Vivian Harmon previously Cavender; (played by the late Rue McClanahan) is a fictional character from the television show, Maude.
Vivian is the neighbor and best friend of the title character, Maude Findlay (played by the late Bea Arthur.) Vivian had been Maude's best friend since they both attended college together.
At the series beginning, Vivian was a soon-to-be divorcee. In a late first-season episode, Vivian and her first husband, Chuck Cavender, were divorcing after 21 years of marriage. Vivian and Chuck divorced because they no longer had anything in common. At the beginning of the second season, Vivian began dating Dr. Arthur Harmon (played by Conrad Bain), best friend of Maude's husband, Walter (played by Bill Macy.)
In the middle of the second season, Arthur and Vivian got married. Although Arthur was Vivian's second husband, she did not have any children. However, she did have a step grandson, Ian. Vivian often referred to Maude's grandson, Philip (played by Brian Morrison, and later Kraig Metzinger) as her "nephew", and referred to Maude's daughter, Carol (played by Adrienne Barbeau) as her "niece".
Despite the fact that she was scatter-brained, she was a very compassionate and caring person who always cared about Maude, though sometimes she got on Maude's nerves.
At times, Vivian wasn't "the sharpest tool in the shed." For example, in one episode of Maude (TV series), Maude's house was robbed and Maude uttered tearfully, "I have baby pictures of Carol in there, and now they're gone." Vivian then looks at Maude and sympathetically says, "Aw, there, there, you can just take more." Sometimes, Vivian would say inappropriate things at the wrong time, at which point Maude would say, "Vivian!" Vivian's usually response was, "I was just trying to help."
In addition to being scatterbrained, Vivian also had a temper and would throw a tantrum when things didn't go her way. In one episode, Vivian and Maude were to be contestants on a game show, but Maude wouldn't do it. It was Vivian's birthday, so she was in a rage. She made a scene. She stomped her feet and started whining really loud. Of course, this embarrassed Maude, so to save herself from further embarrassment and humiliation, Maude finally gave in and went on the show. Satisfied, Vivian stopped and wrapped her arms around Maude.
Because of Vivian's senseless comments and gestures, Vivian and Maude shared an occasional love-hate relationship. Despite this, they care very deeply for each other. Oftentimes, Vivian would say things that annoyed Maude. Being the compassionate and caring person that she was, she would do her best to comfort Maude in what Maude called "crisis" situations. For example, in a sesason one episode, Maude came home angry because she thought she was pregnant at 47 years old. Vivian puts her arm around Maude and tells her that maybe a mistake was made. Turns out, it was a positive, but she had an abortion.
Other times, Vivian would say things that annoyed Maude, like in the episode titled ,"Household Feud", when Maude's housekeeper, Mrs. Naugatuck, (played by the late Hermione Baddeley) calls her "nosey." When Maude tells Vivian what was said, she says, "She called you nosey! That's so thoughtless! That's like going up to a dwarf and saying,'you're a dwarf! He knows he's a dwarf, you don't have to tell him." Vivian may get on Maude's nerves occasionally, but the thing Maude loved the most about Vivian was her compassionate personality, and her strong love for animals.
For instance, her love for animals is apparent in the episode titled, "Viv's Dog". In this episode, Vivian leaves her dog, Chuck, a fox terrier, in Maude's care when she and Arthur go on vacation. She returns to find her dog dead, and she immediately accuses Maude of murder. She gets so upset, Walter and Arthur went out and bought her another dog to replace Chuck, but Vivian refuses to take it. Eventually, she realized how selfish she was being and accepting the dog without so much as a word.