11,870 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Robert E. Sherwood (1896-1955). A colleague of Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker at Vanity Fair, he was one of the founding members of the informal club of wits …
Today is the birthday of McKinley Morganfield (1913-1983). Performing and recording as Muddy Waters, Morganfield was perhaps the most influential Chicago bluesman of all time, largely throug…
Today is the birthday of Agnes Ayres (1898-1940). The Illinois native got her start as an extra at Essanay Studios in 1914. She then moved to New York, where she began to get real parts at V…
Today is the birthday of Washington Irving (1783-1859). By most reasonable measures he is America’s premier literary man and it is only natural that New York City produced him. W…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000). I wou…
Today is the birthday of George Washington Morrison Nutt (1844-1881). At age 17 New Hampshire native Nutt was hired by P.T. Barnum as a replacement for General Tom Thumb in his American …
Today is the birthday of Wallace Beery (1885-1949). While best known to film buffs from roles in early talkies like The Champ (1931, for which he won an Oscar), and Dinner at Eight (1933), W…
 This is anecdotal, but I think it holds true. The pecking order of genre popularity (and Q recognition) in old silent films today runs something like this: 1. Slapstick comedy 2. Horror…
Today is the birthday of Eddie Quillan (1907-1990). Quillan was a man with many show biz lives. 1) He started out with his parents and siblings in the family vaudeville act “The Rising…
Today is the birthday of James “Buster” West (1901-1966.) West was an eccentric dancer who started out in a vaudeville act with his parents. He worked with a variety of partners …
Today is the birthday of John Lee Curtis “Sonny Boy” Williamson (1914-1948), not to be confused with another performer who also became famous using that name whom we’ll wri…
I remember this show so well — how is it possible it only aired for five episodes? At any rate, we are prompted to post it today because one of the regulars was Jerry Fujikawa (here bi…
This is the sixth and final of the series on the show biz ancestry of writer-actress Cynthia Fujikawa, which we launched here several weeks ago. We met a couple of weeks ago and she took me …
Today is the birthday of tin pan alley songwriter Albert Von Tilzer (1878-1958). He started out as a musical director in vaudeville, then he went to work for his brother, tin pan alley songw…
He’s reading the funnies Quick! Call a cab! Today, tomorrow and Sunday at 11am, the IFC Center in NYC is showing  Will Rogers‘ 1934 feature Judge Priest. Time has…
Today is the birthday of Billy Quirk (1873-1926). Quirk was one of the first comedy stars, but his time at the top was short and in the final analysis he is considered a minor figure. He sta…
A post in celebration of Women’s History Month The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were the first fully integrated all-girl band, featuring members who were black, white, Latin Ame…
Dynamism! Adaptability! Change! Progress! The Future! For over a century these have been the American watchwords and I certainly consider myself one to sign on to them as virtues and hopeful…
Today is the birthday of magician Fred Keating (1897-1961). When he was eight years old he saw Buatier de Kolta perform, and this is what gave him the idea he wanted to go into magic. Years …
Today is the birthday of creepy-beauty vampy spider lady Gloria Swanson (1899-1983). Ya didn’t know, did ya? That she got her start with Chaplin at Essanay and then moved on Mack Senne…
The Fred Karno Troup was the pre-eminent company of British Music Hall pantomimes. Karno's most distinguished alumni included both the man who revolutionized the art of silent comedy (Charli…
There have apparently been rumors afoot for the past several years that there is an umpteenth remake of Brewster’s Millions in developent. Nothing is more depressing than googling s…
Today is the birthday of flamboyant glam rock songwriter and performer Sir Elton John (b. Reginald Dwight, 1947). Where to start? Impossible to start. His career sort of coexists timewise wi…
Today is the birthday of Andy Clyde (1892-1967). Best known to modern audiences from roles on Lassie and The Real McCoys, Clyde was a second general Scottish actor (his father was acto…
A post in honor of Women’s History Month. Winona Winter (1888-1940) was the daughter of pre-eminent minstrel man and songwriter Banks Winter. She made her vaudeville debut as a soub…
