Vivian Liberto - Early Life

Early Life

She was born in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Thomas Liberto (February 4, 1905-October 11, 1971) and Irene Robinson (May 10, 1913-April 7, 1979). Her siblings were Raymond Liberto (September 15, 1932-May 23, 2008) and Sylvia Liberto (born December 22, 1936).

Her paternal grandparents were both born in Italy and immigrated to the U.S., while her maternal grandparents were born in Texas. Her father was an insurance salesman and amateur magician. He performed his magic act at private parties and charity events and was president of the local International Brotherhood of Magicians. Vivian and her mother often performed as his assistants onstage. Vivian's starring role in his show involved crawling inside a dollhouse as he stuck eight swords into the side of it and she screamed in pretend pain.

That was her first taste of show business life, but the Libertos were not a show business family. Vivian and her sister led very sheltered lives. Her parents were strict and she and her brother and sister were disciplined and ordered. She attended Providence Catholic School for girls, in San Antonio, and wore the required uniform.

On July 18, 1951, during summer vacation, Vivian, age 17, went to a skating rink with a girlfriend. There she met 19-year-old Johnny Cash. Cash, who was undergoing Air Force training in San Antonio, liked her and they began a relationship. As a gesture of his feelings for her, he carved the words "Johnny Loves Vivian" into a public bench. She said they "would walk on the river, and we sat there and did what we shouldn't have done and carved our names in the bench."

Three weeks after they met, the Air Force sent Cash to Germany. During his three year military tour overseas, the couple wrote each other daily, amassing over 10,000 pages of love letters. A lot of the letters he wrote to her were published in I Walked the Line, which was co-written by Ann Sharpsteen.