11,845 stories by "Trav S.d."
Africa has been my mind a lot lately and not just because I watched Idris Elba have an implausible confrontation with a crazy lion the other night in Beast. My son is doing his country proud…
Author Michael Crichton (1942-2008) would be 80 today, had cancer not taken him prematurely several years ago. An irony there, for he was a medical doctor (he possessed an M.D. but never pra…
Today marks the centennial of the birth of movie star Coleen Gray (Doris Jensen, 1922-2015). And yes the word "star" is used accurately here: Gray was top or second-billed in dozens of Holly…
Annette Funicello (1942-2013) would have been 80 years old today if not for her sad, early death a decade ago. Teenage stardom and early retirement due to illness means that she'll forever b…
For someone whose screen footprint was so small, and whose life was so short, Patricia "Boots" Mallory (1913-1958) managed to cram a lot of interesting stuff anyway. Born in New Orleans and …
Three cheers and more than a few wolf whistles for Lee Meredith (Judith Lee Sauls, b. 1947)! Classic comedy fans know her well, as she somehow managed to make a mark in vaudeville/burlesque/…
Three important news items for fans of the great magic (and magic debunking) team of Penn and Teller. First, Penn Jillette now has a new novel out, called Random. New Yorkers should be glad …
Today marks 80th anniversary of the terrific vaudeville-themed musical For Me and My Gal (1942) at Loew's State; this year marks the 60th anniversary of the passing of the film's protagonist…
The third Thursday in October is observed as International Shakeout Day, designed to increase awareness of earthquake safety. As with fire safety, the issue is hardly irrelevant to theatres,…
This one goes out to my good friend and former musical collaborator Sarah Engelke, who introduced me to the joys of dialect comedian and novelty song performer Yogi Yorgesson (1908-1956). Sa…
When I was a kid in the '70s, Arlene Francis (Arlene Francis Kazanijan, 1907-2001), was still a going concern, one of those omnipresent celebrities you saw on game shows, talk shows on the l…
Can I help it if we're in the midst of a particularly good crop of vaudeville and classic comedy related centennial anniversaries? Well I can't just ignore them. In November and December I'l…
I don't know if character actor Dan Tobin (1910-1982) always went by "Gentleman Dan", but no less austere a platform than FindaGrave.com styles him that way. It's an apparent reference to To…
I really love the image of the periodical above, it reminds me of a joke of my friend Scott Stiffler, whom I first knew as a comedian before he became a Chelsea based local news editor. He h…
Evelyn Venable (1913-1993) is one of those actresses whose work you likely know without knowing that you know it. Her obscurity can not be chalked up to being a bit player, or even a support…
I've come to regard The Love Boat as the Noah's Ark of celebrities " every species represented, and always in pairs. (Sure, Yogi's Ark is also a Noah's Ark of celebrities but only the Hanna-…
On account of his superlative, highly unique fiction, we tend to regard Nathanael West (Nathan Weinstein, 1903-1940) as a literary figure as opposed to a theatrical or show biz one, but his …
For years I have taken good care to qualify my boast that I have ALMOST written about every cast member of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), because there's always someone else. This m…
Scratch beneath the surface of almost anybody in show business and you'll usually find a more fascinating person than Hollywood presents. I'm assuming its because the town is focused on prom…
Many impulses contributed to the creation of this post: the approach of Halloween, our snowballing Francophilia, the fact that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the closing of the orig…
Jack Arnold (Jack Arnold Waks, 1916-1992) is typically celebrated as a director of '50s sci-fi and horror classics ('tis the season), though his accomplishments range across all genres, and …
Pamela Tiffin (1941-2020) passed away a few months ago, but I thought I'd leave a tribute for this birthday benchmark she never made it to. I think of Tiffin was one of the "'60s youth gener…
Jacques Inaudi (Giacomo Inaudi, 1867-1950) was an internationally known math prodigy from Northern Italy. Studied and written about by major scientists, his fame brought him to the attention…
Louise Closser Hale (1872-1933) was an early 20th century Renaissance woman: actress of stage and screen, magazine editor, author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, and playwright…
This somewhat impulsive post arises from the fact that we re-watched Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) last night and were reminded of the unusually large number of comedians there are through…
