October 25 was the natal day of the great English-American actor Leo G. Carroll; as it happens we have also just passed the 50th anniversary of his passing (October 16, 1972). Thanks to The …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:03AM[SHARE]It's hard to tell where World Zombie Day is at these day " it may have happened on October 13, though trying to find news about it makes me feel like a post-apocalyptic grandpa in his baseme…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:07PM[SHARE]Africa has been my mind a lot lately and not just because I watched Idris Elba have an implausible confrontation with a crazy lion the other night in Beast. My son is doing his country proud…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:33PM[SHARE]Author Michael Crichton (1942-2008) would be 80 today, had cancer not taken him prematurely several years ago. An irony there, for he was a medical doctor (he possessed an M.D. but never pra…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:37PM[SHARE]Today marks the centennial of the birth of movie star Coleen Gray (Doris Jensen, 1922-2015). And yes the word "star" is used accurately here: Gray was top or second-billed in dozens of Holly…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:55AM[SHARE]Annette Funicello (1942-2013) would have been 80 years old today if not for her sad, early death a decade ago. Teenage stardom and early retirement due to illness means that she'll forever b…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:13AM[SHARE]For someone whose screen footprint was so small, and whose life was so short, Patricia "Boots" Mallory (1913-1958) managed to cram a lot of interesting stuff anyway. Born in New Orleans and …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:13AM[SHARE]Three cheers and more than a few wolf whistles for Lee Meredith (Judith Lee Sauls, b. 1947)! Classic comedy fans know her well, as she somehow managed to make a mark in vaudeville/burlesque/…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:13AM[SHARE]Three important news items for fans of the great magic (and magic debunking) team of Penn and Teller. First, Penn Jillette now has a new novel out, called Random. New Yorkers should be glad …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:13AM[SHARE]Today marks 80th anniversary of the terrific vaudeville-themed musical For Me and My Gal (1942) at Loew's State; this year marks the 60th anniversary of the passing of the film's protagonist…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:13AM[SHARE]The third Thursday in October is observed as International Shakeout Day, designed to increase awareness of earthquake safety. As with fire safety, the issue is hardly irrelevant to theatres,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:07AM[SHARE]This one goes out to my good friend and former musical collaborator Sarah Engelke, who introduced me to the joys of dialect comedian and novelty song performer Yogi Yorgesson (1908-1956). Sa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:03AM[SHARE]When I was a kid in the '70s, Arlene Francis (Arlene Francis Kazanijan, 1907-2001), was still a going concern, one of those omnipresent celebrities you saw on game shows, talk shows on the l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:19AM[SHARE]Can I help it if we're in the midst of a particularly good crop of vaudeville and classic comedy related centennial anniversaries? Well I can't just ignore them. In November and December I'l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:33PM[SHARE]I don't know if character actor Dan Tobin (1910-1982) always went by "Gentleman Dan", but no less austere a platform than FindaGrave.com styles him that way. It's an apparent reference to To…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:55AM[SHARE]I really love the image of the periodical above, it reminds me of a joke of my friend Scott Stiffler, whom I first knew as a comedian before he became a Chelsea based local news editor. He h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:13AM[SHARE]Evelyn Venable (1913-1993) is one of those actresses whose work you likely know without knowing that you know it. Her obscurity can not be chalked up to being a bit player, or even a support…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:07AM[SHARE]I've come to regard The Love Boat as the Noah's Ark of celebrities " every species represented, and always in pairs. (Sure, Yogi's Ark is also a Noah's Ark of celebrities but only the Hanna-…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:13AM[SHARE]On account of his superlative, highly unique fiction, we tend to regard Nathanael West (Nathan Weinstein, 1903-1940) as a literary figure as opposed to a theatrical or show biz one, but his …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:03AM[SHARE]For years I have taken good care to qualify my boast that I have ALMOST written about every cast member of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), because there's always someone else. This m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:25PM[SHARE]Scratch beneath the surface of almost anybody in show business and you'll usually find a more fascinating person than Hollywood presents. I'm assuming its because the town is focused on prom…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:55AM[SHARE]Many impulses contributed to the creation of this post: the approach of Halloween, our snowballing Francophilia, the fact that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the closing of the orig…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:43AM[SHARE]Jack Arnold (Jack Arnold Waks, 1916-1992) is typically celebrated as a director of '50s sci-fi and horror classics ('tis the season), though his accomplishments range across all genres, and …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:43AM[SHARE]Pamela Tiffin (1941-2020) passed away a few months ago, but I thought I'd leave a tribute for this birthday benchmark she never made it to. I think of Tiffin was one of the "'60s youth gener…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:49AM[SHARE]Jacques Inaudi (Giacomo Inaudi, 1867-1950) was an internationally known math prodigy from Northern Italy. Studied and written about by major scientists, his fame brought him to the attention…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:49AM[SHARE]Louise Closser Hale (1872-1933) was an early 20th century Renaissance woman: actress of stage and screen, magazine editor, author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, and playwright…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:37AM[SHARE]This somewhat impulsive post arises from the fact that we re-watched Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) last night and were reminded of the unusually large number of comedians there are through…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:55AM[SHARE]It is my enthusiastic honor to point you to a piece I wrote on another website today. The omnivorous and multi-mediumistic Heather Quinlan is curating a wonderful series on HiLoBrow.com call…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:37PM[SHARE]Having had a recent occasion to mention Clifford Essex (1869-1946), we thought his contributions to the variety arts sufficient to merit a brief entry of his own here. Essex was basically th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:25AM[SHARE]Born on October 10, 2022: Lee and Lyn Wilde: The Wilde Twins. Singers, movies actresses, and pin-up models, the sisters were most active during the 1940s. The girls grew up in East St. Louis…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:19AM[SHARE]October 5 was World Teachers Day, so we compose this belated tribute to someone to whom I owe a lot. I've been wanting to look him up lately, as I've recently picked up a thread that started…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:25AM[SHARE]
