Monday, November 25, 2019
Three things are normally brought out about Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900-1980): her one starring role in Hollywood; her celebrity husband (Melvyn Douglas); and her political significance. We'…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM[SHARE]Sunday, November 24, 2019
Some brief tribute today to Mexican illusionist Cantu (Abraham J. Cantu, 1896-1949). Originally from Monterey, Mexico, Cantu began his working adult life as a barber, gradually making his wa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 23, 2019
The extent to which the careers of certain silent screen stars' careers were destroyed by sound is often exaggerated, but the case that that is what happened to Ethlyne Clair (Ethlyne Wil…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AM[SHARE]Friday, November 22, 2019
We got the word from pal Sheila O'Malley just now that Michael J. Pollard is dead at the age of 80. I first knew Pollard from the classic Star Trek episode "Miri", where he and Kim Darby (an…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:03PM[SHARE]Thursday, November 21, 2019
As we find ourselves neck deep in televised impeachment hearings, it feels particularly apropos to celebrate the memory of impressionist David Frye (David Shapiro, 1933-2011). As Vaughn Mead…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:03AM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Of his nearly 200 screen roles, Robert Armstrong (1890-1973) is known today almost enirely for one. But what a one! Armstrong was born in Saginaw, Michigan where his father and uncle operate…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:03PM[SHARE]Tuesday, November 19, 2019
 We take the opportunity of Jodie Foster's birthday (b. 1962) to recall an interesting blip in her early career that has no doubt been forgotten by most. Foster was ubiquitous as a child…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:33AM[SHARE]Thanks to the 2016 book Unsung Hollywood Musicals of the Golden Era: 50 Overlooked Films and Their Stars 1929-1939 by Edwin M. Bradley, and the intrepid gang at Nitrateville, I have managed …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:54AM[SHARE]Monday, November 18, 2019
His name is not exactly a household word but Paul Sills (1927-2008) was one of the most influential figures in American comedy history, the principal founder of Second City and the key guru …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM[SHARE]Sunday, November 17, 2019
Good news for folks who may have missed our earlier performances of Jason Trachtenburg's Me and Lee over the past year at Sidewalk, Dixon Place, the Brick, and Theater for the New City. W…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:42PM[SHARE]The name Katie Crippen (Catherine Crippen, 1895-1929) would undoubtedly be better known if she weren't taken at such a young age, for her career intersected with many legendary performers an…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Many famous actresses have been associated with the plum role of Peter Pan over the past century: Maude Adams, Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, and most recently Allison Williams. The star of the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 16, 2019
Apropos of nothing this morning " a short survey of a surprisingly small cul de sac in the realm of comedy grooming: the crew cut. I'd always considered it a principal accompaniment to ne…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AM[SHARE]Friday, November 15, 2019
There would well have been more to tell about Frank Moore (1880-1924) had he lived longer but he did manage to make a minor mark in show business all the same. The older brother of actress F…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:33AM[SHARE]The fascinating career of Dona Drake (Eunice Westmoreland, 1914-1989) is a story of resourceful subterfuge and a talent so great that no such misdirection should have been required at all. D…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AM[SHARE]Thursday, November 14, 2019
An appreciation today for a terrifically solid actress/performer/light comedienne with an impressive body of work you may have seen without "seeing", Rosemary DeCamp (1910-2001). I don't kno…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Sidney Stone (1902-1986) spent his formative years in vaudeville and burlesque, and on Broadway, where was in the original productions of two plays by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, The Fa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PM[SHARE]The short life and career of silent screen star Evelyn Nelson (1899-1923) are tantalizing in their thwarted promise and in their mystery. Originally from Chloride Arizona, Nelson was to star…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PM[SHARE]Much like Ben Turpin or Marty Feldman, Jack Elam (William Scott Elam, 1920-2003) dined out for decades on a wayward eye. Unlike t'others, Elam employed his in the service of MENACE a good…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PM[SHARE]Tuesday, November 12, 2019
The interesting career of actor/writer/ director Richard Quine (1920-1989) contains many phases and is a bridge between old school show biz and the modern era. First he was a child perfor…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:03AM[SHARE]Monday, November 11, 2019
Latina love goddess Raquel Torres (Paula Maria Osterman, 1908-1987) poured unsuspected amounts of showmanship into her screen presence. While indeed born in Hermosillo, Mexico to a Mexican m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:36AM[SHARE]Sunday, November 10, 2019
Like many of my favorite actors (George C. Scott, William Holden), Richard Burton (Richard Walter Jenkins Jr, 1925-1984) radiated a rare combination of intelligence and macho charisma. He wa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42AM[SHARE]Papa Charlie Jackson (William Henry Jackson, 1887-1938) was an influential and unique crossover figure in both early hot jazz and blues, making music that incorporated elements of ragtime, a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 9, 2019
A few inadequate words in memory of screen actress Mae Marsh (Mary Wayne Marsh, 1894-1968). Critics hailed Marsh as one of the finest actresses of the silent era, in a league with Mary Pickf…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:03AM[SHARE]Friday, November 8, 2019
The screen career of comical character actor Bud Ross (sometimes billed as Budd Ross, 1868-1932) is nicely bookended between D.W. Griffith's The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) and Mack Sennett's H…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]Onnie Jones (1897-1954), often billed merely as "Lollypop", was a comedian on the black vaudeville circuits, in nightclubs, and in race movies. Originally from Madison, Georgia, he became a …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]I am often asked about the origin of my pseudonym Trav S.D. " it has multiple meanings, but the whole point in choosing a symbolic moniker is NOT to overexplain and NOT to literalize. When i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]On November 8, 1965 two seemingly unrelated things occurred: 1) popular newspaper columnist and tv game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen (b. 1913) was found dead in her Manhattan townhouse, f…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]Digby Bell (1849-1917) was a Milwaukee born vocalist, popular in comic opera, musical comedy and vaudeville at the tune of the last century. He is credited with being the performer who intro…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:18AM[SHARE]Thursday, November 7, 2019
Today is the birthday of early silent film star King Baggot (read my full post on Baggot here). That makes today the perfect time to announce that I'll be in Philadelphia this Sunday at the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36PM[SHARE]I know you are lured by the headline but there are other things to tell about Grace Stafford (Grace Boyle (1903-1992) first. Stafford was only 16 years old when she married actor Tom Keene i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
