11,813 stories by "Trav S.D."
Dorothy Dare (Dorothy Herskind, 1911-1981) was reputed to have begun her onstage career as a child of seven in her native Philadelphia. I see possible references to her singing in vaudeville…
Well, maybe the origins of Will Lee (1908-1982) won't strike you as all that surprising. I'm not sure what I thought they should be, but probably something a bit more show bizzy, since Sesam…
While most western fans today know Edmund "Hoot" Gibson (1892-1962) chiefly from his B movies of the '30s and '40s, his days of biggest stardom were in the silent era, when he was second onl…
A few days after the passing of Paul Krassner seems an appropriate time for a little birthday appreciation of comedian, actor and journalist/author Richard Belzer (b. 1944). belzer is undoub…
What's more impressive than five performing Locust Sisters? How about the fact there were actually seven? Hilda was an opera singer, who performed at least once on radio in 1929. Rose was a …
We seem to have gone backwards in acknowledging Jennifer Ann Redmond's useful books. Recently we profiled her biography of Corliss Palmer, but it turns out that's her most recent offering. B…
I became aware of Dr. James Munyon (1848-1918) through recent research into the quacks J.R. Brinkley (whom I played on stage) and Dr. Hawley Crippen (who was a sales agent for Munyon for a t…
Here's where an affection for the psychotronic can be a little dangerous; I'd long registered the names of guys like William Beaudine and Jean Yarbrough, who'd started out in silents and mad…
All roads lead to vaudeville, including Charmin's Mr. Whipple. Only folks of a certain age will understand the reference, for the character was a ubiquitous TV commercial staple from 1965 th…
I've been dancing around the vicinity of Allen Lewis Rickman now for over 15 years. I reviewed his 2003 production of Yiddish playwright Leon Kobrin's The Woman Next Door at the Folksbienne.…
Rodney Allen Rippy (b. 1968) had excellent representation. Much like the slightly older Mason Reese, Rippy was not so much a child actor as a "personality". Like Reese, he came to fame as…
What an incident-filled, short life was that of silent screen writer and actress Barbara La Marr (Reatha Watson, 1896-1926). Best known today for inspiring the screen name of Hedy LaMarr, th…
Comedy fans know and love Kathleen Howard (1884-1956) from her role as W.C. Fields' shrewish wife in three of his best comedy features: It's a Gift (1934), You're Telling Me (1934), and Man …
I was made aware of 19th century actor William J. Florence (William J. Conlin, 1831-1891) by…Sis Newman! Wha-? Yes, though she's just a tot, she spied his marker at Green-wood Cemetery and…
I don't ask you to remember the name Kenneth Harlan (1895-1967) for the rest of your life, or even an hour from now, but he did possess a certain significance in his own day, and his biograp…
If you're like me, when you were a kid, you looked at the credits of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz, and saw listed among all the principles "Pat Walshe as Niko", and then went "Niko?! W…
I learned the story of silent screen actress Corliss Palmer (1899-1952) through Jennifer Ann Redmond's book Southern Belle to Hollywood Hell. It's a tale of folly, vanity, and futility, in w…
Here's where to see Trav S.D. Over the Next Few Months! I'll add links and descriptive blurbs subsequently, and I'll be adding to this calendar, but wanted to get this info up ASAP for those…
Today we are delighted to celebrate character actress Sandra Gould (1916-1999). Brooklyn-born Gould went from small roles on Broadway in Thumbs Up! (1934-35) and Having Wonderful Time (19…
We are saddened to wake up to the news that activist, satirist, journalist, author, provocateur and mighty hoax artist Paul Krassner (b. 1932) passed away last night at the age of 87. I'm no…
If not for a couple of important factors, western film star Ken Maynard (1895-1973) might be as well remembered today as peers like Tom MIx, Hoot Gibson, Gene Autry, or Bob Steele. The prima…
50 Years ago today America landed on the moon. In celebration, some TV Guide clippings from the years 1969-81 chronicling the American space program. Â Â Â Â Advertisements
"Would you say that vaudeville is all about comedy?" a podcast interviewer asked me recently, expecting an automatic "yes" but I had to demur, for vaudeville was just as much about the senti…
Adapted from my notebooks, written between 2006-2011 I can't crow enough about how much I love playwright Clifford Odets (1906-1963). He is one of the few American writers of realism of whom…
I have big respect for the talent of singer and actor Chill Wills (Theodore Childress Wills, 1902-1978). Wills gave great performances in some of the best serious westerns of the classic era…
