11,865 stories by "Trav S.D."
Originally posted in 2011. Edith Wilson (born Edith Goodall this day in 1896 and not to be confused with the First Lady during World War I) was a blues and jazz singer who got her start i…
Originally posted in 2011. Jack Norton (born this day in 1882) was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable bit players of the 1930s and 40s, usually but not always, playing a comic drunk …
Cool news for lovers of NYC history. Tomorrow morning at 6am Eastern, TCM will be showing Hester Street, Joan Micklin Silver’s 1975 film adaptation of Abraham Cahan’s 1896 …
Today is the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. Edgar Rice Burroughs is not good. Misled by Hollywood public relations effort…
Today is the birthday of Don Wilson (1900-1982). A college football player in his youth, he worked his way into radio as a sportscaster and a singer in the 1920s. Gradually he became an anno…
Originally posted in 2010 James J. Corbett was born this day in 1866. Gentleman Jim’s profile was far from the usual one of a professional pugilist; in many ways it was more suited…
Originally posted in 2010. Marilyn Miller (born Mary Ellen Reynolds this day in 1898) began her vaudeville career at age four under the nom de guerre Mademoiselle Sugarlump. From here …
Today is the birthday of the great comic actress Lily Tomlin (b. 1939). Tomlin is easily one of the first comedy performers who ever made an impression on my tiny mind, her time on Rowan and…
Today is the birthday of Tony Slydini (1900-1991), seminal close-up magic man of the 20th century, master of the psychology that informs sleight of hand. Originally from Foggia, Italy he mov…
Today is the birthday of Betty Blythe (Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, 1893-1972). A native of Los Angeles, Blythe studied opera and art in Paris, and spent some time performing in musical comed…
Every Sunday in September TCM will be showing dozens of works by Alfred Hitchcock from morning until…well into the next morning. It’s not the entire canon, but it’s enough …
Today is the birthday of Arthur Godfrey (1903-1983). Godfrey began as an announcer in radio around 1930 first in Baltimore, then in Washington, anchoring local shows, playing records, occasi…
Special thanks to Norman Frisch for the news tip. A few days ago we published a post here about Leo Gorcey  and his father Bernard. It turns out Leo’s sister (Bernard’s daught…
Today is the birthday of William Saroyan (1908-1981), the literary equivalent of William Henry Johnson, Barnum’s “What is it?” Many have read Saroyan’s fiction. The w…
The Art Stars came out in profusion for last night’s world premiere of Satan, Hold My Hand. Written by the Sainted performance Goddess Rev Jen Miller, produced by Jonathan Ames (…
Joan Blondell was one of those vaudevillians whose career spanned so long those of us growing up in the 1970s knew her entirely from contemporary entertainment, little dreaming of the four d…
Originally posted in 2010. Fritzi Scheff (b. Fredericka Scheff Yarger on this day in 1879) was a prima donna in every sense of the word. A second generation grand opera singer from Vienna, a…
Originally posted in 2012 Most people (over a certain age) know him as “Steve Douglas” from the tv show My Three Sons (1960-1972) and a star of silly Disney movies like …
I’ve had a lump in my throat for the past hour. The word just came down that Martin and Rochelle Denton are retiring nytheatre.com on September 15. This pioneering web site didn’…
Toight at 9:15pm Eastern As part of their Glenda Farrell festival, TCM will be showing….The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), directed by Michael Curtiz. More beautiful in …
Today is the birthday of pioneering be bop alto sax player Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920-1955). Here’s his composition “Bird Gets the Worm” which he record…
Filed under: Hollywood (History), Movies, PLUGS Tagged: Cinecon, film festival
Today is the birthday of Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982). No one lovelier than Bergman ever acted in motion pictures but today we dishonor her memory by rubbernecking at one of her rare weak spot…
Today is the birthday of Preston Sturges (Edmund Preston Biden, 1898-1959), one of the American comedy film’s last, best hopes. A much more extensive post here on Sturges awaits, but i…
Mirth! Mystery! Mishegas! A double shot of schtick at Coney Island. Tanya Solomon, New York’s first lady of funny magic, plays with sharp knives, creamed corn, and your dearest beliefs…
