11,881 stories by "Trav S.d."
I shouldn’t have said “yes”, when a friend asked to take to me see The Greatest Showman. It was a nice gesture on his part and it was an opportunity to socialize with my fr…
Prior to the present age it could be truly said, though one seldom had occasion for it, that there was no way to describe Charlie Callas (1924-2011). Well, it can still be said, but you don&…
December 19 is the birthday of Minnie Maddern Fiske (Marie Augusta Davey, 1865-1932), almost invariably known in her day as “Mrs. Fiske”. (The use of a husband’s patronymic…
December 18 was the birthday of Betty Grable (Elizabeth Ruth Grable, 1916-1973). Others will no doubt disagree, some vociferously, but I have always deemed the Grable phenomenon to be someth…
Just got the word that what we were bracing for a few months back has sadly come to pass: Johnny Fox has gone to his final blowoff. Best known for his skills as a sword swallower, Johnny was…
December 14, 1932 was the natal day of Abbe Lane (Abigail Francine Lassman). Born in Brooklyn, young Francine Lassman was all of four years old when she first appeared on the radio and five …
December 13 is the birthday of former child star Johnny Whitaker (b. 1959). The red-haired freckled Whitaker was memorable as young Jody on Family Affair (1966-1971), which we wrote about he…
Eve Meyer (Evelyn Eugene Turner, 1928-1977) was born on this day. The buxom Georgia beauty began her career as a pin-up model, often posing nude or topless. In 1952, she married photographer…
It happens to be National Violin Day! This seemed a natural and fitting thing to mark here on Travalanche, and what a wonderful surprise I got when I did a search and discovered how many…
Big Mama Thornton (Willie Mae Thornton, 1926-1984) was born this day. Hailing from Ariton, Alabama, Thornton grew up singing gospel music with her family at the church where her father preac…
Today is the birthday of Ethel Hallor (1902-1982). Born in Washington DC, she was the younger sister of better known actors Edith Hallor (1896-1971) and Ray Hallor (1900-1944), althoug…
After hearing about it for years, the other night I finally got over to see Axis Theatre Company’s Seven in One Blow, or the Brave Little Kid: The Greatest Play Ever, now in its 16th y…
When I was a kid in Rhode Island and Ted Knight (Tadeusz Konopka, 1923-1986) was at the height of his fame, he was considered something of a local hero. 20 years before playing bumbling tv n…
As anticipated, we had our minds officially blown at Jack and the Beanstalk OneOfUs (Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz)’s transplantation of English panto to Abrons Arts Center last night…
Christmas came early for the Mad Marchioness and myself when we got to see Brown Girls Burlesque and a bill of singers headlined by Nucomme do the “Dirty Honey Christmas Shake” a…
December 4 gave us Thelma White (Thelma Wolpa, 1910-2005). Originally from Lincoln Nebraska, White started her career at age two in the family tent show, playing a “living doll” …
Okay here goes nothing! Well not nothing actually: like everything else people tell you is easy in the Internet age it was a royal pain in the ass! It’s my Patreon page — I’…
Buying holiday gifts for that slapstick comedy book lover in your life? Here are deals like you wouldn’t believe for all of you perverse, resistant hold outs who haven’t yet boug…
There was only one Dick Shawn (Richard Schulefand, 1923-1987). The thing to do in show business is to carve out a niche for yourself, and for many year Shawn cornered the market on being com…
Great news for all Anglophiles, lovers of the L.E.S., lovers of variety theatre, theatre history and theatre for kids (that should cover most of you): stage and screen legends Mat Fraser and…
November 28 is the natal day of Edwin Pearce (“E.P.”) Christy (1815-1862). Christy’s name has lived on through a rather roundabout way, giving it probably a higher Q Factor…
Today is the 50th anniversary of the American release date of the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album. It also happens to be the birthday of Jimi Hendrix, and both Charles Manson and Davi…
Born today in New York’s County of Kings, Ziegfeld Girl Anastasia Reilly (1904-1961). Reilly has to have been one of the luckiest people who ever lived. She was discovered as a tap dan…
Will Rogers, who was part Cherokee, used to joke, “My people didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they were there to meet the boat.” In recent years, Thanksgiving has inc…
Brooklyn born character actor George O’Hanlon (1912-1989) was born on this day. O’Hanlon was the son of George Samuel O’Hanlon and Lulu Beeson, who performed in vaudeville …
