Thursday, August 31, 2023
August 31 was the birthday of stage actress Florence Walton (1883-1981), whom I previously profiled here. As I mentioned in that earlier post, friend Mari Lyn Henry had the rare opportunity …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:04AM[SHARE]August 31 was the natal day of Robert Emmet Odlum (1851-1885), the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. You thought it was Steve Brodie, didn't you? Well, Brodie was the first man to j…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:55AM[SHARE]A few words today in celebration of Dick Vosburgh (1929-2007). New Jersey born and RADA educated, Vosburgh began writing for BBC radio in the 1950s. He then moved up to British television, w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:43AM[SHARE]Wednesday, August 30, 2023
The briefest of squibs today on one of my favorite visual artists since boyhood, Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). David's period of activity stretched from the end of the Ancien Régime, thr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:37PM[SHARE]Tuesday, August 29, 2023
William Friedkin (1935-2023) was born August 29; we choose this year to add him to our annals as he passed away a couple of weeks ago; his final film is being released next month; and this y…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:25AM[SHARE]The title of this post is to indicate that we do NOT refer to the learned jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes JUNIOR (1841-1935) who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932, and was the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:07AM[SHARE]Monday, August 28, 2023
For whatever reason, I don't find Hal Thompson (1899-1966) half as objectionable as most of the ciphers and cigar store Indians who played the male love interests in Marx Brothers' comedies.…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:33AM[SHARE]Sunday, August 27, 2023
I remember the exact moment I learned of the existence of Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973). I was about 7 years old and thumbing through one of those "books of Presidents" we had (we had several) …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:49AM[SHARE]August 27 was both the birth date and death date of Romanian-American singer and actress Lisette Verea (1914-2003). Verea is chiefly known for but one thing: her hot, hot, hot performance as…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:25AM[SHARE]Saturday, August 26, 2023
This September 20, at 7:30pm we remind you to "Fall Back" and go "back to school" (old school) by attending the next edition of The Variety Store, at QED Â ,27-16 23rd Avenue, Astoria). Is…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:43PM[SHARE]I have absolutely zero recollection of why I assigned myself to celebrate the centennial of the birth of fairly obscure character Tom Mahoney (1923-1982), but what the, hell I'm going to go …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:13AM[SHARE]Friday, August 25, 2023
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) is top of mind at the moment for a variety of reasons: I was privileged recently to meet the daughter one of his principal proteges; Steven Spielberg recently r…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:07AM[SHARE]Thursday, August 24, 2023
Dave Chappelle turns 50 today. Chappelle's Show premiered 20 years ago. Even mentioning his name here will likely inspire paroxysms of fury from many. I hope most people will be rational eno…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:07AM[SHARE]Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Well, I don't know how I've managed to live this long without ever seeing this, as a life long classic comedy and vaudeville fan, as someone who grew up on Rankin-Bass specials, and also as …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:19AM[SHARE]Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Now that certain GOP politicians are rabid to relax the child labor laws, this might be a suitable time to recount the tale of Lucille Ricksen (Ingeborg Myrtle Elisabeth Ericksen, 1910-1925)…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:33AM[SHARE]Monday, August 21, 2023
August 21 was the birthday (and August 29 the death day) of Frank Perry (1930-1995); and August 26 is Women's Equality Day, a suitable season for a little reflection on the filmmaker and his…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:49AM[SHARE]Sunday, August 20, 2023
Happy National Radio Day! The Old Time Radio section of Travalanche now has close to 500 posts for your perusal every day of the year, but this year finds us at a significant juncture. 2023 …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:43AM[SHARE]August 20, 1923 saw the debut of the Shuberts' Artists and Models revues on Broadway. The concept for this show was adapted from theatricals put on by the Illustrators Society of New York (u…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:43AM[SHARE]Saturday, August 19, 2023
August 19 was the baptismal date of author Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). Richardson's biographical profile is unique among early British literary figures in that he was an autodidact. He ha…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:43AM[SHARE]Friday, August 18, 2023
To blink would be to miss the career of Andrea Leeds (Antoinette Lees, 1913-1984). Leeds career blazed most brightly not long before she ended it, when she was nominated for an Oscar for her…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:37AM[SHARE]Thursday, August 17, 2023
I only learned about this couple of performers a few days ago from the intrepid explorer Eve Golden. But as it happens, August 17 was the birthday of one of them, Ruth Tester (1903-1993). Te…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:33AM[SHARE]Dewey Robinson (1898-1950) specialized in rough-tough bruiser characters, appearing in well over 250 Hollywood movies in the two decades between 1931 and his death. He was frequently cast as…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:19AM[SHARE]For her 130th natal anniversary, here's something I should have implemented upon producing West Fest back in 2018: a finding aid to help you navigate the three dozen posts about Mae West on …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:07AM[SHARE]Wednesday, August 16, 2023
There are two reasons for choosing to reflect upon Madonna (Madonna Ciccone, b. 1958) on this particular birthday. 2023 puts us at the 40th anniversary of her entry onto the pop charts and h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:19AM[SHARE]Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Romanian born Aben Kandel (1897-1993) was many things over his long career: a boxer, a fiction writer, playwright and screenwriter. The fact that the first of his half dozen novels was calle…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:13AM[SHARE]What can the title of this post refer to, you wonder? W.C. Fields wore all of his sins on his sleeve: drinking, smoking, and professed animadversions for such untouchable subjects of societa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:13AM[SHARE]August 15 was the birthday of Johnny Roventini (1910-1989) better known to the public of his time as Johnny Philip Morris. The Brooklyn native was a Person of Small Stature " 3 feet, eleven …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:13AM[SHARE]We have multiple reasons for wanting to do a little tribute to Mike Connors (Krekor Ohanian, Jr., 1925-2017) over and beyond his most famous role on the tv show Mannix (1967-1975). To wit: -…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:55AM[SHARE]Monday, August 14, 2023
As I mentioned in my post about Jerry Lewis's tv shows, when I first saw the comedian in Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982), I was to young to know the extent of the gimmick, i.e. I didn't…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:43AM[SHARE]Sunday, August 13, 2023
Marx Brothers fans know of Erin Fleming (Marilyn Suzette Fleming, 1941-2003) chiefly through books like Steve Stoliar's Raised Eyebrows and Charlotte Chandler's Hello, I Must Be Going. The w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:49AM[SHARE]Saturday, August 12, 2023
I just heard from the great biographer Eve Golden that Tom Jones (1928-2002) has passed away. Don't worry, it's not the Welsh Elvis, but the other one, the one who wrote the book and lyrics …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:43PM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
