Vivian Cash


Vivian Liberto Cash Distin was an American homemaker, author, and the first wife of singer Johnny Cash.

Biography

Born and raised around San Antonio, Texas, Liberto met Cash at a roller-skating rink in 1951 when he was based at Brooks Air Force Base. The couple courted for three weeks before the Air Force deployed Cash to West Germany for a three-year tour. During the separation, the couple exchanged thousands of letters that would eventually form the basis for Liberto’s book I Walked the Line, which was published in 2007. One month after Cash’s discharge from the Air Force, Liberto and Cash were married on August 7, 1954, at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in San Antonio. The couple divorced in 1966 after twelve years of marriage. Together, Liberto and Cash had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara.
Liberto's story has become the basis of a 2020 documentary film, My Darling Vivian, which premiered as part of the South by Southwest 2020 Film Festival Collection, presented by Prime Video.