11,552 stories by "Trav S.D."
Irish-American dance prodigy John "Jack" Diamond (1823-1857) was a phenomenon of the blackface minstrelsy** era. At age 17 Diamond won a citywide jig contest, and P.T. Barnum booked him for …
The Happiness Boys were Thomas Ernest "Ernie" Hare (1883-1939) and Billy Jones (1889-1940). Hare was the more seasoned professional of the two. At age 16, he went on Broadway in the show Hav…
Having already did a thinky tribute to the great Andy Kaufman, we hang today's Taxi post on the show's actual star Judd Hirsch, whose birthday it is. It's rare to meet someone who doesn't co…
Everybody in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is somebody, even if it takes a little digging to find out who they are. I keep thinking I've written about everyone in that film, but then keep …
Today is the National Day of Hungary, commemorating the 1848 Revolution when Hungary sought independence from the Austrian Empire. I thought I would take the opportunity to celebrate Hungari…
If you've had the grave misfortune to be named Dennis any time after March 1951, you've had ample reason to curse Hank Ketcham (1920-2001). I've never known anyone named Dennis who wasn't ni…
I only just became aware of supporting player Gene "Pop" Rogers (1866-1919) " he has a great turn in the L-KOÂ comedy Under New Management, which is in The Alice Howell Collection. During …
Susan Miller (1920-2018) figures in a couple of important classic comedies, and she passed away just recently, so she rates a shout out here today. A native of Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania, …
Wonderful happenstance that Dorothy Davenport's birthday falls during Women's History Month, for Davenport (1895-1977), was not just a pioneering director/producer/screenwriter/actress, but …
One of the more notable finds I stumbled across in my plundering of the library's worth of old TV Guides I found in my wife's house were these spreads plugging Liza Minnelli's now historic f…
A spotlight on stage and screen star Inez Courtney (1897-1975) this morning. Courtney, a redheaded Irish-American colleen, started her working life as a shopgirl (an apprentice milliner, to …
Just a few words of praise for Killy Dwyer's Sleep Depraved, which we caught in the Frigid Festival over the weekend. I'm not sure if I know anyone as talented as Killy, at least not anyone …
We were delighted over the weekend to have the opportunity to watch the new two-disk set The Alice Howell Collection. While I've read lots about the pathbreaking comedienne (whom we wrote ab…
As one would when writing about show business, I have had many occasions to mention Raoul Walsh (1887-1980) here. I have even done a post on his brother George! But I have not yet undertaken…
Much like Leo Carillo, with whom he appeared in some movies, Al Ernest Garcia (1887-1938), was a native Californian with deep Mexican roots (i.e. dated to the time before California became p…
Lillian Herlein (1895-1971) was only a teenager when she lucked into the flashy part of Zoradie in the Lew Fields"Victor Herbert show The Rose of Algeria (1909). Her turn was show-stopping e…
A shout out to chorine, actress, and screen beauty Esther Muir (1903-1995) today. Muir started out as a model in her native Andes, New York, which is located sort of midway between Binghamto…
Like many of the supporting players on Sanford and Son (1972-77), Don Bexley (1910-97), who played Fred Sanford's best friend Bubba, was an old cohort of Redd Foxx's from the Chitlin' Circui…
It gives me no end of delight to celebrate character actor David Landau (David H. Magee, 1878-1935) today. Classic comedy fans know Landau as characters like Jennings in The Marx Brothers Ho…
What a feast of riches it is acquainting oneself with the life and career of Will Geer (William Aughe Ghere, 1902-1978): actor, folksinger, political activist, and " wait for it " horticultu…
Gene Fowler (1890-1960) is one of those figures known to show business aficionados, a friend of the famous, even if not a household word himself. Much like Ben Hecht, with whom Fowler collab…
Bessie Allison Buchanan (1902-1980) had two remarkable careers. Since one of them was in show business we celebrate her here. Her born name was Bessie Allison, though her circumstances in li…
Alexander Carr (Alexander Krechevsky, 1878-1946) clambered into the arena of popular attention by playing Morris Perlmutter in the stage and screen hit Potash and Perlmutter and all its sequ…
Today is not only the birthday of Ed McMahon (1923-2009) but we are also drawing close to the tenth anniversary of his death. I've been thinking recently that it would be interesting to do a…
I first knew (or noticed) character actor Victor Kilian (1891-1979) from his hilarious role as Grandpa Larkin, the Fernwood Flasher, on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-77). He'd had over 65…
