11,855 stories by "Trav S.d."
Elmer P. Ransom (1862-1942, frequently misrendered "Ranson") was, along with Alexander Herrmann, Carl Hertz, Harry Kellar, Imro Fox, Nate Leipzig, Zancig, William Robinson and a handful of o…
Ted McNamara (1894-1928) was an Irish-Australian vaudeville comedian who first came to to the U.S. with Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company circa 1905, along with Billy Bevan, Alf Goul…
Some tribute today to character actor Jack Warden (John Warden Lebzelter, Jr, 1920-2006). I grew up seeing Warden in supporting parts, usually as aggressive, assertive types, often as athlet…
I've long opined that the mania about Greta Garbo (1905-1990) had more to do with the tediousness and lack of imagination of commentators than the woman herself. Moody, withdrawn, and posses…
Today in 1859, according to some, the natal of Henry McCarty a.k.a. William Bonney a.k.a. Billy the Kid. Long storied as a ruthless killer, I have always found his tale somewhat sad. He fell…
Back in the day (2002-2004) I was quite a devotee of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn believe it or not. I liked the informal rough and tumble format of the show and frank hashing out of the day…
Rarely do I find contemporary show biz stories as compelling or as inspiring as I do that of magician David Copperfield. In fact, I find his biography far more interesting than his act. …
While you were busy putting out the fires of your life (not literally I hope) you can be forgiven for not noticing that today marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's departure from En…
Blame Allen Funt (1914-1999). As the motive force behind Candid Camera and its predecessor Candid Microphone (1947-2014) Funt may be said to be the father of both reality television and fake…
I first learned about Tom Conway (1904-1967) the old-fashioned way: I saw him in movies, assumed he was George Sanders and then realized that he wasn't. Conway was actually Sander's older br…
Having profiled over 1500 vaudeville veterans on this blog over the last dozen years or so, some may find it curious that I have dragged my heels on any attention for Bobby Short (1924-2005)…
There were a couple of levels to Norm Crosby's (b. 1927) act. His routines were littered with malapropisms of a wide variety of kinds: he either used incorrect words, or correct words mispro…
Once again I find myself at a crossroads: but that's what the name "Travis" means, I'm literally always "at the crossroads" Not that it's all that objectively significant but I'm unavoidably…
Here are places where you may have seen Ruth McDevitt (Ruth Thane Shoecraft, 1895-1976): she was a regular on Kolchak: The Night Stalker (as Emily, the columnist); had a recurring role on Al…
I first encountered the name Walter B. Gibson (1897-1985) as one of the co-authors of Houdini on Magic. Gibson is a hard man to nail down, for he often wrote under pseudonyms, such as Maxwel…
We consider one of the missions of this blog to establish as best we can connections to past figures who can seem quite distant. Thus today we give you some relatively minor figures from …
Pearl Williams (Pearl Wolfe, 1914-1991) was one of a generation of raunchy entertainers who emerged in the 1950s and '60s and specialized mainly in comedy records. Some, like Lenny Bruce, ma…
Yeah, I said it! I'd been half-planning this post anyway, but the other day I was running down (critically disparaging) the movies of another SNL alum (okay, I'll name him, Will Ferrell) and…
One of the largest stars in my personal cosmology is French writer Alfred Jarry (1873-1907). There are many ways in which Jarry can be said to be a Father of All We Hold Dear. A figure of th…
While this is ostensibly a show biz blog, I have always been gratified by the fact that the 4th most popular Travalanche post of all time is simply a transcription of Tom Joad's speech from …
The career of Milton Watson (1902-82) intersected with so many of the top names in show business, classic comedians, vaudeville, stage, radio and screen stars. His period of greatest promine…
Roscoe Karns (1891-1971) is generally remembered for several beloved supporting turns he did in the 1930s and '40s, though his screen career stretched nearly a half century, from 1915 throug…
Today at 3pm (Eastern) on the Silent Comedy Watch Party hosts Ben Model and Steve Massa have Suzanne Lloyd as their special guest to chat about her grandfather Harold Lloyd and his short Fro…
Little Person Jean Bregant (1869-1944) was originally from Cilli, Austria. In Europe he performed under the name Prince Colibri. While touring the American circuits he met his wife, Inez Lew…
Let me quickly stipulate that I have plenty of professional respect for actor and director Dennis Dugan (b. 1946). I literally grew up watching his work. It's just that, well, the characters…
