11,925 stories by "Trav S.d."
Originally posted in 2010 Once upon a time, a young Czech performer named Martin Beck had been touring the Americas with a German singing and juggling troupe. Stranded by his company in Chic…
Originally posted in 2010 William Powell (born this day in 1892) was no “star” of vaudeville, but he did do some time there during his years of struggle from the time of his grad…
We (and probably you) have been much enjoying Kate Mulgrew’s Russian cookie and cell-block boss lately in Orange is the New Black. I’ve come across much online chatter to t…
Today is the birthday of every classic comedy lover’s principal heart throb Thelma Todd (1906-1935). Originally trained to be a schoolteacher, Todd also participated in beauty pageants…
Originally posted in 2009. Known now primarily as a film comedian (he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the early 30s), Joe E. Brown began his professional career as an acrobat in …
Originally posted in 2009. Rudy Vallee is remembered today as a singer, and it is usually forgotten that he was also the leader of his own band. Ben Bernie and Ted Lewis had sung…
Today is the birthday of Richard “Skeets” Gallagher (1891-1955). Trained as a civil engineer and a lawyer, the Indiana native went into vaudeville with a one act playlet, which l…
Today is the birthday of the great character comedian Jerry Van Dyke (b. 1931). He’s always rather unfairly lived in the shadow of his older brother Dick Van Dyke, who not only had his…
Today is opening day of the annual Warren County, NJ Balloon Festival — an appropriate occasion on which to contemplate the interesting and sadly truncated life of Washington Harrison …
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island Talent Show, World Famous Bob
Today is the 150th birthday of Fleming W. Ackerman (1863-1946), known professionally and informally as Colonel Speck. The son of a prosperous Moravia, New York businessman, Ackerman was norm…
Today is the birthday of Edmund Newell (1857-1919), usually billed as either Major Edward Newell [sic] or General Grant Jr. One of many little people in the employ of P.T. Barnum, he is best…
Today is Mick Jagger’s birthday. While I like Mick and the Stones an enormous deal, it’s a hilarious understatement to say I’ve never had even a remote prayer of emulating …
Oh you needn’t argue with me, I know it’s true. Kubrick said there were two film-makers worth studying: Chaplin, who was “all content and no form”; and Eisenstein, wh…
Originally posted in 2009 Today is Gracie Allen’s birthday Burns and Allen are the most successful "Dumb Dora" act (or male-female comedy team) of all time. Countless such acts came be…
Today is the birthday of George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). When I was a student, his longevity (94 years, lucid to the end) seemed remarkable. Nowadays, it is almost commonplace. Sometimes it…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Comedy, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety Tagged: Burlesque on the Beach, Coney Island, Funny Lady Burlesque, Schlep Sisters
Today is the birthday of Dorothy Dickson (1893-1995). The daughter of a Kansas City journalist and hiss feminist wife, she married Carl Hyson in 1914 and the two lived in Chicago where he so…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Mistress B, Super Fun variety Show, Sweet Soubrette
Today is the birthday of the great Hollywood character actor Walter Brennan (1894-1974). When still a student in his native Massachusetts Brennan got his first professional experience in loc…
Today is the birthday of silent screen comedian Johnny Hines (1895-1970). He started out in the legit theatre as a teenager, spending about five years on the boards before beginning his film…
Today is the birthday of Maxfield Parish (1870-1966). The Duchess is far better qualified to write a post on this subject than I ever could be. But I take a back seat to no one in my love…
Today is the birthday of David Belasco (1853-1931), a towering figure in the American theatre. He was playwright, director or producer (sometimes all three) of nearly a hundred plays in his …
Today is the birthday of Lila Lee (Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, 1901-1973). Billed as “Cutie Cuddles”, she got her start performing in Gus Edwards’ kiddie act in va…
Trav S.D. (American Vaudeville Theatre) and a High Kicking Chorus of Cuties recreate burlesque as it was in Coney Island’s early 20th century glory days, and a salute to Mack Sennett&#…
