Thursday, February 24, 2022
As we write this, Putin's armies are streaming over Russia's western border in a bid to swallow the sovereign nation of Ukraine. There is no denying that historically Ukraine has long been p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:03PM[SHARE]Having already done a post today with a down ending about a young talented star who died way too young, I contemplated a kicking the can down the road and saving this one on Mitch Hedberg (1…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:03PM[SHARE]Pete Duel (1940-1971) would have been 82 today, which seems unthinkable, for like so many who would be so old now (James Dean, JFK) he left this world when he was in the prime of life. In ol…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM[SHARE]Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Today something I almost never do: plug a book that's decades old (as opposed to 150 years old or new). My friend Last-Up Larry kindly gave me some used books a few months back; two were by …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Of all things, a rare appeal to support a website I write for that isn't the Travalanche campaign. In point of fact, I'm super proud of many of the articles I've cooked up for Chelsea Commun…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PM[SHARE]The provocative title of this morning's post happens also to be the name of an actual American court case, one of the most ironically yet aptly named in history, right up there with "Loving …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PM[SHARE]Monday, February 21, 2022
I sure hope you recall a project I contributed to a while back, organized and presented by the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, entitled Windows on the Bowery, which put informative placards in…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:54PM[SHARE]Playwright Leonard Melfi (1932-2001) would have been 90 years old today. In a time when many people live to that advanced age, it's worth looking at the circumstances as to how and why Melfi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:37AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 20, 2022
I'm not a sci-fi guy per se, nor even a steam-punk guy, but more like a straight-up, uncut Victoriana guy, which is why you may find posts on H.G. Wells and Jules Verne here on Travalanche, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:12PM[SHARE]A portmanteau post this morning, concerning two different men with a very real connection. The first is English novelist Henry Cockton (1807-1853). I often opine that various public figures …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AM[SHARE]We'll expend just a few lines on William Henry ("W.H.") Turner (1845-1941), for that's about all we have! As Delno Fritz also shares this birthday, February 20 is apparently a very good day …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AM[SHARE]Saturday, February 19, 2022
Born 100 years ago today: broadcast personality Sandy Becker (George Sanford Becker, 1922-1996). Becker enjoyed both a national and local (NYC) show biz imprint over a quarter century in the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:03AM[SHARE]Friday, February 18, 2022
I few syllables about British-American character actress Queenie Leonard (Pearl Walker, 1905-2002). She's Travalanche's third Queenie, by my count, following on the heels of Queenie Vassar a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]New York Readers of Travalanche, I bring you Glad Tidings! This Sunday at 11am, the Film Forum (Jr) will be showing Charles Lane's wonderful 1989 film Sidewalk Stories, and Mr. Lane will be …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]Thursday, February 17, 2022
Arkansas native Arthur Hunnicutt (1910-79) traveled for years with medicine shows and stock companies before making it to Broadway in Love's Old Sweet Song (1940) by William Saroyan, one of …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]Wednesday, February 16, 2022
William LeBaron (1883-1958) is a figure I knew chiefly about as a Hollywood executive who gave a lot of opportunity and support to some of my favorite classic comedians, but it's important t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Self-evidently, the writing of history is vital because it tells us what happened before we were to witness events. Sometimes, however, it is also useful because we don't mark important deve…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54PM[SHARE]Monday, February 14, 2022
Like any diligent Marx Brothers fan I know about Florence Rice (1907-1974), primarily through her appearance as the ingenue in At the Circus (1939). If you ever wondered how we go from the l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM[SHARE]We in America have no true equivalent to British music hall and television impresario Valentine "Val" Parnell (1892-1972). The closest would be if you crossed Edward Albee (the vaudeville bo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 13, 2022
Ernest "Tennessee Ernie" Ford (1919-1991) was the sort of figure we don't seem to have in American pop culture any more: a country artist with mass, mainstream appeal, less because the count…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:42PM[SHARE]February 13, 1884 was the likely natal day of Lillian Margaret St. Cyr, though some sources say the less likely 1873, which would have made her 101 at the time of her death. This "Lilly" is …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AM[SHARE]Saturday, February 12, 2022
The year 2028 will mark 150 years of acting Adlers in this world. Jerry Adler (b. 1929) is arguably the best known nowadays in strict numerical terms, by virtue of his film and television wo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:03PM[SHARE]Friday, February 11, 2022
Today we scratch out a few lines on an obscure and minor figure whom we stumbled across while (of all things) making corrections on Wikipedia. (Making factual corrections is not my bag at al…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PM[SHARE]Thursday, February 10, 2022
Oh, don't worry, Valri Bromfield fans " she's very much alive. It's just that Bromfield (b. 1949) left show business a couple of decades ago, so my memories of her as a performer are at leas…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AM[SHARE]Wednesday, February 9, 2022
I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to do a post on Joe Pesci (let alone Frank Vincent) if I hadn't learned about their wonderful early years. After all, to date, I have not yet don…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PM[SHARE]I first became aware of Robert Dennis "Woody" Woodbury (b. 1924) from his rather protracted and oddly prominent performance in the 1964 youth film For Those Who Think Young. Though he plays …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 8, 2022
I'm not sure how I missed the memo, but I'm wasting no time in sharing it with YOU. Almost exactly ten years ago, a kind conservator at the Smithsonian named Dawn Rogala put me up in her Was…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54PM[SHARE]Today is Burt Mustin's birthday but the odds are quite good that I'll never be doing a post on him. The main reason for this is that a number of years ago, someone said to me "How about doin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:33AM[SHARE]Monday, February 7, 2022
I think it's safe to say that there aren't any other show biz careers like that of Keefe Brasselle (1923-1981). By that I don't mean he was at the top, but that he made his own journey, one …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 6, 2022
Russell Gleason (1908-1945) was a minor but well-known Hollywood figure in his time; you'd think his shocking death would be a better known tale. He was the son of the famous husband-wife ac…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]In 1884, a man advertised that he would walk a tight rope suspended between the roofs of two buildings on opposite sides of the main street in Corsicana, Texas, some 20 or 30 feet in the air…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
