11,821 stories by "Trav S.d."
Brief but nonetheless real was the career of tap dancer/ actress Eleanore Whitney (1917-1983). Like that other Eleanor (Powell), Whitney was a tapper from kidhood. The story goes that she me…
Today's new Travalanche post for April 11, 2026 is about Dick Zigun's Coney Island Crackpots. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 11 (in no particular order) include ones on: On Barber Shop …
I love this photo of the young Dick Zigun, for I love the moment it captures, the 1980s, around the time he was co-founding Coney Island USA and not long after he completed that vaunted Yale…
Today's new Travalanche post for April 10, 2026 is about the Siblings of Vaudeville (it's National Siblings Day) Earlier Travalanche posts for April 10 (in no particular order) include ones …
Today's new Travalanche posts for April 9, 2026 are about Frankie Thomas (Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) and a very fun theatre event I am involved in on May 1. Earlier Travalanche posts for Apri…
Between 1988 and 2018 scarcely any year went by when I didn't have at least one, sometimes several, plays that I wrote on their feet in New York, and sometimes other towns too. Since then I …
April 9 was the birthday of actor Frankie Thomas (Frank Thomas, Jr., 1921-2006). I was already planning to write about the star of TV's Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950-55), when I learned tha…
Today's new Travalanche posts for April 8, 2026 are about Broadway photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston, character actor Walter Connolly, and the upcoming Clownvergence. Also see my specials …
April 8 was the birthday of Alfred Cheney Johnston (1885-1971) thus providing us with an opportunity to add another photographer to Travalanche's slowly expanding group portrait. Admired fro…
Run, don't trip! Tomorrow, April 9 marks opening day of the 2026 edition of Clownvergence, an online convention and series of workshops for professional (and student) clowns and those who lo…
We've been long overdue to deliver a post on character actor Walter Connolly (1887-1940), star of Broadway, Hollywood and radio of the 1920s and '30s. Most articles ignore what I take to be …
Today's new Travalanche posts for April 7, 2026 are about Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1966), as well as songwriter Jack Lawrence, actor Gavin Gordon, screenwriter Carl Erick…
It's the birthday of Francis Ford Coppola today, and since I've already done a biographical appreciation of the film-maker, and one about his first feature, I thought this would be a propiti…
April 7 was the birthday of Tin Pan Alley songwriter and Broadway producer Jack Lawrence (Jacob Louis Schwartz, 1912-2009). Brooklyn-born Lawrence studied to be a podiatrist at the insistenc…
Surely you recognize Joanna Lee (1931-2003) from her best known screen role, Tanna in Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956). What you may not know " and I was delighted to discover " is t…
The second of my two posts today concerning people connected with Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), the previous one focusing on screenwriter Carl Erickson. This one is about actor Gavin Gor…
This marks the first of two posts today concerning people connected with one of my favorite movies Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). A young man named Carl Erickson (1908-1935) co-wrote the …
Today's new Travalanche post for April 6, 2026 is about Vernon Dalhart, debatably the first country singer. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 6 (in no particular order) include ones on:…
What is a country singer? That is a question raised by the career of a man deemed by some to have been the first of them, Vernon Dalhart (Marion Try Slaughter, 1883-1948). First of all, to c…
Today's new Travalanche post for April 5, 2026 is an appreciation of Gregory Peck. It also happens to be the 100th birthday of the late Roger Corman. And Happy Easter to these who celebra…
Q " Why did the chicken cross the road? A " To see his friend Gregory Peck. (A favorite joke of my high school girlfriend) As I pen this, the birthday of Gregory Peck (1916-2003) falls on Ea…
Today's new Travalanche posts for April 4, 2026 are about Richard Coogan (Captain Video) and Laurie Beechman (The Laurie Beechman Theatre). Earlier Travalanche posts for April 4 (in no pa…
While I've mentioned the name of Laurie Beechman (1953-1998) a couple of dozen times on this blog, it has invariably been in the context of the theatre that is named for her, a cabaret venue…
Richard Coogan (1914-2014) died a dozen years ago, just shy of his 100th birthday, one half century since leaving the acting business. By which time, most people had long since forgotten who…
Rarely have I dragged my ass so pitifully as I have today in terms of cranking out a blogpost. Normally I turn out one or two before noon. Now it's past four, and I've produced zip. Oh, I ha…
