11,556 stories by "Trav S.D."
Movie fans who know and love James Gleason (1882-1959) as a crusty character actor in such films as Meet John Doe (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)Â …
I just came across the 8 x 10 publicity still for alligator wrestler Tahar Douis and there’s not much doing on the blog today so I thought I’d give him a shout-out. Born in Ma…
Thank Barry Mitchell, for the tip that resulted in this post! William and Wilbur Baron (1922-2010, both of them) were a pair of tap dancing twins! Born in Youngstown, Ohio they moved to Balt…
Hollywood actor Robert Montgomery (Henry Montgomery, Jr., 1904-1981) was born on this day. Montgomery has become a favorite star of mine, mostly because I discovered him so late in life. I d…
Born today: stage and screen star Mabel Taliaferro (1887-1979). From one of America’s oldest Italian-American families, Taliaferro was raised in Richmond and started out in the theatre…
Raymond Burr (1917-1993) was born on this day. Over the years I have discovered and enjoyed Burr’s performances in many places, from his hit series Perry Mason to films like the Mar…
Today is the birthday of Thomas D. Rice (1808-1860), a.k.a. T.D. Rice, or Daddy Rice, or sometimes by the name of the character he created, Jim Crow. Yes, Jim Crow. It was Rice who launc…
It’s true! Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997) starred in his own sitcom for one season (1971-72). That’s intrinsically notable; so is the fact that this show represents the only occasion …
Buon compleanno, Perry Como (Pierino Como, 1912-2001). When I was a kid, Como was an occasional presence on television, in the form of annual Christmas specials and the like, not unlike Andy…
Funny man Frank Hayes (1871-1923), born this day. Hayes’ memorable puss, sort of long and pushed in, seemingly toothless, with sunken, pale blue eyes, made him eminently castable in ch…
3 years ago, I blew my one and only chance to meet Tom Wolfe, who just passed away. Our mutual friend Stefania de Kennesey wrote the opera version of Bonfire of the Vanities. We attended the…
My dad had a lot in common with Matt Roper’s. They were were born and died the same years (1934-2003), both died of cancer prior to their 70th birthdays, both were in the Air Force, an…
I am so excited to be able to announce my first public workshops of sections of my long-percolating solo show. TALL TALES mines American folk and pop culture to examine our eternal love affa…
We recently crowed here about how The Wizard of Oz is our favorite movie. And in 2013 we went into a tizzy about the dreadful and unworthy Oz the Great and Powerful. There have been…
I’ve had some pretty good luck throwing out unsolved mysteries here — sometimes relatives of the subject at hand, or others who are in the know, get in touch and clear things up …
How appropriate it that I was given a copy of this particular book just in time for Salvador Dali’s birthday! The full title is — wait for it — How Many Surrealists Does It…
I hope the Silent Clowns producers (and the ghost of Marion Byron) forgive me for making Steamboat Bill Jr my lede. The real concept of their program at Lincoln Center Library tomorrow is a …
Operatic soprano Alma Gluck (Reba Feinsohn, 1884-1938) was born on this day. Originally from Romania, she moved to the U.S. with her family when she was six years old, growing up in New York…
Diminutive comedienne Nancy Walker (1922-1992) was a big star when I was a kid in the ’70s. She played Rhodas’s wisecracking Jewish mother Ida on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rh…
Today is the birthday of the dancer and actress known simply as “Margo” (Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O’Donnell, 1917-1985). Margo’s more nota…
A birthday tribute and deferred eulogy for Mr. Don Rickles (1926-2017). For someone whose stage character was so prickly, it is awe-inspiring to observe how beloved Rickles was. Nearly every…
May 7 is the birthday of George “Gabby” Hayes (1885-1969). Hayes was a favorite performer of my father’s and he’s always been interesting to me as well as a little el…
Just a few words about Mortado the Human Fountain, who was inducted into Coney Island USA’s Sideshow Hall of Fame in 2010. Only a few words, because only little is known about Mo…
Earlier in my cinema education I had an idea that Aline MacMahon (1899-1991) was strictly an actress of the Pre-Code era, for I’d seen her in things like The Mouthpiece (1932) with War…
Thanks to the Mad Marchioness for telling me the exciting news that there is a new book in the works about Golden Age illustrator Harrison Cady. Cady was the first cousin of my great-grandfa…
