Say Goodnight, Gracie

One of the most famously happy partnerships was made legally binding in Ohio. After performing together in vaudeville for three years, George Burns and Gracie Allen were married in Cleveland on January 7, 1926.

From George Burns' Gracie: A Love Story:

"We decided to get married in Cleveland at the end of January. But first we were going to break in Lamb Chops. We were both very nervous; getting married was one thing, but breaking in a new act was serious business...

As soon as Izzy and Mary arrive, we hopped into a cab and drove to the justice of the peace. The justice of the peace was ready to leave on a fishing trip when we got there, and he wasn't interesting in spending time marrying folks... He spoke so fast I didn't know if Gracie and I had gotten married or had bought land in Florida. All I remember is he asked, "Do you?" I said, "I do." He said, "Good--I'm going fishing."

Our cab was waiting for us. The entire ceremony had cost twenty cents on the meter."

Burns & Allen Marriage License

'St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture' entry

Notable American Women: Gracie Allen

Superman is from Krypton? Nah. . . . he's from Cleveland

I have often joked with friends across the pond that all Americans want to be like Ohioans. Perhaps it's not so much that we're ideal Americans but that we do a great job of idealizing America. A case in point is "The Man of Steel", who is a universally recognized and a positive image of America created in the Buckeye State. The cultural icon that stands for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" was imagined in 1933 by two Cleveland teenage boys from Jewish immigrant families. Jerry Siegel (October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) and Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992).  The co-creators of the DC Comics character Superman both attended Glenville High School and worked on the weekly student newspaper, The Torch. Siegel and Shuster together also published what may have been the first SF fanzine, Cosmic Stories.

Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman - Smithsonian article by Anne Trubeck

The Flaming Lips - Waitin' for a Superman

The Big Red S