11,933 stories by "Trav S.d."
Good news! In conjunction with the release of our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube we are Bear Manor Media’s Author of the Wee…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release of The Rural Third Degree, Edgar Kennedy’s first confirmed appearance in a Keystone film. While he does play a Kop in this film, the ab…
Well, we meant to take a couple of months off, but we ended up taking a year. That’s how it flies sometimes in this cockamamie chicken coop. Anyway, we’re back with our old schoo…
Today is Lou Costello’s birthday. Readers of Chain of Fools and this blog know I’m not the hugest Costello fan. I find his personality abrasive and don’t see that he …
I’m unnatturally excited and have my DVR already programmed. TCM is showing Shine On, Harvest Moon at noon today. I’ve seen most of the major vaudeville bio-pics but this one has…
H.B. Marinelli (1864-1924) was one of a multigenerational family of performing contortionists (He was born in Germany, although the family is plainly Italian). He took to the stage himself a…
Unless you’re an old hooty owl you’ll want to set your DVR…TCM is running some movies that are of interest to classic comedy fans tonight (actually tomorrow) starting at mi…
Today is the birthday of the great American progressive novelist Frank Norris (1870-1902). Influenced by Zola, Darwin and Spencer, he was an almost exact contemporary of Theodore Dreiser, wh…
This one exists only at the fringes of my consciousness. It ran only one season (1967-68) but then was shown again in reruns in 1970. I thought of it in connection with today’s earlier…
Today is the birthday of the incomparable Jack Cassidy (1927-1976). Growing up in the 1970s, he was one of my favorite character actors. The idea of himself that he seems to have held (and t…
One night only, tonight at 7pm, Kimberly Faye Greenberg  brings her one woman show Fabulous Fanny: The Songs and Stories of Fanny Brice to the Triad, 158 W. 72nd Street. Promised ar…
Today is the birthday of Johan (John) Aasen (1890-1938), best known as the giant Colosso in Harold Lloyd’s Why Worry? (1923).  Accounts of his height vary wildly, from nearly nin…
Today is the birthday of Esther Blackmon (1926-2003). Born Esther Parnell in Kenly, North Carolina, she was born with a condition called icthyosis, characterized by dry, scaly skin and no ha…
Today is the birthday of Lt. Gitz Rice (1891-1947), who made an entire career out of entertaining the troops in World War One. The Canadian soldier had been sent to France, and seen action, …
AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY: BOOK TALK AND FILM SCREENING MARCH 11, 6PM — ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! 100 years ago, Rhode Island towns like Westerly, Narragansett, and Newport were major resorts wh…
Tonight the divine JULIE HALSTON Returns to Birdland for a Month-Long Run of CLASSICAL JULIE playing Mondays, March 4, 11, 18, & 25 at 7 p.m. Halston made a name for herself with h…
This comes to mind because of the Pearl White post from earlier today. The Perils of Penelope Pitstop was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon that ran from 1970 through 1971. I not only used to wa…
Today is the birthday of Pearl White (1889-1938), most famous as the star of silent movie adventure serials such as The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine (1914). A Missouri nat…
Today is the birthday of Carl Norwood (1939-1976). He was born with a dwarfish condition, with tiny, twisted limbs. Billed as “the Frog Boy” or “the Frog Man” he work…
Today is the birthday of Julius Steger (1866-1959), best known in vaudeville for his one act melodrama playlet “The Fifth Commandment”, a popular hit for the first 20 years of…
A profile in honor of Women’s History Month. Stella Mayhew (1874-1932) was a headlining vaudeville and musical comedy performer whose career spanned 50 years. She began acting as a chi…
Today is the birthday of the amazing folk and country music genius Arthel “Doc” Watson (1923-1912). Blind since the age of one, the North Carolina native played just about …
Among the most influential figures in circus and variety history were the Hanlon Brothers, an English troupe whose nucleus originally consisted of six acrobatic siblings. Three of them had s…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release of A Deaf Burglar, Henry “Pathe” Lehrman’s first film as a director for Mack Sennett’s Keystone. In this split reel come…
Today is the birthday of William Macready (1793-1873). Macready is best known in this country for being the unwitting trigger of the Astor Place Riots of 1849, an international embarrassment…
