11,878 stories by "Trav S.d."
Willard Mack (Charles Willard McLaughlin, 1873-1934) was a writer, actor, director, and producer of stage, screen and vaudeville in the great age of melodrama. Mack was technically Canadian …
I miss the underrated and prematurely-stolen-from-us comic actor John Ritter (1948-2003). Skilled at slapstick and adept at delivering verbal comedy, he was taken for granted in his lifetime…
Having had occasion to write about Cecil B. Demille and William C. de Mille, we thought it appropriate to pay honor to the father who set them on their path, playwright Henry Churchill de Mi…
Part Two of Carolyn Raship’s series of posts on Agatha Christie. For Part One, go here. Agatha Christie's invention Hercule Poirot could only exist in harmony during the interwar y…
We posted earlier today about Peter Falk; sharing a birthday with him, three years younger, Anne Francis (1930-2011) grew up in the same town of Ossining, New York. They must have known each…
A brief encomium today on that sitcom (and rural comedy) God Paul Henning (1911-2005). Henning was originally a singer, performing on local radio in his native Missouri. He became a writer b…
A few fragments on vaudeville singer Marguerite Farrell, snatches taken from her obituary in Billboard, IMDB, and record catalogs. All we know is this. She started out around the turn of the…
I confess to having something like a mental block when it comes to most of the screen work of the late Peter Falk (1927-2011). It’s entirely my hang-up. I’ll try to articulate wh…
When I first began dating my wife Carolyn Raship she was still blogging regularly here. It was one of the countless things we had in common. Since then, she’s focused like a laser beam…
The past few years have seen nothing but circapocalypse news when it comes to the sawdust and canvas, so we feel obliged to share some rare good news. The Big Apple Circus has hired Bindlest…
Thank you, Scott Stiffler, for reminding me of the existence of Reta Shaw (1912-1882) the bulldog-like character actress who played any number of severe housemaids, nurses, lady military off…
I realized with something like awe the other day that I have been covering and following Company XIV and their genius artistic director Austin McCormick for eight years, almost as long as th…
Like yesterday’s post on Elsa Schiaparelli and the upcoming series on Agatha Christie, this is a post that might have been better left in the hands of Carolyn Raship, the “lead i…
I am the fashion equivalent of tone deaf, so I toss this one over to the Mad Marchioness, instigator and author of this piece. Schiap’s life overlapped with the usual themes of this…
Edward Einhorn’s The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley opens in the New York International Fringe Festival October 12 and tickets will sell out fast (just 5 performances in a 70 seat ho…
Star Trek debuted on this day in 1966; some are observing “Star Trek Day”. My natural thing to do on such an occasion is a blogpost. I’m old enough to just wanna call i…
September 7 is the birthday of the late Peter Lawford (1923-1984) and his son Christopher Lawford passed away just two days ago. We’ve had occasion to refer to Lawford from time to tim…
There is one thing worse than dying — that’s dying on the same day as Burt Reynolds. That is, if you’re in show business. And that’s what happened to comedian and imp…
Apparently it is #NationalBeerLoversDay by virtue of some decree. Who am I to make waves? I thought I’d observe the day with a little survey of classic comedies of screens and small re…
Just got the word that Burt Reynolds (b. 1936) passed passed away today and I confess the news finds me less prepared than I usually am at such times. I’ve been planning to do somethin…
The 2018 NFL season kicks off tonight with the Falcons playing the Eagles in Philly. We thought we’d mark the occasion with a brief survey of the many football player actors who dotted…
Detroit born Fred Duprez (1884-1938) became a star of stage, screen, phonograph, and radio on two continents. He made his stage debut circa in 1899, and later left medical school for the the…
Our multi-talented friend West Hyler is branching out! We know him mainly as a director and creator of musicals and circus spectaculars, from editions of Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Solei…
You know the old saying — when you research Weber and Fields, everything is connected to Weber and Fields. Well that would be true in any case, but here’s an example where it may…
A journalist wrote to me recently asking me about the history of pie throwing in comedy. I sent her packing! Not because I don’t know something about it, but because it’s the sor…
