11,919 stories by "Trav S.d."
Today is the birthday of Universal Studios founder and chief Carl Laemmle (1867-1939). Unlike William Fox, Marcus Loew, Jesse Lasky, the Schenk Brothers and others, Laemmle did not start …
Today is the birthday of the female impersonator Vardaman (Mansel Vardaman G. Boyle, 1877-1945). Vardaman was born in Santa Cruz, California and raised in Butte, Montana, where he first work…
Filed under: Animal Acts, Bowery, Barbary Coast, Old New York, Saloons, Circus, Coney Island, Indie Theatre, LEGIT, EXPERIMENTAL & MUSICAL THEATRE, PLUGS Tagged: Edison's Elephant, elect…
Today is the birthday of the great cinematographer and movie director Karl Freund (1890-1969). A key figure of German Expressionism and its exportation to Hollywood, his name is usually a…
Today is the birthday of the lovely and hilarious Andrea Martin (b. 1947). It’s been so exciting to see her emerge as a Broadway star in recent years, but of course I’ll always r…
Today is the birthday (according to one source) of that peculiar late 20th century phenomenon known as Charo (Maria del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza — I can hear her sa…
Today is the birthday of the great British songwriter, playwright and actor Ivor Novello (David Ivor Davies, 1893-1951). Novello was the son of a high end Welsh singing instructor; he was al…
Following up on our earlier post about the notorious William Beaudine… Beaudine created so much work across so many genres, but for better or worse, in the wider community of film buff…
Today at 5pm E.S.T. on Turner Classic Movies: Mad Love!!! An exquisite remake of the silent classic The Hands of Orlac. Peter Lorre is a mad doctor obsessed with the female star of a Gran…
Sundays at Midnight in January (technically early Monday mornings) TCM is showing a bevy of classic Fatty Arbuckle shorts from the early Mack Sennett days. Your corresponde…
One hundred years ago today, Mack Sennett’s Keystone released the hilarious comedy A Flirt’s Mistake, directed by George Nichols. The titular “flirt” is of course,…
Today is the birthday of Mississippi Fred McDowell (1904-1972). Despite his unambiguous association with a particular state (where he lived a good part of his life, McDowell was born in, and…
Today is the birthday of memorable character actor Lionel Stander (1908-1994). Let’s face it, with that voice, that puss and that accent, the Bronx born Stander’s career was assu…
Today is the birthday of the great blues musician Slim Harpo (James Moore, 1924-1970). Although just as adept at guitar, he is of course named after his other instrument, the blues harmonica…
Today is the birthday of the great actor/ manager Eva La Gallienne (1899-1991). The daughter of a French poet and a Danish journalist, La Gallienne was born in London and raised in France an…
Today is the birthday of the great classic horror and mystery actor George Zucco (1886-1960). Zucco is definitely one of the great unsung players in the field,on account of being sort of a s…
8:00pm:  Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Much water under the bridge between the original Frankenstein and James Whale’s 1935 sequel. Karloff, who had been uncredited in…
Following up on our earlier post about Ray Bolger, whose birthday it is today. Where’s Raymond? (later known as The Ray Bolger Show) aired on ABC from 1953 through 1955. The name…
Today is the birthday of Douglas MacLean (1890-1967). I’ve been at sixes and sevens this morning trying to decide whether to put in my Hall of Hams or Stars of Slapstick series; his ca…
Just got word that Amiri Baraka has passed on. I don’t know how comfortable I am with “Rest in Peace” — he certainly said and espoused a peck of heinous ideas over th…
Today is the birthday of Vilma Bánky (Vilma Koncsis, 1901-1991). Hungarian-born, her film career began in Europe in 1919. A film from this early phase of her that grabs our especial…
Today at 4:45pm Eastern, Turner Classic Movies will be showing that sui generis 1939 comedy/horror film/ murder mystery The Gorilla. Largely a parody of The Bat, the film concerns a…
Today is the birthday of Bernard Gorcey (1886-1955). Russian Jewish, and all of 4’10″ in adulthood, he came to the U.S. with his wife Josie (who was all of 4′ 11″) to…
I don’t usually do listicles here; I prefer trying to do some actual writing since I’m not getting paid for it and my only rewards are absolute sovereignty and self-indulgence. B…
Another post in honor of the King’s birthday (see previous post here). Thought I would take a moment to nod my Stetson in the direction of this most unusual hybrid of a movie. Wild …
