There is a rumor, started by producer Hal Kanter, that at the start of his career black actor Hal Williams (b.1938) was fired from an episode of The Jimmy Stewart Show by its star because he…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:54AM[SHARE]We have half-planning to do some sort of post on Stuart Margolin (1940-2022) for many years and postponing. As happens, his death today at age 82 forced the issue. Most people of a certain a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PM[SHARE]Having already done similar posts on performing dogs, elephants, lions, chimps, birds, and even mules (and honorary ones for Snake Day, Dolphin Day, and Pig Day) here, now for National Day o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PM[SHARE]50 years ago today marked the release date of the first movie I ever saw in a cinema, The Poseidon Adventure. I call this the "proper post", because my previous one was sort of "back door", …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:03AM[SHARE]According to the Sword Swallowers Hall of Fame, December 12, 1937 was the DOB of Johnny Meah. Meah is of particular interest because he is not just a genuine sideshow performer, but also a h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM[SHARE]Tribute today to Dick Tufeld (1926-2019) the gent who voiced the B9 robot on the original Lost in Space (1965-68). I think of Tufeld's as one of the top nerd voices, and not just because ner…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM[SHARE]Born this day, America's great poet, possibly its greatest, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Whitman has come to mean a lot to me,but I think that she is possibly more significant. Her finicky, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:02PM[SHARE]I hope you'll forgive the provocative photo I've selected to depict Barbara Nichols (Barbara Nickerauer, 1928-1976). Ones that aren't as sexy don't seem to exist. And of course, many of you …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AM[SHARE]Bob Livingston (Robert Randall, 1904-1988) was the son-in-law of Hal Roach, co-star in many films with Al St. John, and appeared in the 1975 sex comedy Blazing Stewardesses with Yvonne De Ca…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]Born 100 years ago today: Jean Porter (1922-2018). Porter was a child performer from Cisco, Texas who won "Beautiful Baby" pageants and sang on local radio. Singing in vaudeville with Ted Le…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM[SHARE]I love that Clarence Nash (1904-1985) was born on Pearl Harbor Day, for 80 years ago he starred in one of the greatest World War Two allied propaganda cartoons, Der Fuehrer's Face (1942). (Y…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM[SHARE]Toronto-born Hope Booth (1878-1933) was the daughter of Canadian M.P. who became a well known legit stage and vaudeville star. She was only 14 when she appeared in a production of Shaw's Wid…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:03PM[SHARE]Now, now, don't get your snow-pants in a bunch. Headlines exist so that people will read articles. Nonetheless, surely you know that Christmas is a holiday that draws from many lands and tra…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:42PM[SHARE]December 5 is a very special day: not only is it Krampusnacht, but it is also the birthday of both Otto Preminger (1905-86) and Fritz Lang (1890-1975), the latter pictured above. As it happe…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06PM[SHARE]Having only read a couple of his books, I have far more exploration of the writing of Cornell Woolrich (1903-1968) in my future, but I certainly already know enough about him to celebrate. W…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AM[SHARE]Premiering on December 8th at 9pm EST (and available for ONE WEEK " from December 8th thru December 14th), stream this pre-recorded all-star salute to the late Gilbert Gottfried . The show w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:48PM[SHARE]Well we just heard that a vaudeville team called "Sight and Sound" came out with its new poll of the 100 best movies of all time, and, as has been the case in recent years, there is a certai…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:32AM[SHARE]December 2 being the birthday of Charles Edward Ringling, I was primed to re-share my post on the Ringling Brothers (and Barnum and Bailey) anyhow, but fortuitously I just got the exciting n…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PM[SHARE]I had the honor and (frankly, thrill) of chatting with film director Penelope Spheeris on the phone for about an hour a couple of months ago. What we talked about (an upcoming project of her…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PM[SHARE]December 1 was the birthday of Sylvester Clark Long, otherwise known as Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (1890-1932. The Chief's heyday was the late '20s and early '30s, when he published a po…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:54AM[SHARE]December 1 is World AIDS Day. I took a quick inventory of artists and scholars whom I admire, or matter to me, or whose work I have enjoyed, or who even simply interest me, who died of AIDS …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:48AM[SHARE]In my post about Billy Connolly t'other day I mentioned that, inconceivable as it may seem, there were some even more accomplished Scotsmen down the years. St. Andrew's Day is the day to cel…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM[SHARE]The great Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born this day. My previous post on this literary hero of mine was a bit perfunctory, so today we lay down something slightly mor…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM[SHARE]Hi! It's #GivingTuesday " did you know that Travalanche is member-supported? I have thousands of regular readers but only about 100 of them truly pull their weight to help me keep the thing …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PM[SHARE]That's right. Howie Mandel (b. 1955) wanna make something of it? Mandel first made his mark 40 years ago in the most uncharacteristic way possible " he was cast in the groundbreaking medical…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AM[SHARE]November 28, 1942 was the date of one of the worst fires in American history, the burning of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, which caused the death of 492 people. It is the biggest n…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PM[SHARE]Just heard from friend and funny man Bob Greenberg that comedian Freddie Roman (Fred Kirschenbaum, 1937-2022). Though he has many great stage and screen credits, Roman was best known for bei…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PM[SHARE]Dad Gum it, I'm not going to allow the death of Freddie Roman or the 80th anniversary of the Cocoanut Grove Fire divert me celebrating the birthday of Paul Shaffer (b. 1949), though I'm quit…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PM[SHARE]Jaleel White was born this day in 1976. The name may not ring an immediate bell in and of itself, but perhaps a light will dawn if I mention that he was the child actor who played the part o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM[SHARE]Born this day in 1955, entertainer Buddy Big Mountain. Impossible to determine whether he is America's first Native American ventriloquist (I'm guessing there must have been somebody before …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM[SHARE]80 years ago today saw the Hollywood launch of the motion picture classic Casablanca (1942). It went into nationwide release a couple of months later. I first got heavily into this classic m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PM[SHARE]
