11,827 stories by "Trav S.D."
The name Bronson Howard (1842-1908) may be unknown to you, but in the 19th century it packed American theatres. His widest known property today may be his 1887 play The Henrietta, for it was…
Born this day, June Allyson (Eleanor Geisman, 1917-2006). Allyson came along too late for vaudeville but there is little doubt she would have gone that route had it been available to her. I …
Born today in 1922 (and still with us at this writing) big band era singer and actress Martha Stewart. Unlike the more famous domestic science maven, whose actual last name is Kostyra, there…
Movie director Benjamin Stoloff (1895-1960), born on this day. He’s a minor figure, to be sure, and he didn’t only direct comedies, but he was associated with some notable projec…
Warner Oland (1879-1938) was an October 3 baby. Swedish by birth, Oland is most famous today for playing the stereotypical detective character Charlie Chan in a series of films, as well as t…
For some reason, after many months of relative quiet, my October is really hopping. I hope you can come to some or all of these swinging events! Androboros: Fraunces Tavern, Every Friday/…
Barton Yarborough (1900-1951) was a star of radio and B movies, well known to audiences of his day, now forgotten to all but the very few. Originally from Goldthwaite, Texas, Yarborough acte…
Thomas “Buddy” McDonald (1922-2008) was born on this day. McDonald is an example of how the “Our Gang Curse”, if you believe in such things, could take effect on some…
Jack Wild (1952-2006) was born on the last day of September. Wild was probably the first star I was ever aware of, seeing as how he was the Artful Dodger in Oliver! (1968), one of the few mu…
Broadway chorus girl and model Marcelle Earle (1895-1955) was born on this day. Earle is particularly interesting for having gotten as famous and successful as a chorus girl could get withou…
Broadway performer Gladys Feldman (1886-1974) was born on this day. Originally from Evanston, Illinois, Feldman had spent some time in vaudeville. The earliest reference to her I can find to…
Julie London (Julie Peck, 1926-2000) was born on this day. Those of us of a certain age remember her primarily as the beautiful, soft-spoken middle aged lady who played Emergency Room Nurse …
Adapted from a talk given at the Marx Brothers Weekend, Governor’s Island earlier this month. Most die-hard Marx Brothers fans know that the comedy team made a single silent fil…
It’s Elephant Appreciation Day, a perfect occasion to reflect upon that bygone architectural oddity, the elephant-shaped hotel/ observation statue. There were four of them I know of, a…
The final printed edition of the Village Voice has hit the stands, and I find myself deeply emotional about the event. I had occasion to eulogize the paper once before in 2013 when, after mo…
Missouri native Lynne Overman (1887-1943) was a character actor in vaudeville, legit, and films known for playing sidekicks and sardonic wiseguys. With eyes heavy-lidded, he talked and smile…
Exciting news from B movie maven Lola Rocknrolla: Nefertitty, everybody’s favorite neo-blaxploitation superhero (whom we’ve written about here) is now returning in her own tv sho…
Well naturally, it’s not Elvira’s birthday, but Cassandra Peterson’s and I won’t tell ya what year that is because a gentleman never divulges. Go look it up! Â As f…
Jerry Colonna (Gerardo Luigi Colonna, 1904-1986) is a product of what I think of as “comedy’s most obnoxious era”, the 1940s, when the public seemed to have an endless appe…
Richard “Dick” Smith (Hiram Richard Smith, 1886-1937) was born on this day. Originally from Cleveland, Smith was a vaudeville comedian and an actor and director in silent comedie…
Even if Tommy Bond (1926-2005) had never played the memorable bully “Butch” in Our Gang, he would have had numerous other claims to fame over his several decades in show business…
The great character actress Almira Sessions (Almyra De Camp Sessions, 1888-1974) was born on this day. For over three decades, Sessions was an indispensable, constant presence as a bit playe…
Jackie Cooper (John Cooper, Jr., 1922-2011) is probably the most shining example of a former kid star who managed to stay on top in show business throughout his entire life. Some pretty good…
In 1990 or so I did one of my strange monologues in something called the “No Shame” festival at the Home for Contemporary Theatre and Art, on a bill with John Leguizamo and Aaron…
We promise we’re not obsessed with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, nor even going through a phase, it’s just that its star Dolly Read’s (1944) birthday is literally the day…
