Monday, May 4, 2020
Since we're all going to die, today I deliver a heresy: Â Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) is a figure I respect enormously as an icon and a star but most of whose movies I have little use for. …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AM[SHARE]We find the qualifier in the headline necessary to differentiate our present subject from the pioneering female stand-up comedian Jean Carroll, who'd been in the team of Carroll and Howe. To…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AM[SHARE]Sunday, May 3, 2020
More than a few thoughts, lifted from my notebooks, to mark the birthday of playwright/screenwriter William Inge (1913-73). I was guilty of being dismissive of Inge for many years, mostly…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM[SHARE]Saturday, May 2, 2020
Today Hedda Hopper (1885-1966) is almost exclusively remembered as a Holy Terror of a right-wing gossip columnist, champion of Joan Crawford, J. Edgar Hoover, and HUAC, and scourge of Charli…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AM[SHARE]Friday, May 1, 2020
There is a herky-jerky aspect to the career of Betty Ross Clarke (May Clarke, 1892-1970), preventing her career from attaining the kind of momentum it required to really get going. Clarke wa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:03PM[SHARE]Several points of interest draw us to the topic of stage and screen actress Rose Hobart (Rose Kefer, 1906-2000). First, she figures in horror classics. She was Fredric March's leading lady i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 30, 2020
April 26, 1947 was the death day of animal impersonator George Ali (George Bolingbroke, born ca. 1866). Thank you, Matt Brady for suggesting him! (BTW, I don't ordinarily take requests. Let …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM[SHARE]When I was a kid (it seems to me) a lot of the older women emulated Eve Arden (Eunice May Quedens, 1908-1990). Arden was beautiful and glamorous, but also imposing. She stood 5'7″, whi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:42AM[SHARE]Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Jerry Seinfeld (b. 1954) is a man who has stood on the shoulders of giants, one who has since become a giant himself, which must be very uncomfortable for the people he's standing on. My nic…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:03PM[SHARE]Now that Jay Leno (b. 1950) has become Tip O'Neill, I like him again. I caught him on Bill Maher's show the other day after not having watched him in action for like a decade, and was deligh…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:03PM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 28, 2020
I only just became aware of actress Adele Mara (Adelaida Delgado, 1923-2010) on account of her appearance in the Joe E. Brown comedy western Shut My Big Mouth (1942). She was a Columbia cont…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PM[SHARE]Someone has decreed today to be Superhero Day and who am I to argue? While I have gotten more than my share of enjoyment out of most of the key comic book franchises, parody (of ANYTHING) is…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AM[SHARE]Monday, April 27, 2020
This one goes out to Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (1932-2014). Lebanese-American Kasem was from Detroit, and got his start in local radio in high school and later as a student at Wayne Statue Un…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:42PM[SHARE]Well now. It was no small matter getting to the bottom of the multi-generational Redgrave pool, with so many twists and turns and tributaries. It's enough material for a book, but as with my…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:18AM[SHARE]Sunday, April 26, 2020
A few words on silent comedy supporting player Frank J. Coleman (1888-1948). A native of the Hudson River town of Newburgh, New York, Coleman started out acting with barnstorming outfits lik…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:48PM[SHARE]James T. Powers (James T. McGovern, 1862-1943) was a great 20th century stage clown, as well as a songwriter and playwright. Born in New York City of Irish-American parentage, Powers fell in…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:32PM[SHARE]Today we corral vaudeville animal impersonator Fred Woodward (1882-1960). Yes animal impersonation was a whole sub-specialty in vaudeville! Other animal impersonators we have profiled on Tra…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:32PM[SHARE]Saturday, April 25, 2020
The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show was just the most visible face of a vast economic empire based in Oklahoma. The 101 Ranch, located near Ponca City, in what was then known simply…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:03AM[SHARE]Paul Desmuke (1876-1949) was a native of Atacosca County, Texas. Born without arms, he became extremely proficient in the use of his feet. With his lower extremities, he could write, play th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54AM[SHARE]Friday, April 24, 2020
Yes it's true!, April 24 is the birthday of both Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine (Shirley MacLean Beaty, b. 1934). Atsa lotta show biz for one day! The daughter of two Virginia educato…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12PM[SHARE]I've had a couple of dozen occasions to refer to Barbra Streisand (b. 1942) on this blog, yet have never done a post on her (despite having done three posts on Bette Midler, and plans for mo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM[SHARE]Stella Adams (1883-1961) appeared in over 150 films, most notably as star, co-star or featured player in comedies produced by the Nestor and Christie studios. A native of Sherman, Texas, Ada…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 23, 2020
Adele Blood (1886-1936) was a socialite and stage star whose finish was as spectacular as that in any melodrama. Three years later, a gun shot rang out again in a horrible echo of that theat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Just got the news from her daughter Kaitlin Hopkins (also a lovely actress) that the highly respected stage and screen star Shirley Knight has passed at age 83. Knight was "Heavenly" (the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:42PM[SHARE]The most startling thing I encountered about Hollywood bit player Rondo Hatton (1894-1946) this morning was that he never appeared in any of the Dick Tracy pictures with Ralph Byrd, whose bi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PM[SHARE]A shout out today for a mug name of Ralph Byrd (1909-52). A native of Dayton, Ohio, Byrd first toured with the Albright Players stock company, and sang with dance bands. By the early 30s, he…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Great news, shut-ins! Bear Manor Media, publishers of my book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube., are slashing 25% off the sale price of all books t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM[SHARE]Chinese-American character actor Sammee Tong (1901-1964) was a staple of films (and later television) for three decades, normally in supporting roles as cooks, servants, houseboys, and the l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:54AM[SHARE]Sunday, April 19, 2020
George O'Brien (1899-1985) is best remembered today as a star of western films (especially those of John Ford), and is less remembered by mainstream vintage movie buffs. But he also starred …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:03AM[SHARE]Ralph Earl Madsen (1897-1948) went by many handles during his professional life: R.E., Texas, Tex, "Big Boy", "Sky High" and Mr. Longellow among them. Madsen was sometimes rendered as "Mades…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:48AM[SHARE]Saturday, April 18, 2020
Just some brief notes today on a distant cousin of mine, Barbara Hale (1922-2017). (When I say "distant" I mean our common ancestor was in 17th century Virginia. My great-grandmother Lucilla…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
