| | | New York 2010 |
| Angela | Grecco | A girl who wrote a letter to Vivian. |
| Vivian Louise | Morris | Protagonist. Narrator. |
1 | Aunt | Peg | Vivian's aunt. Vivian's legal guardian. |
| Walter | Morris | Vivian's older brother. |
| Grandma | Morris | Vivian's grandmother. A seamstress. |
2 | Billy | Buell | Peg's husband. Wealthy man. Aka: William Ackerman Buell III. |
| William | Powell | An actor. |
| Walter | Winchell | A gossip columnist. |
| Louella | Parsons | A gossip columnist. |
| Olive | Thompson | Peg's secretary. A resident zookeeper. |
3 | Gladys | | Peg's dance captain. |
| Celia | Ray | Showgirl at Lily's
Playhouse. Aka: Theresa Beneventi. |
| Roland | | One of the dancers at Lily Playhouse. |
| Donald | Herbert | The playwright at Lily's Playhouse. |
| Mr. | Benjamin | The singer-songwriter at Lily's Playhouse. |
| Katherine | Gibbs | Owner of a typing school. |
| Evelyn | | Celia's friend. |
4 | Bernadette | | Peg's maid. |
5 | Jennie | | One of the showgirls at Lily's Playhouse. |
| Betty | | Vivian's childhood best friend. |
| Harold | Kellogg | A doctor. A man who deflowered Vivian. |
| Mrs. | Kellogg | Harold's wife. |
7 | Kevin | O'Sullivan | Vivian's ex-lover. Aka: Ribsy. |
8 | Franklin | D. Roosevelt | The current U.S. President. |
| Clark | Gable | An American film actor. |
| Ria | F. Langham | Clark's second wife. |
| Edna | P. Watson | Peg's old friend. A famous British actress. |
| Arthur | Watson | A handsome screen actor. Edna's husband. |
9 | George | B. Shaw | A playwright. |
| Alfred | Lunt | A stage actor. |
| Coco | Chanel | A French fashion designer. |
10 | Marjorie | Lowtsky | Mr. Lowtsky's daughter. |
| Mr. | Lowtsky | Marjorie's father. Owner of Lowtsky's
Used Emporium. |
| Mrs. | Lowtsky | Marjorie's mother. |
11 | Jean | Marie | Billy's secretary. |
| Joan | Fontaine | Billy's mistress. |
| Brian | Aherne | Billy's friend. |
| Camilla | | One of Billy's mistresses. |
13 | Mrs. | Alabaster | Edna's character at the play called City of Girls. |
| Victoria | Alabaster | Mrs. Alabaster's daughter. |
| Daisy | | One of the showgirls at Lily's Playhouse. |
| Lucky | Bobby | Daisy's husband at the play called City of Girls. |
14 | Anthony | Rocella | Vivian's first boyfriend. |
| Lorenzo | Rocella | Anthony's brother.
Head chef at Latin Quarter Restaurant. |
15 | Miriam | | The girlfriend of the sailor. |
16 | Brooks | Atkinson | A famous American critic. |
| Heywood | Broun | An American journalist. |
| Dwight | Miller | A journalist from New York World Telegram. |
| Walter | Winchell | A columnist from New York Daily Mirror. |
| Thomas | Lesig | A columnist from The Morning Telegraph. |
| Nicholas | Flint | A journalist from New York Daily News. |
| Kit | Yardley | A journalist from New York Sun. |
17 | Helena | Rubenstein | A cosmetic entrepreneur. |
| Katherine | Hepburn | An American actress. |
| Alexander | Woollcott | A theater critic. |
18 | Brenda | Frazier | Celia's new friend. Kelly's celebrated girlfriend. |
| Shipwreck | Kelly | Celia's new friend. Brenda's celebrated boyfriend. |
19 | Stan | Weinberg | Peg's old friend. An editor at the Mirror. |
| James | | A doorman at the Stork. |
| Nick | | A doorman at the Stork. |
| Sherman | Billingsley | The Stork Club's owner. |
| Rose | Bigman | Winchell's secretary. |
| Walda | Winchell | Walter's daughter. |
22 | Bess | Farmer | Vivian's childhood friend. |
| Jim | Larsen | Worked for Douglas's Mining Company. Vivian's ex-fiance. |
23 | Madeleine | | Vivian's childhood friend. |
| Louise | Morris | Vivian's mother. |
| Douglas | Morris | Vivian's father. Peg's brother. |
| Helena | Hayes | A theater actress who replaced Edna in the play City of Girls. |
24 | Harry | James | An American Musician. |
25 | Mike | Roemer | The telegraph operator at Western Union. |
| Mrs. | Roemer | Mike's wife. |
| Leslie | Gehres | Walter's captain. |
| Mr. | Gershon | Vivian's Navy Censor. |
| Mrs. | Levinson | Vivian's workmate. |
26 | Christian | Dior | A French fashion designer. |
| Roger | Alderman | Vivian's former lover. |
| Botond | | A young Hungarian painter. Vivian's former lover. |
| Hugh | | One of Vivian's ex-lovers. |
28 | Marty | | Vivian's friend. |
| Karen | | Vivian's friend. A receptionist at the Museum of Modern Art. |
| Rowan | | Vivian's friend. A gynecologist. |
| Susan | | Vivian's friend. A grade school teacher. |
| Callie | | Vivian's friend. Owner of a flower shop. |
| Anita | | Vivian's friend. |
| George | | A man who impregnates Marjorie. |
| Nathan | Lowtsky | Marjorie's son. |
| Palma | | Nathan's nanny. |
29 | Frank | Grecco | The only man that Vivian loved. Angela's father. |
| Rosella | Grecco | Frank's wife. |
31 | Tom | Denno | Frank's colleague during war. |
32 | Winston | | Angela's fiancé. |