Rosetta (November 23, 1894[1] – December 4, 1959) and Vivian Duncan (June 17, 1897[1] – September 19, 1986) were born in Los Angeles, California, the daughters of a violinist turned salesman.

[2] They made their first important Broadway appearance in 1917 at the Winter Garden Theatre in a show with Ed Wynn and Frank Tinney entitled Doing Our Bit.

In 1923 the Duncans created their signature roles in Topsy and Eva (Rosetta as the former, in blackface, Vivian as the latter), a musical comedy derived from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

A huge hit in its day, Topsy and Eva was subsequently adapted into a 1927 silent movie, directed by Del Lord with some additional scenes by D. W.

[4] In 1929 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released their early sound musical The Broadway Melody, starring Bessie Love and Anita Page as the fictional Mahoney sisters.

Photoplay magazine stated in their review: Vivian and Rosetta Duncan have made a snappy, hilarious comedy of the life of a vaudeville sister team in this elaborate picture.

"[3] The movie, seldom seen for decades in part due to the color footage being missing, resurfaced in 2010 in a restored print released by Warner Bros.

Their act ended in 1959 when Rosetta died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, where she apparently fell asleep at the wheel while returning from a performance engagement, in Cicero, Illinois.