Vivian Ridge was the first wife of Bob Ross, the famous painter and television host. The couple married in 1965 and had a son named Steven Ross.
Bob Ross became skilled in the “wet-on-wet” technique, which enabled him to finish paintings in significantly less time than conventional methods required.
After gaining teaching experience, Ross developed the PBS television series The Pleasure of Painting, where he shared his painting style with many viewers.
Ross won everyone’s affection thanks to his easygoing temperament, charming sense of humor, and eye-catching appearance, particularly his signature hairdo.
Ross has remained a well-known figure even after he passed away in 1995 from lymphoma. In addition, he has gained a new following on digital media platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. Let get to know about our query first Bob Ross First Wife;
Who is Bob Ross’ First Wife?
Vivian Ridge Ross Wiki; Where Was She Born? His first wife’s name was Vivian Ridge. Vivian took up painting as a pastime when she was 12 years old. She attended Wake Forest University to study art history for her degree.
They started working together when she met Bob at that time.
They tied the knot in 1965 and stayed together for over a decade before calling it quits in 1977. Since Ross rarely discussed Vivian Ridge publicly, only a little is known about her.
They had a son, Robert Stephen Ross, on August 1, 1966, and were doting parents during their time together. Steve Ross is his professional name, and he is a well-known artist.
Vivian Ridge age: She died in 1977.
Bob Ross Personal LIfe: How Many Times He Got Married?
Throughout his life, Bob Ross tied the knot not once, not twice, but thrice.
In 1965, he was officially united in marriage to Vivian Ridge for the first time.
The couple had blessed with a single child, a son named Robert Stephen Ross, who took after his artist father and became a painter.
In 1977, Ross and Vivian divorced, and it got widely believed that Ross’ affair with another woman precipitated the breakup.
The painter eventually got over his ex-wife Vivian and married Jane Ross the same year he finalized their divorce.
Jane and Ross were married for 15 years before she died from cancer in 1992. The couple did not have any children together during that time.
After waiting another three years, Ross tied the knot with Lynda Brown.
When Ross left on July 4, 1995, Lynda became a widow without a spouse.
Bob Ross Early LIfe
Robert Norman Ross was born on October 29, 1942, in Daytona, Florida, and became famously known as Bob Ross.
His parents worked in the service industry; Jack worked as a carpenter, and Ollie worked as a waitress.
Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Ross did not complete the ninth grade of his high school education. Bob suffered the loss of part of his left index finger in an accident when he was working as a carpenter with his father when he was younger; this did not impede his ability to paint in the future.
In 1961, Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he remained for the next two decades. Because of his height (he was 6 feet 2 inches tall) and flat feet, he could not learn to become a pilot or work on airplanes. Instead, he worked as a medical records technician behind a desk.
After achieving the rank of first sergeant, Ross referred to himself as “the person who screams at you for being late to work,” “the guy who makes you scrub the latrine,” and “the guy who makes you make your bed.”
This role gave him the nickname “Break ‘Em Up Bobby,” but he detested playing the part of a disciplinarian and vowed to himself that he would have a kinder demeanour after he left the military.
Bob Ross Professional Life
Ross became an artist while taking a painting class at a U.S.O. club after falling in love with the Alaskan highlands in the Air Force.
He took art classes because he loved them. Ross sold gold-panning tin landscapes at a bar to support his Air Force pay.
This helped Ross learn to paint faster, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Ross remembered knocking out two while eating his sandwich. I’d sell them that afternoon.”
While in the service, he watched William Alexander’s 1975 show The Magic of Oil Painting. Alexander favored alla prima, or “wet-on-wet” painting.
He painted swiftly by putting oil paint layers without waiting for them to dry. The Sentinel said Ross soon made more from painting than the military.
He retired from the Air Force as a master sergeant in 1981.
Painterly Beginnings
Bob Ross smiles while holding a paint palette and brushes before a studio wall covered in his landscape paintings.
Ross went to various art schools after the Air Force. He joined William Alexander’s Alexander Magic Art Supplies Company.
He learned wet-on-wet painting from William Alexander while travelling as a salesman and painting coach.
Ross taught Annette Kowalski, whom he met in Florida, wet-on-wet. Ross’s kindness “lifted me out of my despair” after Kowalski’s son died in a vehicle accident. I suggested bottling and selling it.
Kowalski convinced Ross to go solo.
Ross’ manager, Kowalski, launched their firm. “What upsets me is not simply that he betrayed me,” Alexander told The New York Times. Alexander then accused Ross of betraying him and replicating the wet-on-wet approach.
Ross never loved his perm, but it’s one of his most memorable traits. To save money on haircuts, he permed his straight hair.
He was saved. He regretted the firm emblem’s permanent perm. He suffered.
“Brush Pleasures”
Ross launched The Pleasure of Painting in 1983 after some corporate issues. For a decade on PBS, millions watched it.
Ross gained noted for his calm demeanor, sense of humor, and ability to finish a painting in 30 minutes as a T.V. painting instructor. His “happy little trees” and “We don’t make mistakes—we just have pleasant accidents” became famous.
Over 275 stations carried the Joy of Painting.
Ross built a business empire with Kowalski and her husband, Walt, that included instructional Videos, how-to books, art supplies, and certified Bob Ross instructors.
Bob Ross Inc. became a $15 million company after Ross created 30,000 works of art. He painted three versions of most paintings: one before tape, one on-screen. For his instructional books, a third was painted and detailed during the episode.
Issues with Bob Ross’s Health and Death
In 1994, Ross stopped filming The Joy of Painting so that he could pay more attention to his health.
Ross had a lengthy history of cigarette smoking and faced health problems, including two heart attacks and two bouts of cancer when he was in his 40s.
He had always anticipated passing away at an early age. Ross passed away on July 4, 1995, at 52, due to an aggressive form of lymphoma. It was the second cause of his death. He passed away in the comfort of his home in Orlando.
Most of his original oil paintings went to charity and PBS. Ross got opposed to using his artwork for commercial benefit. Hence, most of his works got never auctioned in reputable houses. They sold for almost $10,000 each.
There are rumors that before Ross’s passing, the Kowalskis attempted to coerce him into handing over certain inheritance rights to them.
Although Ross left his assets and the rights to his likeness to his family and wrote the Kowalskis out of his will, the Kowalskis could take control of the company after winning multiple cases.
According to The Daily Beast, their daughter Joan took over the company after Annette and Walt retired in the 2000s.
She established a settlement with Ross’ family, opening the door for broader use of the marketing of his name. Initially, their primary interest was using Ross’ name to sell painting supplies.
Bob Ross Legacy
Owen Wilson stars as a painter in the upcoming film Paint (2023), in which the character’s appearance, demeanor, and painting style are all modeled after Bob Ross.
Ross has still recognized as one of the most famous and successful painters in the history of the United States.
His show has subsequently gained a new generation of viewers in this day and age because of the rise of digital media.
His older television episodes continue to get watched in large numbers on YouTube, and his official channel on the live streaming service Twitch has more than 2 million subscribers.
The Life of Bob Ross was the subject of a documentary released by Netflix in 2021 titled Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal, and Greed.
The film examined Ross’s legal battles with the Kowalski family.
In the film Paint, released in 2023, Owen Wilson played a painter with a style, voice, and mannerisms similar to Ross’s, even though the film’s plot has not based upon Ross’ true life.
Ross’s personal life included three marriages and the birth of two children.
In 1965, he wed Vivian Ridge, and the couple welcomed a son they called Steve Ross the following year. Steve followed in his father’s footsteps and became a painter as well.
They appeared together on multiple episodes of “The Pleasure of Painting.” Jimmie, technically Steve’s half-brother, was also one of Bob’s sons, and he was born before Ross’ first marriage.
In 1977, Bob and Vivian got a divorce, and in the same year, Bob married his second wife, Jane Lee Zanardelli.
Jane Lee Zanardelli passed away from cancer in 1992. Two months before he passed away, Ross married Lynda Brown, who would become his third wife.