Tomorrow, December 6 on TCM, starting at 6am (EST): several classic Laurel and Hardy features. Please follow me on Twitter at @TravSD — I may live tweet along with the movie as I often…
A long overdue post on Walt Disney (1901-1966) today. I have only dragged my feet to this point because Disney is one of those figures who is so major, and possesses so many facets (cartooni…
Some fragments on the mysterious Pat Goldin (1902-1971). Goldin appears to have been a vaudeville veteran who had been part of acrobatic duo, and later taught dance. He was a small fellow, a…
Philip Bosco (b. 1930) passed away yesterday. We felt a special connection to this solid actor for many reasons. He narrated Ric Burns’ 1990 Coney Island documentary, and did voice-ove…
I was so happy to be reminded of this show a few days back. I enjoyed Carter Country (1977-79) as a kid; it resonated and it was funny. With the hindsight of decades it seems both brave and …
It’s kind of perfect that Andy Williams’ birthday falls during the Christmas season, isn’t it? My prime-time TV watching days started after he stopped doing his weekly vari…
December 3 is the birthday of an interesting and anomalous Hollywood star Richard Talmadge (1892-1981). Talmadge was a person of so much fluidity and variation, he’s impossible to put …
Sometimes a sad death moves a much-delayed profile to the top of the queue prematurely. So it is with Ken Berry, who passed away yesterday at the age of 85. A likable light comedian and a su…
It was very cool to realize last night I am related to Rex Stout (1886-1975), and pretty close, too, as things go. His great-great grandfather Charles Stout (1742-1822), is my (6th) great gr…
Those old enough to remember the peculiar phenomenon of The Lennon Sisters at all are apt to associate them almost entirely with The Lawrence Welk Show. They made their television debut ther…
Just a few of the known facts on comedy character actor Barney Hellum (Bjarne Fredrik Hellum, 1895-1935), who appeared as a bit player in films for a decade, including some comedy classics, …
For the birthday of Efrem Zimablist Jr. (1918-2014), a look at his best known show The F.B.I. (1965-1974). The show is a fascinating artifact itself, but the life of Zimbalist is also plenty…
We’ve got King Kong on the brain of late. We caught the new Broadway show on opening night, and several of our friends are appearing in Lisa Clair’s The Making of King Kong, open…
In films, Arthur Stone (Arthur Taykor Goetze, 1883-1940) arrived late and left early. He was over 40 when he began starring in comedy shorts for Hal Roach in 1924; and was only 58 when he sh…
Today, we cast our gaze backward across the Atlantic for a few words of tribute to the popular British comedy team Morecambe and Wise. The team was composed of Ernie Wise, whose birthday it …
It’s #CyberMonday once again and so this backward looking Neo-Luddite feels obligated to engage as best he can in the catch-as-catch-can world of e-commerce. As you can see from the ab…
I cop to this without embarrassment because I was a kid at the time: when it was announced that Ronald Reagan was replacing Alexander Haig with George Schultz as Secretary of State, I though…
A few words today in memory of beloved screen star Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009). It would be foolhardy of us not to make Montalban’s best-known role, the suave and jovial Mr. Roark…
Something sad seems to happened on the quiet; even as we were busy mourning the demise of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus last year, an organization of comparable age and eminence…
Today a celebration of actor/director/producer/tv host John Newland (1917-2000), nowadays chiefly remembered, when at all, for the supercool ABC TV series he hosted and directed for three se…
Often referred to as a “vaudeville singer” or a “singing comedian”, Al Bernard (Alfred Aloysius Bernard, 1888-1949) was primarily a recording artist, one who was both…
Since we wrote extensively about Gilligan Island (and Sherwood Schwartz’s pretensions) just a few days ago we are amused to learn that a new movie is opening at Cinema Village in NYC t…
While one of the bigger dramatic stars of the silent film era, Corinne Griffith (1894-1979) is today better remember for things she did decades afterward. No relation to film director D.W. G…
Chester Gould (1900-1985), creator of Dick Tracy, was born on this day. Dick Tracy has always been on my shortlist of favorite comic strips, and is easily my favorite manifestation of no…
Some brief words of acknowledgment today for actor/ comedian/ gameshow host Richard Dawson (Colin Lionel Emm (1932-2012). Actually probably best to reverse the order of those credits, eh? Ga…