11,538 stories by "Trav S.D."
We've had cause to mention Dick Foran (John Nicholas Foran, 1910-79) a few times on Travalanche. It's hard to drop a lasso around this actor " he's most commonly characterized as a B movie w…
This is a summation of notices I have posted regularly on social media over the past decade, but social media being what it is (and Facebook no longer allowing you to pin a permanent status)…
For roughly half a century the Haag name was a force to be reckoned with in the realm of American traveling shows, especially in the Southeast. Founder Ernest Haag (1866-1935) was the son of…
I am amused to note that Russell Simpson (1880-1959) shares a birthday (June 17) with Flora Finch and David "Stringbean" Akeman. Apparently something in the stars has decreed that this will …
Tonight on PBS: American Masters premiers Mae West: Dirty Blonde, executive produced by our glorious supporter Bette Midler. Bette was to play Mae in a bio-pic penned by Harvey Fierstein at …
The various members of the Michelena family were some of the first successful Latin stars in American show business. The paterfamilias Fernando Michelena (1858-1921) was a Venezuelan opera s…
Three cracks of the whip today in celebration of B movie star Alfred "Lash" La Rue (1917-1996). We'd like to be able to say that a character with his skills had come up through circuses, vau…
This post arose because I became interested in a Frank Montgomery who appears to be two different people, as well as a second (or third) one as the case may be, a contemporary who was defini…
Old School is in session! Saturday, June 20, 2pm I'll be giving a FREE half hour Zoom talk on the topic of the Black Vaudeville circuits. The vaudeville era, sadly, was a time of segregation…
Lulu, Queen of the Air was one of the star acts presented across America and Europe by The Great Farini in the late 19th Century. The not-so-well-kept secret: the lass was a lad. Lulu was or…
Wild and crazy world it is for someone of my (unspecified) age, in which the names Basil Rathbone and Sherlock Holmes are no longer synonymous. Yes, many actors have played Arthur Conan Doyl…
It is disappointing to learn that Doc Cheatham was not the name of a medicine show huckster " could there ever be a better one? But Doc (Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, 1905-1997) was a jazz musi…
Three and a half years after treating of the first volume of Arthur Wertheim's definitive tri-part W.C. Fields biography, my recent period of forced immobility allowed me to sit still and fi…
If I were to share every piece of art of my wife's that I loved on Travalanche, it would be her blog not mine, and I get to have a blog! But when I love it so much, and I think that you will…
Today, by at least one account, marks the 60th anniversary of the professional use of the name The Beatles by the band featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. Prior to th…
Hi! Don't worry, this isn't the "big sick", it's the one I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in my Vaudevisuals interview with Jim Moore. I've actually gotten a repetitive stress injury from t…
Waterbury-born J. Farrell MacDonald (1875-1952) left a remarkable legacy of over 300 credits as an actor and over 50 as a director over the 40 year period 1911-1951. Perhaps his most notewor…
If you're an avid reader of this blog you'll have noticed a pronounced radio silence dating back to June 1. It's not coincidental that that was also the date on which we witnessed the Presid…
Three Cheers to Terry Chester Shulman for writing Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos " a cheer, in fact for each Costello: Maurice, the patriarch, and his beautiful daugh…
We have had occasion to refer to Pat Boone (b. 1934) in the past, and he figures in American show biz history, though we don't count ourselves a fan of the man or his music. A descendent of …
Musician/composer Percival Mackey (Thomas Percival  Montague Mackey, 1894-1950) made his biggest mark in films, though he also figures in British variety history. The son of a music publi…
Were the Holts the First Family of westerns? A defensible claim could be made, though they certainly made their mark in other genres, as well. Venerable old Jack Holt (Charles John Holt, 188…
If not for her early death at age 29, the likelihood is strong that more people might know the name of Mabel Hite (1883-1912), for there might have been some films to remember her by. I'm st…
Lillian Powell (1896-1992) had a good name for a famous person, combining the first name of Lillian Russell, Lillian Lorraine, Lillian Herlein, Lillian Gish, Lillian Leitzel, Lillian R…
The visage (and gams) of Iris Adrian (Iris Adrian Hotstetter, 1912-1994) will be familiar to any old time movie buff. She specialized in playing tough cookies, gum-chewing chorus girls, and …
