11,534 stories by "Trav S.D."
People who love old movies are by definition sentimentalists. That's why those year-end wrap-ups of the people who died this year that TCM produces are invariably DEVASTATING. It's like an E…
Today is the birthday of Noel "Paul" Stookey (b. 1937). When I was a kid I played my dad's old Peter, Paul and Mary records (especially their eponymous debut record) over and over and over, …
Rosina Lawrence (1912-1997) was on track for a screen career as a musical comedy star that would last many decades, but she retired when she was still on the rise, when she was only 27 years…
The screen career of Ruth Hall (1910-2003) was brief but significant and of particular interest to classic comedy fans. Born Ruth Gloria Blasco Ibáñez in Jacksonville, Floria, she was …
Today we write of Frank R. Butler (1890-1967), not to be be confused with Frank E. Butler, sharpshooter and husband of Annie Oakley. Our Butler was a a silent screen actor and screenwriter, …
Wow! Wow. Just wow. I generally peg my posts to birthdays and other significant dates. I had nothing new in the hopper planned for today (having already done posts on Marlene Dietrich, Oscar…
"General" Willis Carver (1868-1898) was a professional Little Person who was generally exhibited alongside his mother, Madame Carver, a professional "Fat Lady". Hailing from the town of Belo…
December 25 is the birthday of a suspiciously large number of people: among them is the beloved character actor Mike Mazurki (Markijan Mazurkiewicz, 1907-1990). A former professional wrestle…
Most classic movie buffs " but no one else " know the name of Helen Twelvetrees (1908-1958). The briefness of her prominence reminds me a bit of Harry Langdon's " from out of nowhere, sudden…
"The Fakir of Ava" (1813-1891) is today chiefly remembered as the mentor and teacher of The Dean of American Magicians, Harry Kellar, and thus progenitor of a long chain of magicians who cam…
A quick nod today to the career of stage and screen actress Eugenie Besserer (1868-1934). Born in upstate Watertown, New York, Besserer was largely raised in Canada, and orphaned at a young …
Because some have requested it, an excerpt from my presentation in the Coney Island Museum benefit a few weeks back. The words to my poem are below (I've put helpful hotlinks on some of the …
The career of Ava Gardner (1922-1990) can neatly be divided into thirds: 1) anonymity; 2) reign as world class siren; 3) schlock. I was there for the last third of it in my nonage, first exp…
Fame will not be controlled. And thus it is that Ronnie Schell (b. 1931) ought to be best remembered for his own sitcom Good Morning World (1967), which after all was a starring vehicle for …
I became intrigued by Barbara Ruick (1930-74) from an eye-catching bit turn she performs in Robert Altman's California Split. She plays a lady bartender in a cowgirl outfit in the climactic …
I became curious about actor Minor Watson (1889-1965) when I noticed him playing vaudeville mogul Edward Albee in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). This was not his only dalliance with such-like b…
I'm very proud of the series of holiday related historical articles I was able to write for Chelsea Community News thanks to Covid-19 grant money. The previous two were on the Ghosts of the …
My pathway in to the fascinating career of Frankie Darro (Frank Johnson Jr, 1917-1976) came from learning that he had provided the voice of the bad influence/juvenile delinquent/ incipient a…
The subject of this post is not to claim that Jane Fonda (b. 1937) has ever been ha-ha-hilarious. I would never make the assertion that comedy is Fonda's strong suit, but it is an interestin…
We are amused to to observe that tenor Dennis Morgan (1908-1994) was typecast as an Irishman in such movies as The Fighting 69th (1940), Three Cheers for the Irish (1940), and My Wild Irish …
We pause now to appreciate the lovely, luminous silver screen star Irene Dunne (1898-1990). When we remember Dunne as Magnolia in the 1936 version of Show Boat, it feels significant to learn…
Beware when people in show biz (or writers about show biz) describe anyone as the first anything. Shirley Chambers (1913-2011) is often described as the first "Dumb Blonde", but, come now, t…
It is pretty much universally agreed upon that Charlotte Shelby (Lily Pearl Miles, 1877-1957) was a grasping, ambitious and domineering stage mother. What's more controversial is the belief …
Re-watching Bob Fosse's Lenny Bruce bio-pic Lenny (1974) the other day reminded us of the existence of Gary Morton (Morton Goldaper, 1924-1999). Morton had a supporting role in the movie and…
It happens more often than not " I go to work on a post about someone in show business, and the tunnel leads to a rabbit warren of similary accomplished relatives and/or collaborators. Thus …
