11,492 stories by "Trav S.D."
August 23 is the birthday of Viva (Janet Susan Mary Hoffman, 1938). Viva was one of the few Warhol Superstars to have a modicum of a screen career after departing the Factory. The daughter o…
Today's new Travalanche post for August 22, 2025 is about David Chase and The Sopranos. Previous August 22 posts include ones on: Dorothy Parker Valerie Harper and Rhoda George Herriman and …
David Chase (b. 1945) turns 80 today. Which sounds young, if anything; the guy has been working in television for over 50 years. My apologies in advance for the sheer conventionality of this…
Today's new Travalanche posts for August 21, 2025 include ones on film and television creator Hugh Wilson (WKRP), Dreamlander David Lochary, and the recently passed Michael Antunes, saxophon…
I experienced a strange collision of worlds yesterday when I opened one of Eve Golden's show biz obits (she turns out several daily) and recognized the name of a guy who used to play in band…
Few people have created so many well-known and well-loved projects and yet remained so anonymous as writer/ director/ producer Hugh Wilson (1943-2018). Wilson started out as an ad-man; by 19…
The name David Lochary (1944-1977) will surely never be better known, and it's scarcely known now, but few who have appeared in films have given me more pleasure. Lochary is best known as a …
Today's new Travalanche post for August 20, 2025, concerns boxing promoter and public character Don King. Previous August 20 posts include ones on: Alan Reed (Fred Flintstone) Jacqueline Sus…
Apologies for the pointy-headed title of this post. It came as the result of a little dance I did. Upon learning that Don King (b. 1931) was still alive I considered something purely celebra…
How do, strangers! Here's our wrap-up of new Travalanche posts for August 19, 2025, in recommended order of reading, ranked on the basis of excellence: On the history of the back-to-nature m…
That's a trick question, readers. The worst Bill Clinton is of course…Bill Clinton. I got no use for that dude, never did. If he's the best this country could do for a liberal President in…
August 19th was the birthday of Robert Bootzin, a.k.a. Boots Bootzin, a.k.a. Gypsy Boots, a.k.a. Nature Boy (1915-2004) (Some sources give 2014, but the birth certificate says 2015). Boots w…
The title of the present post is because my previous one on Ogden Nash (1902-1971) focused on but a single poem. Was Ogden Nash the greatest writer of light verse who ever lived? That's a hi…
America lost the great American realist painter George Bellows (1882-1925) a century ago, and today (August 19) is one of two possible birthdays for him (August 12 is sometimes also given). …
Happy World Photography Day! This is not a photography blog by any means, but there have been a few occasions when our worlds have collided, so we link you to some notable photographers we h…
This one is just for New Yorkers and Long Islanders. Tomorrow (August 19, 2025) the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, L.I. will be showing the first feature film directed by Frank Capra, sta…
Today's new Travalanche post for August 18, 2025 is on The Great Waldo Pepper. Previous August 18 posts have included ones on: Criswell Shelley Winters Jack Pickford Alan Mowbray Walter O'Ke…
August 18 is Robert Redford's birthday; August 19 is National Aviation Day; and it just so happens that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a motion picture that combines those two eleme…
Today we inaugurate a new pocket of Travalanche dedicated to U.S. States. When I began the series I doubted I would do one on every State in the Union. Now that I have done nearly 20% of the…
Today's new Travalanche posts for August 17, 2025 are on: National Massachusetts Day National Black Cat Day The Writing of Julian Fellowes Barbara Stanwyck's Uncle Buck Previous August 17 ar…
August 17 is the birthday of Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford DL (b. 1949), commonly known as Julian Fellowes by people who don't have time to say all …
We're getting very niche these days! One would think that there was celebration enough of black cats on Halloween, or on National Cat Day (October 29) or International Cat Day (August 8). To…
August 17 was the birthday of Buck Mack (1888-1959), best known to vintage film fans as "Uncle Buck", the somewhat shadowy friend, fixer, butler, bodyguard, and all around caretaker for Barb…
In addition to today's new Travalanche post on The Unholy Three, previous August 16 articles include ones on: Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone Early screen star Mae Cla…
August 16, 1925 was the release date of the Tod Browning's The Unholy Three. Browning had been directing in Hollywood for over a decade when he got a greenlight to direct his second picture …
