11,862 stories by "Trav S.D."
Originally posted in 2009. Today is the birthday of Ole Olsen. OLSEN AND JOHNSON "The Mad Monarchs of Monkey Business" The most famous effort of John "Ole" Olsen and Harold "Chic" Johnson wa…
Today is the birthday of Sam Shepard (see my earlier post on him here). Since it is Native American Heritage Month, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about Shepard’s 1994 …
Today is the birthday of that unique American phenomenon, star of radio, television, film, live performance, and the recording arts Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye, 1911-1998). Yes, “Leonard …
Today is the birthday of Art Carney (1918-2003). I’ve dragged my heels about posting about him here for some time, not because he wasn’t brilliant, but because I’d always t…
In further celebration of Will Rogers’s birthday (see full appreciation here) we pause to admire his radio work. In addition to being a star of stage, screen and the printed word, Will…
Originally posted in 2009. Will Rogers' place in the hearts and minds of Americans transcended the limits of mere show business. He was regarded as a kind of American Saint, a sort of cr…
Today is the birthday of Edmund Kean (1787-1833). Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that Kean had very little formal education he was was to become the greatest English actor of his a…
Today is the birthday of Bobby Breen (b. 1927). Breen was all of four years old when he debuted in Toronto nightclubs, vaudeville theatres and on radio as a boy soprano. In 1935 he moved to …
Today is the birthday of Gaby Deslys (Marie Elise Gabrielle Claire, 1881-1920). Originally from Marseilles, she became the toast of the cabarets and musical halls of Paris in the early years…
A cautionary tale with a sad ending. Blanche Gray was born in Detroit in November 1866. At the time of her birth she weight 25 lbs, proportions that killed her mother a couple of days after …
Today is the birthday of Raymond S. Sugden, known professionally as Tampa (1887-1939). He often billed himself as “England’s Court Magician”, despite having been from the P…
Originally posted in 2010. Today is the birthday of Burt Lancaster (1913-1994). Lancaster was a tough but highly intelligent kid from the streets of New York. An interest in gymnastics kept …
Today is the birthday of Marie Antoinette (1755-1793). We of course use the occasion to plug the 1938 blockbuster film starring the beautiful Norma Shearer as the ill-fated French queen. It …
Today is the birthday of American folk hero Daniel Boone (1734-1820). Pioneer and frontiersman, he was one of the first to show the way west when he blazed a trail through the Cumberla…
Today is the birthday of Otis Jordan (1926-1990). He’ll always have a special place in our heart because (as it happens) he is the only one of the historical “human anomaliesR…
Today is the birthday of Esther Louise Georgette Deere, a.k.a Princess White Deer (1891-1991). A genuine Mohawk Princess and granddaughter of the tribe’s last full chief, Chief Running…
As has become an annual tradition, President Obama has declared November to be Native American Heritage Month. We have been tardy in exploring the topic of Native Americans on Travalanche, m…
The Phantom’s Masquerade is a live event that will play homage to the famous masquerade scene in “Phantom of the Opera.” The Phantom’s Masquerade on Friday, November …
Today is the birthday of Stephen Crane (1871-1900). Most of us are assigned Crane’s best known novel The Red Badge of Courage in school to read. Today, I’d like to plug (as…
Today is the birthday of August Gerald Fowler (1888-1960). Apprenticed to J. N. Maskelyne, he started performing magic in English music halls in 1906. He specialized in manipulating watches …
Today is the birthday of Betty Broadbent (1909-1983). Born in Philadelphia, she was working as a nanny in Atlantic City as a a teenager when she met a number of tattoo artists and performers…
One last Halloween themed post in a series of many! In this 1965 episode of Bewitched Endora (Agnes Moorehead) wants Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) to go away with her to celebrate a tra…
 This just off the transom: "Reverend Billy and Church of Stop Shopping Music Director Neremiah Luckett Face One Year in prison and $30k Bail for Performance in Chase Bank". The sub-heade…
My sharing of the trailer from Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) may surprise readers who know how I feel about the films of Abbott and Costello. I include it because I think i…
Every Thursday in October, Turner Classic Movies has been screening the films of the incomparable Vincent Price (for my full appreciation of Price, go here.)  Seems like th…
