Sally Rand

There was a special celebration of the Allen’s 51st birthday, on Tuesday April 4, 1972. Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer, did two shows, one at 11 AM, where senior citizens were bused in for the event. And an evening show at 7:30. The opening act was a guy named Gene Jackson who did impersonations of Al Jolson. I remember after the evening show I went down to the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel, with Ray and Ceil and listened to Sally tell a bunch of old show biz stories. The next morning, I was sent down the street, with $1,000 in cash in an envelope for Miss Rand. I was so afraid I’d get robbed, I stuffed it inside a book about the 1930’s. I had Sally autograph a page in the book with a photo of herself for my grandmother.

Photo: 1937 photo of Sally Rand, from the Library of Congress.

From The Plain Dealer, April 5, 1972.

Over the years Sally had been a frequent visitor to Cleveland, a few other appearances were at the following:

 From The Plain Dealer, March 12, 1937.

From The Plain Dealer, April 17, 1952.