12,173 stories from Trav S.D.
Today a tribute to Chief Yowlachie (Daniel Simmons, 1891-1966). If you don't know the name, surely you know that face! Yowlachie was a full blood Yakama native from Washington State. Delight…
August 15 is the birthday of the great British show biz Renaissance Man Jim Dale (b. 1935). Dale is a major star of every medium in his home country. In the U.S. he's only truly conquered Br…
What an interesting figure is Albert Spalding (1888-1953). The namesake of his uncle, A.G. Spalding, pro ball player and co-founder with his father James of the famous sporting goods concern…
Steve Porter (1864-1946) was a popular American singer and recording artist and successful entrepreneur, active from the 1890s to the 1930s. As his date of birth is not known we have chosen …
Philadelphia-born stage and screen star Ethelind Terry (1899-1984) was renowned for her physical beauty and her lovely singing voice, which briefly catapulted her to the front ranks of Ameri…
Here's a little preview/ by-product of my upcoming Wizard of Oz talk on August 24. Arthur Hill (1875-1932) originated the role of the Cowardly Lion in the 1902 Broadway adaptation of L. Fran…
We are coming up on the 80th anniversary of my favorite movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). To celebrate, on August 24, I will visit the birthplace of American amusement, Coney Island, to speak a…
Olympe Bradna (Antionette Olympe Bradna, 1920-2012) was from a famous family of Bohemian circus equestrians. She was the niece of Fred and Ella Bradna, stars of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum…
August 12 is the birthdate of the great Mexican stage and screen comedian Cantinflas (Mario Moreno, 1911-1993). Cantinflas is considered (and positioned himself as) the Charlie Chaplin of Me…
Though they might know his name, classic comedy fans know the work of T. Roy Barnes (1880-1937) chiefly from two performances. He's the insurance salesman who disturbs W.C. Fields' rest in I…
We've already had occasion to talk about the foundings of several of the major Hollywood studios of the classic era (RKO, MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, Walt Disney), most…
This is part two of our two-part series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders. Part One, on the murders themselves, is here. Today we review Quentin Tarantino's Onc…
Like the Beatles' White Album, this bloated post comes in a set of two. This is Part One. Part Two, a review of Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will follow either later…
It's taken me a good little while to get a proper bead on Stan Freberg (1926-2015) and I wanted to be pretty familiar with his work before presuming to write about it. I knew of his legend f…
A celebration of African American musician and composer Luckey Roberts (Charles Luckeyth Roberts, 1887-1968). Roberts was legendary for his epic reach on the piano; one hand could encompass …
A post today about funny character actress Renie Riano (1899-1971), whose first name was sometimes rendered as Rene, Renee, or Reine. (It's short for Irene and was pronounced "Reenie"). Rian…
The film career of June Travis (June Grabiner, 1914-2008) was surpassingly brief and so shall this post be. Travis was only in movies for three years (1935-38), but a few of those films touc…
I definitely want to let you know about Blood Brains in a Jukebox, Dick Zigun's new comedy-horror-rock opera (with music by Nikos Brisco) which is coming in November. I hope you can attend, …
Dorothy Dare (Dorothy Herskind, 1911-1981) was reputed to have begun her onstage career as a child of seven in her native Philadelphia. I see possible references to her singing in vaudeville…
What a drag it must have been to be a Tin Pan Alley songwriter named Arthur Fields yet to bear no relation to Lew, Herbert or Dorothy. When Abraham Finkelstein (1884-1953) too the name early…
Well, maybe the origins of Will Lee (1908-1982) won't strike you as all that surprising. I'm not sure what I thought they should be, but probably something a bit more show bizzy, since Sesam…
While most western fans today know Edmund "Hoot" Gibson (1892-1962) chiefly from his B movies of the '30s and '40s, his days of biggest stardom were in the silent era, when he was second onl…
A few days after the passing of Paul Krassner seems an appropriate time for a little birthday appreciation of comedian, actor and journalist/author Richard Belzer (b. 1944). belzer is undoub…
What's more impressive than five performing Locust Sisters? How about the fact there were actually seven? Hilda was an opera singer, who performed at least once on radio in 1929. Rose was a …
We seem to have gone backwards in acknowledging Jennifer Ann Redmond's useful books. Recently we profiled her biography of Corliss Palmer, but it turns out that's her most recent offering. B…
