The Rice-Centennial: Dan Rice's Bicentennial Birthday! by Trav S.D.

Born 200 years ago today: one horse circus pioneer, impresario, clown, comedian and star Dan Rice (1823-1900) Dan Rice was one of the most important show business figures of the 19th century…

Sharon Tate Would be 80 Today by Trav S.D.

Today would have been the 80th birthday of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate (1943-1969). The circumstances of Tate's death possess layers of wrongness: 1) that she died at all; that she died so…

R.I.P. Everett Quinton by Trav S.D.

I was running around from pillar to post yesterday so couldn't respond as immediately as I would have liked to the sad news of the passing of the great stage star Everett Quinton (b. 1952). …

Danny Arnold: Before and After "Barney Miller" by Trav S.D.

I'd long known about Danny Arnold (Arnold Rothmann, 1925-95) as the genius creator/producer of Barney Miller and Fish, but was delighted to learn that he had a background in variety entertai…

Jim Jarmusch Turns 70 by Trav S.D.

I celebrated Jim Jarmusch's 70th birthday today by watching the one movie of his I hadn't yet seen, The Limits of Control (2009). To my delight, it stars Isaach de Bankolé, whom I had coinc…

A Century Ago: Eisenstein Presents His Theory of Attractions by Trav S.D.

We are well past the centennial of the birth of Soviet film-maker and theorist Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) but this year marks the centennial of something he gave birth to. I had occasion …

Olive Craddock a.k.a. "Roshanara" by Trav S.D.

Roshanara (Olive Craddock, 1894-1926) is today remembered as the more authentic competitor to Ruth St. Denis in the presentation of South Asian dances to Western audiences. While St. Denis i…

Tonight and Tomorrow at MOMA: "The Unknown" Restored! by Trav S.D.

Sorry for the last minute bulletin, but I only just learned about this yesterday. Tonight and tomorrow, New Yorkers, MOMA will be screening a restored version of The Unknown (1927), includin…

Gus Visser and His Singing Duck by Trav S.D.

The fame of vaudeville performer Gus Visser (1894-1967) is ironically perhaps greater now than it was in his own day. This is because footage of Visser's hilarious act wound up in the PBS do…

Emma Haig and Art "Dustbowl" Fowler by Trav S.D.

A story of strange bedfellows today, and not the first we've encountered in our exploration of vaudeville's annals. And apparently content ones! We begin with Emma Haig (1898-1939), a diminu…

Opening Tonight at Film Forum: 2 Weeks of Preston Sturges by Trav S.D.

Opening today (January 20, 2023) at New York's Film Forum, and running through February 2, a screening series entitled Written and Directed by Preston Sturges. I have already written extensi…

R.I.P. David Crosby (and Some Cool Facts About His Background) by Trav S.D.

David Crosby (1941-2023) has just passed away at the age of 81. Few thought he would make it to this age! I was a fan of The John Larroquette Show (1993-94), on which Crosby was stunt cast i…

A Century of Burns and Allen by Trav S.D.

A century ago this year, George Burns teamed with Gracie Allen and made their debut in a vaudeville house somewhere in New Jersey. Nowhere that I've been able to find (and I and others have …

Love for Richard Lester by Trav S.D.

The amazing director Richard Lester (Richard Lester Liebman, b. 1932) is still with us, though he hasn't directed for 30 years, and his career hasn't been honestly vital for 40. The reason w…

Of A.A. Milne and Winnie the Pooh by Trav S.D.

We've had numerous occasion to mention author A.A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne, 1882-1956) on this blog, and as often as not, the references were NOT to his most famous creation Winnie-the-P…

A Century of Stanislavski in the States by Trav S.D.

When I graduated from high school, my aunt/godmother gave me an incredibly thoughtful gift: a paperback copy of An Actor Prepares by Konstantin Stanislavski (Konstantin Stanislavski Alekseye…

R.I.P. Lollobrigida by Trav S.D.

News travels so quickly nowadays " apparently the great Italian star Gina Lollobrigida (1927-1923) died TODAY at age 95 and the press release is already out. Usually, you know, it's a few ho…

Frank Bacon: Lightnin' by Trav S.D.

Vaudeville was all about the Big Finish; the best shows and the best acts all ended on a spectacular, climactic note because audience reaction was everything. Frank Bacon's (1864-1922) was o…

Gene Krupa: The Chicago Flash by Trav S.D.

January 15 was the birthday of the father of modern drumming Gene Krupa (1909-1973) and this year will also mark 50 years since he shuffled off this mortal snare. Krupa remains one of the mo…

Journey for Margaret (O'Brien) by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Margaret O'Brien (Angela Maxine O'Brien, b. 1937), not to be confused with Margaret Sullavan or Maureen O'Sullivan, who is not to be confused with Maureen O'Hara. No…

R.I.P. Vaudeville Scholar Arthur Wertheim by Trav S.D.

We were very sorry to learn the other day, a year after the fact, of the passing away of vaudeville scholar and author Arthur Frank Wertheim (1935-2020). In all fairness to ourselves in miss…

Remembering Rip Taylor by Trav S.D.

I feel hugely out of step, even a little guilty this morning. Every other show biz writer is going to be discussing yesterday's passing of Lisa Maria Presley " and I will cop to the fact the…

Frazier in the Footlights by Trav S.D.

Today we add world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (1944-2011) to our honor roll of fighters who moonlighted in the limelight behind the footlights. Raised on a South Carolina farm, Frazier…

The Long Life and Short Reign of Luise Rainer by Trav S.D.

For most of my time on this earth Luise Rainer (1910-2015) was one of Hollywood's best known unknown actresses, on account of several distinctions that catapulted her to trivia contest immor…

Murray Alper: "Where To, Mac?" by Trav S.D.

Broadway and Hollywood supporting player Murray Alper (1904-1984) had over 250 screen credits (basically he was the Brooklyn cabby from central casting), but we thought it would be expedient…

Tonight: Klezmer in the Kitchen (Hell's Kitchen, That Is) by Trav S.D.

For National Shop for Travel Day: On Steamer Trunks by Trav S.D.

Thanks, Noah Diamond for slipping me this image of an old ad for steamer trunks. Believe or not, I actually used to own one of these babies. My friend and performing partner Robert Pinnock g…

Gisele Mackenzie: Her Hit Parade by Trav S.D.

I learned the name of Gisele MacKenzie (1927-2003) around the same time I learned that of Ghislaine Maxwell, and now I live in fear that I'll always mix them up, for aren't they similar? But…

Six Flicks on Tricky Dick (A Look at Richard Nixon in the Movies) by Trav S.D.

Here's an image you can't unsee; a picture of President Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) playing the piano, singing, and apparently trying to feel something. Nixon was second only to Truman as a…

Coming in 2 Weeks: Rice-Centennial, The Dan Rice Centennial by Trav S.D.

Two weeks from now: please join us for two major celebrations of the bicentennial birthday of the 19th century's greatest clown and pioneering American circus impresario Dan Rice (1823-1900)…

In Which I Step into a Cinema for the First Time in 3 Years and It Proves Oh So Worth It by Trav S.D.

I promise I don't write about every single thing I see or do, but last night was minorly momentous as far as I'm concerned. It marked the first time I have watched movies in a room with othe…