11,489 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today's new Travalanche posts for September 6, 2025 are about Max Schreck (Nosferatu), Warhol superstar Ultra Violet, big band singer and actress Julie Gibson (who lived to be 106), and two …
September 6 was the birthday of Ultra Violet (Isabelle Collin Dufresne, 1935-2014). Dufresne was a French debutante who fell into Salvador Dali's orbit immediately after graduating college. …
I don't know if it's true to a certainty, but it sure sounds correct " of the thousands of public figures I have profiled on Travalanche, the longest-lived was likely Julie Gibson (Gladys Ca…
100 years ago today in New York City, the Universal horror film The Phantom of the Opera was receiving its world premier. In related news, on that same day, 4,000 miles east of New York, Fri…
This post concerns two gentlemen named Daniel Sully, both with theatrical connections, both born in Providence, Rhode Island within a few years of each other. I am going to make a rash specu…
Today's new Travalanche post for September 5, 2025 is about an almost famous vaudeville by the name of Eddie Vogt. Previous Travalanche posts for September 5 include ones on: Bob Newhart Lou…
Some fragments this morning on vaudeville performer and early screen actor Eddie Vogt (1889-1960), a minor figure to be sure, and our telling is not as complete as it might be, but we post h…
September 4 was the birthday of actor Leonard Frey (1938-88). Frey once worried aloud that all anyone would remember him for (if they remembered him for anything) was for creating the role o…
Today's new Travalanche post for September 4, 2025 are about Pete Smith Specialties, radio comedian Charlie Cantor, Waldo and Jennifer Salt, and actor Leonard Frey. Previous Travalanche post…
We love multigenerational show biz stories here on Travalanche, and this one is especially rewarding. It begins with screenwriter Waldo Salt (1914-1987). Having just written about Waldo Pepp…
September 4 was the birthday of radio and television comedian Charlie Cantor (1898-1966). As it happens, Charlie was no relation to Eddie Cantor, whose real name was Itzkowitz. But he did st…
A century ago (1925), a show biz press agent named Pete Smith (Peter Schmidt, 1892-1979) got the plum job of publicity manager for MGM films. Prior to this, this son of a German-American bre…
Today's new Travalanche post for September 3, 2025 are about country singer Hank Thompson (inspiration for Crazy Heart) and Merritt Butrick (Square Pegs, Star Trek movies). Previous Travalan…
The life and career of Merritt Butrick (1959-1989) were both short, but I'm just the right age to have witnessed his time of peak fame, which occurred (most unusually) at the start of his ca…
Born 100 years ago today, country artist Hank Thompson (1925-2007). Not nearly as big a name as Hank Williams or Hank Snow, awareness of Thompson broke through to the mainstream in a big way…
How many can name the director of the first, best, and as far as I'm concerned only version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)? Well, now you can, but how many could do it witho…
Today's new Travalanche post for September 2, 2025 are about Victor Spinetti from the Beatles' movies, and Mel Stuart, director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Previous Travalanche…
Born of a September 2, Italian-Welsh comic actor Victor Spinetti (1929-2012). Spinetti's paternal grandfather immigrated to Wales from Italy to work in the coal mines. His parents ran a chip…
Today's new Travalanche post for September 1, 2025 is about 19th century influencer Lydia Sigourney. Some Labor Day and Labor Related Posts: On the Jerry Lewis Telethon The White Rats, the V…
Not long ago I stumbled across a major pop culture phenomenon of the 19th century that I had had never heard of. How often does that happen? To me, rarely any more. I learned about it by way…
Today's new Travalanche post for August 31, 2025 are on tightrope dancer Marietta Zanfretta, and fashion model/actress Sonyale Luna. Earlier August 31 posts include new ones on: Fredric Marc…
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the birth of Donyale Luna (Peggy Ann Freeman, 1945-1979). Luna is widely celebrated as the first black supermodel, but she was an actress as well, which i…
August 31 was the birthday of Marietta Zanfretta (1832-1898), one of the greatest female tightrope dancers in the world, then or now. To be a tightrope dancer is an order of difficulty beyon…
Today's new Travalanche post for August 30, 2025 was a simple plug for a great looking vaudeville style performance happening tomorrow night " If you still haven't done so, I hope you will c…
Labor Day 2025 falls unconscionably early this year (September 1), but there is an excellent way that you can spend the evening if you're in New York. You can let some highly skilled enterta…
