11,855 stories by "Trav S.d."
Yes! Yiddish cinema was a thing! I'd already have been interested in today's release of the new Blu-Ray of The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema by Kino Lorber, but am doubly now I kno…
John Dehner (1915-1992) had all the necessary ingredients for major stardom: extremely good looks, an award-winning voice, acting ability and humor. Yet he was normally cast as a supporting …
Having long since done dedicated posts on his brothers, you may think it odd that I have not yet written one here on Harpo Marx (Adolph Marx, 1888-1964). It's not an intentional lapse. It's …
Earlier this month, we had a little run on famous Minnesotans all in a row: Ignatius Donnelly, Gig Young, and June Marlowe. We resume it today with a post on the late Robert Vaughn (1932-201…
November 20 appears a major day for silent movie star birthdays: in addition to Reginald Denny, Rod La Rocque and Grace Darmond, we have this early one, even more swallowed up by time: Elsie…
Amidst all the chaos, you can be forgiven for missing a momentous benchmark. Today marks the 400th anniversay of the Pilgrims' signing of the Mayflower Compact, some weeks before finally deb…
Today Grace Darmond is better known for her private life than for the 67 films she made between 1914 and 1927. Born Grace Marie Glionna (1893-1963), she was the lover of Jean Acker (wife of …
With a name like Rod La Rocque (1898-1969), I reckon it's impossible not to be a movie star! Half French-Canadian, half Irish, La Rocque (his real name) grew up in Chicago, where he took juv…
Gene Tierney was born 100 years ago today. Tierney always been on the short list of noir actresses who could raise my blood pressure, but there are multiple points of interest to this star b…
Excited to be joining Jim Moore on Coney Island USA's Ask the Experts for a talk about our new book celebrating Rose's Royal Midgets and other Little People acts in vaudeville. Tickets and m…
Georgia Carroll (1919-2011) was a Texas gal with endowments to please both the eye and the ear. At age 16 she modeled for murals and "The Spirit of the Centennial" statue at the 1936 Texas C…
London-born Syd Crossley (1885-1960) was billed in music hall and vaudeville as "The Long Comic" on account of his height. In films he was especially known for playing butlers. He broke into…
Self-trained Canadian singer George MacFarlane (1878-1932) started out as a soap salesman, took to the stage as a soloist, then got cast in musicals in Montreal. Success there took him to Br…
I find it existentially wonderful that I discovered the work of one of my biggest influences, Russian philosopher and literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) in a manner illustrative of …
I grew up on the performances of Yaphet Kotto (b. 1939) and at the moment, I can't think of anyone I ever thought was cooler. Kotto mixed machismo with intelligence (always catnip to me), an…
Mary Maurice (1844-1918) had originally been a schoolteacher, before beginning an actress with a Pittsburgh stock company in 1868 at the age of 24. She barnstormed throughout the country for…
When people ask the inevitable question "When were the times when you have laughed hardest in the cinema?", the two examples that spring to mind, it may surprise you to learn, are NOT comedi…
John Hanson Craig (1855-1894) was two years old when, at a reputed 206 lbs, he took home the cash prize in P.T. Barnum's Bonny Baby Contest. Born in Iowa City, he moved to Franklin County, K…
Thank you, Caftan Woman, for making me aware of the natal day of Mary Beth Hughes (1919-1995). Never heard of her? Don't blame ya " she had to have had one of the least memorable professiona…
For Neil Young's birthday, Native American History Month, and the 400th anniversary of Plymouth Rock, because of where we are as a country, because my kid just got back from frolicking with …
Gwen Lee (1904-1961) appeared in nearly 70 pictures over a dozen years. She was a supporting player, usually about sixth in the billing for the vast majority of them, as high as third in a s…
Back in the day, Pat O'Brien (1899-1983) was considered an equal and a peer of Spencer Tracy and James Cagney; indeed he had been pals with both men since the early days of their careers. Bu…
Edmond Ansley (William Edmond Ansley, 1891-1972), 42 inches tall was billed as "The Smallest Man in the World", though many made that claim. His professional career had scarely begun when at…
Today we celebrate the hilarious Holy terror Maude Eburne (Maud Eburne Riggs, 1875-1960). As a comical Canadian character actress who started out in stock companies, and got a lot of mileage…
One of the more inspirational stories from the annals of show business belongs to singer Jane Froman (1907-1980). Froman was raised in Missouri by a single mom who also instructed her in cla…
