Vivian Maledy

Biography

Vivian Maledy was born Vivian Nunes on December 17, 1927 in Santa Barbara County. She is the youngest of four children and the only daughter. Her parents owned a dairy farm in Casmalia, California. Her father was from the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago, and her mother was born in San Luis Obispo, California. In June of 1947, Vivian married John Lloyd Maledy. John L. Maledy was part of the Airborne Division of the United States Army and had been stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina during the Second World War. The couple divorced sometime in 1953. Vivian's nude modeling career may have begun as early as 1950. She posed nude for various men's magazines such as Frolic, Picture Scope and Stare. George Mann, Gaze, Art Messick, David Mills and Sam Wu were some of her photographers. She also made numerous appearances in the Nudie Cuties film series of the 1950s, often displaying full-frontal nudity. In February of 1958, Vivian married Douglas W. Lindsey. Mr. Lindsey was a furrier in West Hollywood, California. He was considerably older than Vivian, having been born in 1913. With her marriage to Douglas Lindsey in 1958, Vivian's modeling career began to wind down. After her career as a model, she became a seamstress and made clothes for prominent doctors and lawyers as well as a few celebrities in the Los Angeles area. Toward the end of her life, Vivian moved to Santa Maria, California to be closer to family. Vivian Lindsey passed away on January 13, 2024. She was ninety-six years old.