11,872 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the great circus impresario (and Barnum competitor) Adam Forepaugh. (1831-1890). Forepaugh made his initial fortune selling horses to the U.S. government during the …
Set your video recording devices! Tomorrow morning at 6am (Eastern)  TCM is showing the Chaplin feature that tends to fall through the cracks, his 1928 The Circus. It is a beauti…
One of the things I think is distinct about my new book Chain of Fools is that it brings the history of silent comedy all the way up to the present day. And you may be asking yourself,…
Today is Gilbert Gottfried’s birthday. In honor of the day, a little post about…not a forgotten show, but a forgotten season of a well known show, season six of Saturday Ni…
New Yorkers, the Film Forum is in the midst of its 1933 series. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be pointing out certain noteworthy bills that tickle my fancy. Today they're s…
We are in the midst of almost daily Civil War 150th anniversaries these days and savvy producers from Steven Spielberg to Bill O’Reilly are marking the occasion with commemorative p…
A new feature wherein we record and chronicle contemporary busking performers for fun and very little profit. These two gents were swinging a barn dance in the station under my house during …
New Yorkers, the Film Forum is in the midst of its 1933 series. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be pointing out certain noteworthy bills that tickle my fancy. Today the…
A good day for writers! Today is the birthday of John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Ever since high school The Grapes of Wrath has been one of my favorite books (and also one of my favorite movies)…
Today is the birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). Longfellow is woefully out of favor today, a state of affairs that would have shocked most Americans as recently as the 1950s…
Stephan Bibrowski (1891"1932) was better known as Lionel the Lion-faced Boy (later "Man"), owing to a rare condition called hypertrichosis which caused his entire body to be covered in long,…
Today is the birthday of Ian Keith (1899-1960.) Keith was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films starting in the 1920s. In 1928 he married the older Ethel Clayton (1882-1966) who h…
Today is the birthday of Hollywood character actor Dub Taylor (1907-1994). You know Dub Taylor. He’s the one who’s not Strother Martin. He’s the grizzled, leering old…
This was recorded at the Brick Theater’s tribute to Beck’s Song Reader on January 11. In his notes to the song reader Beck said that singers and musicians had his permissi…
Today is the birthday of Pauline Musters (1876-1895), at 23 inches tall the smallest woman ever recorded. She began to be exhibited when still an infant; in later years, she acquired danc…
Susi the Elephant Skin Girl (Charlotte Linda Vogel, 1908-1976) suffered from a condition known as ichthyosis from birth, a painful malady which caused her skin to thicken, turn grey, wrinkle…
Coming soon from Bear Manor Media: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, by Trav S.D. Chain of Fools traces the art of slapstick comedy from its pre-ci…
Today is the birthday of under-rated Herbert “Zeppo” Marx (1901-1979). For more on him and his famous funny brothers go here. Zeppo’s long been a sort of joke amongst the m…
Here it is! This is an annual event I’ve come to look forward to like the coming of Christmas every year: the annual Film Forum showing of old Vitaphone vaudeville shorts by Ron Hutchi…
Today is the birthday of the great Jim Backus (1913-1989). If this distinctive actor hadn’t been known for voicing Mr. Magoo (late 1940s through late 1970s), or playing Thurston Howell…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #302: Ida Cox (for more on the great blues singer and her vaudeville background go here). Here she is performing the “Four Day Creep” …
It’s a sweep! BEST PICTURE: The Oscar BEST ACTOR: Stephen Boyd, The Oscar BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tony Bennett, The Oscar BEST ACTRESS: Elke Sommer, The Oscar BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: E…
Today is the birthday of Eddie Murphy (b. 1961). I have foillowed his career almost from the very first — ever since he was an adunct member of the SNL cast during the notorious Jean D…
Paragon Worldwide Radio Show Sunday, February 24 6:05 – 8:00 pm EST On WWFM – The Classical Network Tune in today on your radio or computer to hear Rick Benjamin and his Pa…
A new feature wherein we record and chronicle contemporary busking performers for fun and very little profit. I’ve always wanted to present mariachi in my live show; here’s the n…
