Saturday, December 11, 2021
Well, I don't get Showtime, and I don't know anyone who does, but periodically they show something that makes me wish I did. Tonight they premiere a program called The Real Charlie Chaplin. …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AM[SHARE]Friday, December 10, 2021
A few words today on a Scottish strongman born in Banff as William Bankier (1870-1949). Bankier's father was, of all things, a hand loom weaver, an occupation that can hardly have been remun…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM[SHARE]Thursday, December 9, 2021
This may come as news to many of you below a certain age, but some of us had not one, but two Hermiones in our lives prior to the 1997 publication of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:33AM[SHARE]Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The internet possesses no shortage of gushing, enthusiastic blogger valentines to the great actor Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) and that's as it should be. So I'm not going to dwell on Cobb's exce…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18PM[SHARE]It may be hard to credit for those who were alive and sentient back then but it's nonetheless true " while he was alive, Sam Kinison (1953-1992) was only prominent in the pop culture landsca…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18PM[SHARE]Tuesday, December 7, 2021
80 years ago today, the air forces of Imperial Japan attacked the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, precipitating U.S. entry into World War Two. My Tennessee grandfather enlisted in t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54AM[SHARE]Monday, December 6, 2021
A gingerly nod of the head today to Joseph Milana (1884-1959), a.k.a. Ajax the Great, Professor Ajax or the Mighty Ajax. A native of Washington DC, Milana began working in dime museums as a …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Sunday, December 5, 2021
Tonight, I was flipping through channels and stopped just in time to see a fan of one of my books accept her Kennedy Center Award from the President. Congratulations, Bette Midler. I am kvel…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06PM[SHARE]With Steven Spielberg's reboot of West Side Story due for nationwide release this coming Friday, he will be the last of the major "New Hollywood" directors of the 1970s to tackle a famously …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54PM[SHARE]Saturday, December 4, 2021
60 years ago (late 1961) a group named Joey Dee and the Starliters released a new variation on the Twist craze spawned by Chubby Checker the previous year. By January 1962, their single "The…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AM[SHARE]Friday, December 3, 2021
I had the best time this afternoon rapping with the illimitable Wayne Federman about comedy and vaudeville on his podcast. In addition to being the former headwriter for Jimmy Fallon, a co-p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:54PM[SHARE]Tonight (December 3) at 8pm Eastern " our pal Torkova the magician and mentalist will be on Penn and Teller Fool Us on the CW Network. It was honor to present Bobby Torkova many a time in my…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:03AM[SHARE]Thursday, December 2, 2021
Having done ten posts about stars with the first name of Virginia and about a dozen with the last name of Carroll we must observe that Virginia Carroll (1913-2009) is a likely name for a fil…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:48PM[SHARE]Eddie Mekka (Rudolph Edward Mekjian, 1952-2021) was much more than "Carmine from Laverne and Shirley" of course, it's just that when you say his real name everyone goes "Who?" and when you s…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:48PM[SHARE]Wednesday, December 1, 2021
This is liable to remain one of my obscure Travalanche posts and yet it's the kind I love the most, for it mixes together two of my great loves, American theatrical history and the lore surr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:03PM[SHARE]Today we celebrate the Lakota Chief Óta Kté ("Plenty Kill"), also known as Matȟó NážiÅ‹Â (or "Standing Bear") (1869-1939) " not to be confused with the Ponca l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:03PM[SHARE]Tuesday, November 30, 2021
We heard at the 11th hour last night that 96 year old Arlene Dahl (b. 1925) had passed away. Dahl was a gorgeous redhead in the vein of Virginia Mayo and Rhonda Fleming, and appeared in the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AM[SHARE]Monday, November 29, 2021
Well…having already done an extensive post on The Beatles' Let it Be, I didn't know if Peter Jackson's Get Back would supply me with sufficient fodder for an additional one, but, oh, man, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54PM[SHARE]Given the later arrival of Merle Haggard and all manner of country music Travises, younger people could almost be forgiven for assuming the name Merle Travis (1917-1983) was a sort of made-u…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AM[SHARE]Sunday, November 28, 2021
I was so sad to learn from Adam Realman that my old friend Kenwyn Dapo has died. The news shook me into unreality " you know that feeling when words seem unfamiliar? That was how it felt. Ke…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PM[SHARE]Jon Stewart (John Stuart Leibowitz, b. 1962) is nearing the 6-0 mark; he became a transformative figure in television comedy around 20 years ago. We can begin to discuss him as history. My a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:54AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 27, 2021
Robert Youngson (1917-1974) was a man of his mid-century moment. I was born a half century later than he, and probably wouldn't be the person I am if interpreters of his generation (himself,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:48AM[SHARE]Friday, November 26, 2021
We first announced this exciting development back in April, but now it's available to pre-order, with a pub date of January 22, and what's more I have read it, so can recommend Camera Man, D…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM[SHARE]Margaret Livingston (1895-1984), whose name was spelled with myriad variations over the years, is best remembered as the devastating temptress known as "The Woman from the City" in Murnau's …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM[SHARE]Thursday, November 25, 2021
Today a post of tribute and thanks to YOU, my readers, subscribers, and above all my patrons! As for the latter, today I won't just say "You know who you are", I will SAY who you are for all…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Born November 24, 1941: Pete Best: original drummer for the Beatles. Best's tenure with the group was short (almost exactly two years), but occurred during a highly significant time period. …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AM[SHARE]Tuesday, November 23, 2021
With her nearly 1,000 screen credits, most of them non-speaking, Bess Flowers (1898-1984) became known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras". But that's not a strictly accurate encapsulatio…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM[SHARE]Monday, November 22, 2021
Backwards is how I learned about the career of popular organist Ethel Smith (Ethel Goldsmith, 1902-1996). She had a bit part in Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker (1970), which I wrote abou…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]The circus and vaudeville act known as The Cliffords was a rare example of matriarchy in Western Culture. The star of the act was lady sword swallower Edith Clifford (1886-1942), who plied h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]Sunday, November 21, 2021
Well, the title of this post may sound like that of an Agatha Christie novel, but no, that's Roger Aykroyd. And if you are a fan of the eponymous English writer and historian, rest easy, for…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:12PM[SHARE]Born in Newark, New Jersey 100 years ago today: musical stage and screen star Vivian Blaine (Vivian Stapleton, 1921-1995). Blaine started as a singer with big bands in her teenage years in t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
