Saturday, March 14, 2020
Today we shed light on stage and screen actress Mary Carr (Mary Kennevan, 1874-1973). Carr was a native of Germantown, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia). She began her working life …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:03PM[SHARE]In the international world of circus, our normal procedure of hyphenating identities can become an absurdity. Take for example Bonar Colleano (Bonar Sullivan, 1924-58) who was, technically, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:03PM[SHARE]Friday, March 13, 2020
A good year to acknowledge the birthday of Lenny Montana (Leonardo Passafaro, 1926-1992), for after his years as a professional wrestler, Montana was an enforcer and arsonist for the Columbo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:32PM[SHARE]Today we celebrate Irish-Welsh performer Tessie O'Shea (Teresa Mary O'Shea, 1912-95). By Irish-Welsh, we of course mean that her parents were Irish and she herself was born and raised in Wal…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AM[SHARE]Thursday, March 12, 2020
A brief take on an interesting, multi-faceted figure of the 20th century, Eugenie McEvoy (Eugene Wehrle, 1879-1975). McEvoy had her finger in so many pies during her life that our main point…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Whenever I lose my resolve or have doubts about my own quirks and eccentricities as an actor, I hope I'll remember the example of Timothy Carey (1929-1994). Carey was a man with maximum inte…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 10, 2020
One of the more egregious mistakes made by non-Ed Wood fans is their mischaracterization of director's casts as a conglomeration of nobodies, bottom-feeeders, and inexperienced non-actors. W…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PM[SHARE]An introduction today, for those that require one, to Baldwin "Baldy" Cooke (1888-1953) and his wife Alice Hamilton Cooke (1882-1985), who are today remembered pretty much entirely in terms …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]Monday, March 9, 2020
For someone with my peculiar proclivities the name Napoleon Sarony (1821-96) is as familiar as the back of my hand. I imagine Mathew Brady is better known nowadays amongst the general public…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:03AM[SHARE]Sunday, March 8, 2020
Some brief attention to actress Priscilla Lawson (Priscilla Jones Shortridge, 1914-58). Lawson's time in the sun was brief, and she wasn't very directly in the sun (more in the cave shadows …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PM[SHARE]Friday, March 6, 2020
 Today an homage to writer/director/actor/producer Rob Reiner (b. 1947) Reiner is a textbook, literal, Baby Boomer: his father, the famous Carl Reiner was discharged from his World War I…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PM[SHARE]Time and perspective have given me an added appreciation for the singular oeuvre of Hal Needham (1931-2013) " within reason. There are many roads to being a film director. Some who've gotten…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:18AM[SHARE]Scottish-American Ella Logan (1910-69) entertainer had a wonderfully rich career, although he ephemeral nature of the theatre has meant that time has passed her by. Born and raised in Glasgo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM[SHARE]Allison Hayes (1930-1977) is best remembered today as the star of a string of low-budget horror movies: The Undead, Zombies of Mora Tau, The Unearthly, and The Disembodied (all 1957), Attack…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM[SHARE]Thursday, March 5, 2020
Joan Shawlee (1926-1987) was usually a supporting player in film, tv and live performance, but she always made a big impression. The adjective "statuesque" is often applied to Shawlee. Offic…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM[SHARE]Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Born on March 4, the silent and Pre-Code Hollywood screen star Dorothy Mackaill (1903-90). Born and raised in Hull, Yorkshire, Mackaill hopped to London, Paris, and then New York in pursuit …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]It is impossible to separate the life and art of John Garfield (Jacob Julius "Julie" Garfinkle, 1913-52). Garfield was born and raised in a succession of tough working class New York neighbo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 3, 2020
It occurred to me this morning that I ought to do a book called "Everything I Know I Learned from Old Hollywood Bio-Pics." I've written about scores of them on Travalanche, and there's no co…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:12PM[SHARE]Bobby Driscoll (1937-1968) was one in that long chain of cursed child performers, falling in the chronology midway between the Little Rascals and the kids from Diff'rent Strokes. Referring t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:03AM[SHARE]Monday, March 2, 2020
I just received word that African-American burlesque legend Lottie "The Body" Graves (Lottie Tatum, b. 1930) has shimmied off this mortal coil on February 28. Born in South Carolina, she mov…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]Performances begin this week for Coney Island USA's most ambitious production to date Bloody Brains in a Juke Box. The show, produced through CIUSA's Funhouse Philosophers series, is a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]To wade into the biography of Hollywood actress Jennifer Jones (Phyllis Lee Isley, 1919-2009) is to step into a melodrama more excessive than any she ever starred in. Jones was second genera…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]Sunday, March 1, 2020
Well, forgive me, as I am about to plant several tunes in your head that won't leave. Blame Glenn Miller (Alton Glenn Miller, 1904-44)! As a kid, I was already familiar with Glenn Miller's m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM[SHARE]Saturday, February 29, 2020
Today is the 12th birthday of the blog you are now reading, Travalanche. Or the 3rd birthday, depending on your count it, for it was started on leap Year. In celebration, and in emulation of…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PM[SHARE]I have been impatient to do a post on Dinah Shore (Fannye Rose Shore, 1916-1994) for years. She's a Leap Year baby, and I normally do biographical posts on birthdays. Though a creature of th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AM[SHARE]A few jottings in in tribute to Leap Year baby William Wellman (1896-1976). Wellman has a reputation for being among the most macho of classic Hollywood film directors, equalling or exceedin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:42AM[SHARE]Friday, February 28, 2020
The news arrived last night that Nick Apollo Forte (b. 1938) has died. The Italian-American lounge and cruise ship singer from Waterbury Connecticut earned his nickname when he opened for De…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06AM[SHARE]Thursday, February 27, 2020
Today we throw rose petals at the feet of Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) My years of kidhood in the 1970s fell during a dip in Taylor's career, so to me at the time she was more of a "legend" …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:02PM[SHARE]Edward Brophy (1895-1960) was one of those streetwise character actors they loved so much in the '30s and '40s: short, bald, stocky, with a high-pitched squeaky voice. Whether cast in an imp…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 25, 2020
This is a local event that will only be of interest to some, but as a card-carrying member of the Great-Neck Historical Society I feel compelled to spread the word. A week from today, Tuesda…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:42PM[SHARE]One of the delightful rewards of creating a blog like this is the cool stuff you uncover once you dig beneath the surface of the history of someone you only know glancingly, usually from the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
