My Funny Valentine: Comedy’s Real-life Married Couples

In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a tribute to the history of a fairly small but influential slice of the show business population: Married comedy couples.

Throughout a particular period in the annals of entertainment, it became quite common to see (or hear) real-life married couples join forces as comedy partners. In the early 1930s, many came to national attention on radio, when that medium virtually exploded with programs starring comedians who had already made names for themselves in vaudeville. Several may have begun as solo…