Sensational Marriages

Historically Speaking Podcast

Imagine being uninvited to perform at a presidential inauguration because of whom you just married or buying a baby carriage for an infant who, 21 years later, would become your spouse, or how about finding out the person you just married wasn’t actually divorced from their previous spouse. Without a doubt, history is full of sensational marriages and here, in episode 9, we explore a handful of them. Get ready, these are some unusual and fascinating stories.

Episode Edits:

1. Any background noise you may hear in this episode is actually an excavator being used by our neighbors. Many apologies if you find it distracting.
2. Geoffrey Rush was an Academy Award nominee for best supporting actor for The King’s Speech. Colin Firth, who played King George VI, won the Academy Award for best actor.

Episode Resources:

Books

• Justinian and Theodora (Annotated) by William Gordon Holmes
• History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky
• American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Mecham
• Grover Cleveland by Henry F. Graff
• Frank: The Story of Frances Folsom Cleveland, America’s Youngest First Lady by Annette B. Dunlap
• King Edward VIII: A Biography by Philip Ziegler
• Wallis in Love by Andrew Morton
• Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr by Sammy Davis Jr & Jane & Burt Boyar

Films

• The President’s Lady (1953) with Susan Hayward & Charlton Heston
• The King’s Speech (2010) with Colin Firth & Geoffrey Rush
• Sammy Davis Jr. – I’ve Gotta Be Me (2019) Documentary
• Ocean’s 11 (1960) with Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin
• Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964) with Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin
• Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (1994) Miniseries