Background
Born Vivian Ruth Anderson in San Francisco, California, she was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants Edward Andersen and Anna Marthine Olsen.
Born Vivian Ruth Anderson in San Francisco, California, she was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants Edward Andersen and Anna Marthine Olsen.
Oakland appeared in 142 films between 1915 and 1951. Her siblings" names were Edward, Herbert (née Hagbart), and Edna. Her sister Edna later performed in motion pictures as Dagmar Oakland.
After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake Anna Andersen, a widow since 1898, moved the family to Oakland, California. in 1917, Vivien Oakland was married to actor John T. Murray (1886–1957).
She supported Laurel and Hardy on several occasions, and sometimes played the wife of Edgar Kennedy and Leon Errol in their series of short films. She played mostly bit roles in feature films in the 1940s before making her last film (an Errol comedy) in 1951.
She retired from acting in 1951, settling in Sherman Oaks, California. She died seven years later and was buried in Chapel of the Pines Crematory.