All stories by Trav S.d. on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Milicent Patrick: The Beauty Who Created the Beast by Trav S.D.

An extraordinary Hollywood movie professional has been enjoying a belated if posthumous day in the sun, and her life is so remarkable it fills me with delight simply to report it. Milicent P…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 10, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 10, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 10, 2025 is the start of a new series on my recent travels throughout the South. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 9 (in no particular order) i…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54PM[SHARE]

What I Did For My 60th Birthday: Intro by Trav S.D.

Forgive an old soldier, won't ye? I just passed a milestone birthday two days ago, one so significant and potentially traumatic that I'm on day ten of self-coddling. This impending series of…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 9, 2025

The Asheville Sessions: Celebrating 100 Years of Americana & Appalachia by Trav S.D.

Today (November 9) is the closing day of Asheville's centennial celebration of a seminal series of recording sessions that took place in that city during August 1925, which featured such pio…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:06PM[SHARE]

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 9, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche posts for November 9, 2025 are about Earlier Travalanche posts for November 9 (in no particular order) include ones on the Gentry Brothers Circus and some seminal 192…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:06PM[SHARE]

Of Henry B. Gentry and The Gentry Brothers Circus by Trav S.D.

November 9 was the natal day of circus impresario Henry B. Gentry (1864-1940). Gentry was a farm boy who lived with his large family on a spread outside Bloomington, Indiana. When the Van Am…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 8, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 8, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 8, 2025 is about British actress Angela Scoular. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 8 (in no particular order) include ones on: Some Famous and …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18PM[SHARE]

Angela Scoular Would Be 80 Today by Trav S.D.

Angela Scoular (1945-2011) turned 20 the day I was born; it's hard not to feel a bond with someone when there's a correspondence like that. As it turns out, that period was to be the peak of…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 7, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 7, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 7, 2025 is about Joni Mitchell and a can of worms she opened. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: It'…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM[SHARE]

The Minstrel Act of Joni Mitchell by Trav S.D.

Joni Mitchell (b. 1943) was born on November 7. Unlike some of my friends (all of them singers, and all of them female) I know very little of Joni Mitchell's music apart from her hit singles…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:12AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 6, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 6, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 6, 2025 is about rock musician, movie actor, and murderer Bobby Beausoleil. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 6 (in no particular order) includ…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]

The Dark Cloud of Bobby Beausoleil by Trav S.D.

November 6 is the birthday of murderous Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil (b. 1947). I'm not here to celebrate the man's life, by any means, but I just wanted to point out some areas whe…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:18AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 5, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 5, 2025 is about silent movie child star Baby Marie. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 5 (in no particular order) include ones on: Hats Off wit…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM[SHARE]

Three Rattles for Baby Marie by Trav S.D.

Thus far we have told you of Baby Peggy, Baby Leroy, and even Baby Rose Marie on this all-encompassing universal Ur blog! Today we tell a tale of yet ANOTHER baby! Can there be more babies? …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:12AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 4, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 4, 2025 is about Ralph Spence (The Gorilla). Earlier Travalanche posts for November 4 (in no particular order) include ones on: Will Rogers Joe Fris…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM[SHARE]

Ralph Spence: Titled Royalty by Trav S.D.

Little is known about the origins of Ralph Spence (1890-1949), but by the mid '20s he had earned a reputation as Hollywood's most highly paid and best known title writer, and was highly valu…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 3, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 3, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 3, 2025 is about the life and death of Hungarian Jewish silent comedian Charles Puffy. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 3 (in no particular or…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PM[SHARE]

How Charles Puffy was Murdered by Three Governments by Trav S.D.

I first learned about plus sized silent comedian Charles Puffy (Károly Hochstein, 1883-ca. 1943) from Ben Model's excellent book The Silent Film Universe earlier this year. He also wrote …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06AM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 2, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 2, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 2, 2025 is an All Souls' Day message. For real! Earlier Travalanche posts for November 2 (in no particular order) include ones on: Burt Lancaster Bu…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AM[SHARE]

A Message for All Souls Day by Trav S.D.

November 2 is, for some of us, All Souls' Day, the day when we remember the Departed, which is to resurrect them, so to speak. Confusingly, it's the third day of Allhallowtide, with All Sain…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:12AM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 1, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 1, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for November 1, 2025 is about about barnstorming Shakespearean Daniel Bandmann. On this day 100 years ago, three significant things happened: 1) Buster Keaton's …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PM[SHARE]

The Travels of Daniel Bandmann by Trav S.D.

We had occasion to mention 19th century actor Daniel Bandmann (1837-1905) the other day. As it happens, November 1 was his birthday. A German Jew from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Bandmann firs…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:31AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 31, 2025

50 Years Ago: The Night That Panicked America by Trav S.D.

Ah, Worlds within Within Worlds Within War of the Worlds! As it happens, 50 years ago was the broadcast premier of the TV movie The Night That Panicked America (1975)…whereas the actual "n…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM[SHARE]

Happy Birthday, Brian Doyle-Murray by Trav S.D.

Brian Doyle-Murray (b. 1945) turns 80 today. I always find it amusing when someone who has seemed old and crusty and cantankerous for many decades reaches such a benchmark, because what's th…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM[SHARE]

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 31, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Happy Halloween! Today's new Travalanche posts for October 31, 2025 are about Brian Doyle-Murray, John Keats, a new documentary about John Candy, the 1975 TV movie The Night That Panicked Am…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM[SHARE]

On John Keats by Trav S.D.

John Keats (1795-1821) had a lot of nerve being born on Halloween when it was Byron and Shelley who were were at that Frankenstein party, but on the other hand he was obsessed with death, an…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AM[SHARE]

John Candy: I Like Me by Trav S.D.

How fitting for a man named Candy to have been born on Halloween, eh? My original post on John Candy (1950-1994) was written a dozen years ago, and now it's over three decades since he left …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AM[SHARE]

Just a Bit on Jessica James by Trav S.D.

I have very little intel on character actress Jessica James (1929-1990) but man oh man am I intrigued, and only partially because of the attribute so energetically highlighted above. This po…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18AM[SHARE]

Ted Shapiro Was No Zero by Trav S.D.

Ted Shapiro (1899-1980) was a show biz legend, though he was usually mentioned as a sort of footnote to other stars. The son of Jewish immigrants from what is now Lithuania, he came to fame …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 30, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 30, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today's new Travalanche post for October 30, 2025 is about Bobby Alto. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 30 (in no particular order) include ones on: Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon's Darker Veh…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PM[SHARE]

On Bobby Alto and His Buddies by Trav S.D.

Bobby Alto (Robert Altomare, 1938-2012) was born on October 30, though this post won't strictly be about him, because he often worked with partners. I came across Alto's name when I was writ…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off