11,514 stories by "Trav S.D."
It's interesting to me that Frederick "Feg" Murray (1894-1973) shares a birthday with Clifton Fadiman, whom we only just wrote about. Both men had hosted radio shows, and Murray turned out a…
My mind has been fairly blown by learning about Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999), a radio and television personality whose name would have been pretty universally known in America from the late '…
Having already written about the visionary author L. Frank Baum and many of the stage and screen adaptations of his works, in our L. Frank Baum section, here's one which fell through the cra…
Happy Mother's Day " for those who celebrate. We've done a couple of posts here in the past in observance of the holiday, one on some famous vaudeville stage mothers, and another even more s…
One of my favorite books turns 50 years old this year. But there! I've gone and painted it in too pale a color already. Gerald Mast's The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies would be included …
Today we tip our hat to only our third set designer represented on Travalanche, the two-time Tony winning David Mitchell (1932-2011). Set design is far from our bailiwick. We've only done tw…
A sad passing occurred the other day without much hullabaloo or fanfare: April 27, 2023 was the end of The Late Late Show after a run of 28 years. Today happens to be the birthday of the man…
I'm delighted to report that André Gregory (b. 1934) is still with us as I write this, a hale and hearty 89. The Mad Marchioness and I had a delightful time re-watching My Dinner with AndrÅ
Born this day Léon Ernest Gaumont (1864-1946), founder of the world's first and oldest film studio (incorporated 1895, one year prior to Pathé Frères.) Gaumont was an employee of a firm t…
"She don't hit you between the eyes with the snappy bits " she hands it to you like a lady" So saith a vaudeville flack on the topic of Edith Meiser (1898-1993). Thanks to her great-nephew R…
We got curious when we noticed a bump in the traffic for my post on the 1970s comedy troupe Ace Trucking Company over the last several weeks. That usually portends that the act in question h…
We've tipped our hand in the title to this post. Most who know the name Arthur Q. Bryan (1899-1959) know him as the man who inconveniently breaks Mel Blanc's reputation for "doing all the ch…
Born of May 8, Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (1905-1965), not to be confused with Red McKenzie. Hot jazz buffs know the name well as one of the pivotal figures of the musical form's early year…
In the world of stage magic we are accustomed to a lamentable but long tradition of male domination: male illusionists and their female assistants. In the world of mediumship, however, it wa…
Anne Baxter (1923-1985) would be 100 years old at this writing. Only with restraint have we stayed our impulse to do a dedicated post on her prior to this benchmark: for as we wrote here, he…
Born today, Loretta Clemens (1906-1990), who, with and without her brother Jack (1909-1970) enjoyed success in just about every entertainment medium. The siblings were from the Lake Erie tow…
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916) was born this day. And you can be forgiven for asking "Quis est?" in addition to "Quo vadis?" A century ago, this Polish author's name was more widely known in…
With apologies to Irish poet Thomas Moore, a celebration today of Hollywood bit player Edgar Dearing (1893-1974). Dearing was best known as a silent and slapstick comedy heavy, especially fo…
I write this on what would have been the birthday of Harry Lorayne (Harry Ratzer, 1926-2023) but since he passed away less than month ago, it will also serve as an obit. Lorayne was a much b…
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 5:30pm EDT Once again, friend, Ralph Lewis, Bowery Booster and vital third of the conscientious triumvirate known as Peculiar Works Project is offering his grippin…
We're not sure, but we think Earl Wilson (1907-1987) may be the last of the great classic gossip columnists we've gotten to covering here: we've already had Walter Winchell, Ed Sullivan, Hed…
I'm just about a year younger than Crispin Glover, and we'll get to him, because his own birthday just passed, and I am an enormous fan of his. But prior to that we must contend with the pri…
The First of May is a witching time and so we may be forgiven for attributing (probably nonexistent) significance to the fact that Wendy the Good Little Witch first saw light of day in the M…
It's likely that even hardcore classic movie buffs will draw a blank when the name Harry Leon Wilson (1867-1939) is mentioned, but they certainly the many screen adaptions of his works, and …
Vintage bandleader Vince Giordano is having a moment " one of several such moments over a long and enviable career " and so we thought it made sense to bundle them together and report them o…
