11,936 stories by "Trav S.d."
Today is the birthday of Ian Keith (1899-1960.) Keith was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films starting in the 1920s. In 1928 he married the older Ethel Clayton (1882-1966) who h…
Today is the birthday of Hollywood character actor Dub Taylor (1907-1994). You know Dub Taylor. He’s the one who’s not Strother Martin. He’s the grizzled, leering old…
This was recorded at the Brick Theater’s tribute to Beck’s Song Reader on January 11. In his notes to the song reader Beck said that singers and musicians had his permissi…
Today is the birthday of Pauline Musters (1876-1895), at 23 inches tall the smallest woman ever recorded. She began to be exhibited when still an infant; in later years, she acquired danc…
Susi the Elephant Skin Girl (Charlotte Linda Vogel, 1908-1976) suffered from a condition known as ichthyosis from birth, a painful malady which caused her skin to thicken, turn grey, wrinkle…
Coming soon from Bear Manor Media: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, by Trav S.D. Chain of Fools traces the art of slapstick comedy from its pre-ci…
Today is the birthday of under-rated Herbert “Zeppo” Marx (1901-1979). For more on him and his famous funny brothers go here. Zeppo’s long been a sort of joke amongst the m…
Here it is! This is an annual event I’ve come to look forward to like the coming of Christmas every year: the annual Film Forum showing of old Vitaphone vaudeville shorts by Ron Hutchi…
Today is the birthday of the great Jim Backus (1913-1989). If this distinctive actor hadn’t been known for voicing Mr. Magoo (late 1940s through late 1970s), or playing Thurston Howell…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #302: Ida Cox (for more on the great blues singer and her vaudeville background go here). Here she is performing the “Four Day Creep” …
It’s a sweep! BEST PICTURE: The Oscar BEST ACTOR: Stephen Boyd, The Oscar BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tony Bennett, The Oscar BEST ACTRESS: Elke Sommer, The Oscar BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: E…
Today is the birthday of Eddie Murphy (b. 1961). I have foillowed his career almost from the very first — ever since he was an adunct member of the SNL cast during the notorious Jean D…
Paragon Worldwide Radio Show Sunday, February 24 6:05 – 8:00 pm EST On WWFM – The Classical Network Tune in today on your radio or computer to hear Rick Benjamin and his Pa…
A new feature wherein we record and chronicle contemporary busking performers for fun and very little profit. I’ve always wanted to present mariachi in my live show; here’s the n…
Some prodigies are born, some prodigies are made. And still others are deferred. Amand Siebert (1880- 1940) was a perfectly average 120 lb pound woman until she gave birth to her first child…
Today is the birthday of Cecil Lyle (1892-1955). Billed as “The Great Lyle”, he was a star of Maskelyne and Devant’s presentations at St. George’s Hall. He began appe…
Tomorrow morning at 11 the Film Forum is showing the Chaplin feature that tends to fall through the cracks, his 1928Â The Circus. It is a beautiful film and a funny one, and by no means &#…
Filed under: PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Dandy Wellington, Flute, Kita St. Cyr, Wit's End
Today is the birthday of director Norman Taurog (1899-1981). This may tee some people off, but based on what I’ve seen — and I’ve seen a lot of Norman Taurog movies —…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #120, Dave Apollon, the Mandolin King (for the full skinny on this fascinating person go here). Submitted for your Saturday delectation, some of h…
Today is the birthday of the popular Shakespearean actor Fredericke Warde (1851-1935). His theatrical career began in his native England in the mid 1860s; he moved to the U.S. in 1874 to app…
Today is the 100th birthday of the great Bengali magician Protul Chandra Sorcar (1913-1971). After graduating from college with a mathematics degree, he began to pursue his true pas…
Today is the birthday of film director Victor Fleming (1889-1949). I tend to think of him as a creature of the studio system, producing rather impersonal but competent work over a diverse…
Alzoria Lewis and Johanna Dickens were presented jointly on Coney Island sideshow stages from the 1930s through the 1950s. Though unrelated, they were usually presented as “sist…
This coming Sunday, The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut celebrates the 150th anniversary of “The Fairy Wedding,” an event that captured the nation’s heart when cel…
