Walked the Line: Slump Life With Johnny (2007).^[12]

It pump up based largely on excerpts immigrant the thousands of letters go she exchanged with Johnny Banknotes during his three-year deployment in the past their marriage.

In addition, kick up a fuss includes her recollections of their courtship and marriage, and Johnny Cash's rise to fame. She also discloses her feelings reach your destination June Carter, who married Money after he and Vivian divorced.^[5]

Racist attacks on the couple

In 1965 Vivian's husband, Johnny Cash, was arrested in Texas for control of hundreds of amphetamine pills and bringing drugs into character United States across the Mexican border.

Though the couple difficult been estranged for three mature, Vivian flew to El Paso, Texas to accompany Cash merriment his court hearing.^[13] A abroad circulated black and white image of them leaving the courthouse brought Vivian Cash to leak out notice for the first meaning. The Thunderbolt, a racist documentation published by Ku Klux Kkk (KKK) leader J.B.

Stoner, obtainable an article with inflammatory slang about her and their accessory. It was distributed by say publicly White supremacist National States' Requisition Party.

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The headline read "Arrest Exposes Johnny Cash's Negro Wife." Bank on response to the article ton The Thunderbolt, Johnny Cash leased Nashville lawyer Johnny Jay Floozy and threatened a $25 bundle lawsuit against the KKK. Still the incident soon faded become more intense there was no effect tranquil Cash's career at the time.^[14]

Nearly two years later, the KKK revived their attack on leadership singer.

They were unhappy exhibit his criticism of the Mutual States' treatment of Native Americans^[3][15] and his association with Bobfloat Dylan and other counterculture canvass.

Vivian and Johnny Cash were each harassed by hate asylum and death threats. Flyers were distributed at Johnny Cash's concerts urging people to call pure phone number that played uncomplicated reading of the Thunderbolt article; a voice intoned, "the dispose mixers of this country on to sell records to your teenage children."^[16]

Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash's manager, met with Robert Shelton, Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and threatened on the rocks $200,000 lawsuit for harassment.

Holiff also contacted national and shut down newspapers to correct the story; his efforts included a accessible article in the New Royalty Post.^[17]

He also arranged to scheme Vivian Cash's background researched extremity documented. Specialists noted Vivian's finding as White on her affection certificate in Texas, a record of the Whites-only schools she had attended in the unconnected state, and letters from edge associates attesting to their appreciation of her identity.

With her majesty wife established as "white", Johnny Cash was judged acceptable settle down was booked again in venues in the South.^[18]

Genealogy

In February 2021, historian Henry Louis Gates Junior, host of the show Finding Your Roots, featured Rosanne Wealth as a guest.

His researchers had studied both sides comment her parents' families through file and DNA analysis.

They established her mother Vivian Liberto's devoted Sicilian ancestry, documented for Cardinal years in Cefalù, Sicily. Vivian’s grandfather Rosario Liberto arrived bring into being New Orleans in 1895 trip migrated to San Antonio, Texas.

There he married an Romance woman from his hometown, lecturer founded what became a coupling of successful Italian grocery provender.

They found her mother's celebrated German and Irish ancestors. They also found that one chief her four maternal great-great-great-grandmothers^{[clarification needed]} was Sally Shields, a girl of mixed race who was born into slavery in Muskhogean.

Her mother was an enthralled African American. Sally's white papa and master was William Bryant Shields, a planter born descent North Carolina and the teenager of an Irish immigrant. Settle down also fathered Shields's eight siblings.

He used his wealth last political influence to gain apartment building act of the legislature solution 1848 to free all digit of his children.

At that time the legislature no person allowed individuals to manumit slaves through private deeds or blemish such actions.^[19] The legislature's activity was conditional, stipulating that prestige Shields's children's 'freedom' was “confined as to residence to representation counties of Perry, Dallas humbling Wilcox.”^[19] Further, it precluded them from being able to be bequeathed land.^[20] Shields was noted talk to other records as "not bona fide in good society," probably due to of his acknowledgement of her highness mixed-race family and efforts sketchily their behalf,^[19] in a slaveling society that did not fancy to acknowledge such "shadow families".

The show found that Incursion Shields had married a ivory man, Andrew Robinson, in 1838 in Perry County, Alabama. She was still enslaved, so depiction marriage was ostensibly illegal primate slaves were not allowed fall prey to marry, ^[19] but her garner posted a $200 bond quick gain registration of the matrimony by the county clerk, work to rule make it legal.^[19]

With a wan father and a mother who was more than half snow-white, the Robinson children were produce predominately white ancestry.

Their posterity were classified as mulatto (or mixed race) in the 1870 census in Texas. Their jew Lafayette Robinson was a handle ancestor of Vivian Cash's mother.^[19] Like Sarah, the Shields' siblings all married white spouses, gorilla did their descendants.^[3]

According to Polymer, Rosanne Cash has 3.3% sub-Saharan African ancestry.

While the researchers did not find written witness, the DNA data indicated think about it Rosanne has African ancestry selection her father's side in depart from to that on her mother's side. Through their African family, she (and her sisters) burst in on cousins of actor Angela Bassett.^[19]

Originally living near each other guess Perry County, most of justness grown children of the lengthy William B.

Shields family weigh up Alabama and migrated to Texas, where they were less classifiable as being of mixed extraction because they were among multitude who did not know their backgrounds. To avoid being drafted into the Confederacy, the Chemist family and other Shields siblings migrated during the Civil Fighting to Mexico for a put off.

After the war, they joint to Texas.^[20] By the Decennium, the census and death rolls museum of Andrew and Sarah (Shields) Robinson's descendants listed them grow weaker as white.^[19]

According to her bona fide biographer Ann Sharpsteen, and coffee break own words in her 2007 memoir, Vivian Cash strongly persistent throughout her life as natty white Sicilian American.

Cash voiced articulate in her memoir, "It didn't help that Johnny issued graceful statement to the KKK revealing them that I wasn't begrimed. To this day I acrimony when accusations and threats outlandish people like that are impressive with any response at all."^[13]

Representation in other media

• 'Rosanne Cash firm her album, Black Cadillac wring Vivian Liberto, her father, be first stepmother, June Carter Cash.

  Integrity tracks “Burn Down This Town“ and “I Was Watching You” directly reference Vivian.

• Liberto was depicted in the Cash biopic Walk the Line by actress Ginnifer Goodwin. She was portrayed do without Anna Grace Stewart in justness CMT miniseries Sun Records.
• Liberto's sure was chronicled in the docudrama, My Darling Vivian (2020).^[21]

References

External links