11,881 stories by "Trav S.d."
Just a few words to hopefully illuminate the memory of Estelle Winwood (1883-1984 — yes she was 101 when she died). Most of us know her chiefly from when she was already ANCIENT! She i…
For almost 70 years, Marvin Kaplan (1927-2016) was a familiar face and voice to American audiences, so perfect as a Marvin that his characters were often named Marvin, or something lateral l…
One of the glories of Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) is that the starring super-trio contains both Tura Santana AND Haji. In a Hollywood movie at that time, and f…
There are many 19th century actors I wish I could go back in time to see. Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841-1909) is one of the few non-English speakers to make the list. Coquelin was…
Theodore Kosloff (Fyodor Mikhailovich Koslov, 1882-1956) had an exceedingly rare career trajectory…from international ballet star to Broadway choreographer to silent movie star to danc…
Stage and screen performer June Knight was born Margaret Rose Valliquietto on January 22, 1913 in Los Angeles, California. Plagued by an almost unbelievable string of childhood diseases incl…
January 21 is the birthday of Aristotelis “Telly” Savalas (1922-1994). It is hard to describe what a phenomenon his hit tv series Kojack was in the 1970s. It was not just an …
Just a quick shout out to honor the natal day of actor Henry James Montague (Henry John Mann, 1843-1878). Montagu came to our attention through that eerie, ghostly portrait above, which hang…
R.I.P. Dorothy Malone, who passed away today at age 92. I was surprised to note just how how many of her performances I had seen. In truth, Malone’s best known work was in the sort…
It seems to me everyone (including most people back in the day) have the wrong idea about Alexander Woollcott (1887-1943). There’s this idea of the influential drama critic and wit, be…
Happy birthday, Tippi Hedren (Nathalie Kay hedren, b. 1930). A Minnesota native, of German and Scandinavian ancestry, Hedren first made a name for herself as a highly successful New York fas…
Modern audiences probably know Harry Davenport (1866-1949) best from his role as Dr. Meade in Gone with the Wind, not just one of his biggest roles during the sound era, but one of his best …
Ye Gods! If there was ever a Renaissance woman on this earth it was Natacha Rambova (Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy, 1897-1966.) I’d come across the name of course in connection with Val…
Robert Blake (Michael James Gubitosi) came into the world in Nutley, New Jersey on January 18, 1933. When he was three years old, his parents (who had their own song and dance act) put M…
As we have previously written, the first human cannonball was Zazel (Rosa Richter), who was launched out of spring operated “cannons” devised by The Great Farini starting in 1877…
Harold Switzer (1925-1967) had an awkward role in life. He was two years older than his brother Carl. Both were hired at the same time in 1935 by Hal Roach to be in Our Gang. Harold was nick…
Here’s one we know chiefly by her credits, which bring her plenty close to many of the folks we have written about. As for the woman behind the credits, we know next to nothing. Her bi…
Quintessential blue-collar actor William Bendix (1906-1964) was often cast as a guy from Brooklyn or the Bronx, although he was a native of the Manhattan neighborhood of Murray Hill. He drop…
Herbert Brenon (1880-1958) was one of the most important Hollywood film directors of the silent era. Born in Dublin, he moved to London with his family when he was two years old (his father …
This is the best thing that has happened to me in months, years, possibly (and apologies to whomever that offends!) and I hope the knowledge brings you as much sheer joy and amusement as it …
So much more is known about Leona Duval and her Coney Island burlesque act “Tirza’s Wine Bath” since her lawyers sent that “cease and desist letter” to Coney Is…
Don’t get me wrong! I’m not one of those radical people who claim that silent cinema is intrinsically superior to films containing dialogue and recorded sound effects. Is there a…
Comic actor Bob Denver (1935-2005) was born on this historic day. Something downright sinister happened to Denver towards the end of his life, happened in public, happened for all to see, an…
Just a little post about The Post. I think it ranks with Spielberg’s 6 or 8 tent pole films, the ones we remember him for, and for many of the same reasons his best ones are great. Spi…
Today marks the 95th birthday of comic actor and performer Larry Storch (b. 1923). We have purposefully not led off with his most famous character, whose popularity marked the height of Stor…
