All stories by Trav S.D. on BroadwayStars

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 21, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 21, 2025 include ones on film and television creator Hugh Wilson (WKRP), Dreamlander David Lochary, and the recently passed Michael Antunes, saxoph…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:32PM

R.I.P. Tunes by Trav S.D.

I experienced a strange collision of worlds yesterday when I opened one of Eve Golden’s show biz obits (she turns out several daily) and recognized the name of a guy who used to play in ba…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM

The Highs and Lows of Hugh Wilson by Trav S.D.

Few people have created so many well-known and well-loved projects and yet remained so anonymous as writer/ director/ producer Hugh Wilson (1943-2018). Wilson started out as an ad-man; by 19…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM

The Death of David Lochary by Trav S.D.

The name David Lochary (1944-1977) will surely never be better known, and it’s scarcely known now, but few who have appeared in films have given me more pleasure. Lochary is best known as …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM
Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 20, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 20, 2025, concerns boxing promoter and public character Don King. Previous August 20 posts include ones on: Alan Reed (Fred Flintstone) Jacqueline S…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PM

Contextualizing Don King by Trav S.D.

Apologies for the pointy-headed title of this post. It came as the result of a little dance I did. Upon learning that Don King (b. 1931) was still alive I considered something purely celebra…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:32PM
Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 19, 2025 by Trav S.D.

How do, strangers! Here’s our wrap-up of new Travalanche posts for August 19, 2025, in recommended order of reading, ranked on the basis of excellence: On the history of the back-to-nature…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:54PM

Who Is The Worst Bill Clinton? by Trav S.D.

That’s a trick question, readers. The worst Bill Clinton is of course…Bill Clinton. I got no use for that dude, never did. If he’s the best this country could do for a liberal Presiden…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PM

Nuts and Fruits with Gypsy Boots by Trav S.D.

August 19th was the birthday of Robert Bootzin, a.k.a. Boots Bootzin, a.k.a. Gypsy Boots, a.k.a. Nature Boy (1915-2004) (Some sources give 2014, but the birth certificate says 2015). Boots w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PM

A Proper Post on Ogden Nash by Trav S.D.

The title of the present post is because my previous one on Ogden Nash (1902-1971) focused on but a single poem. Was Ogden Nash the greatest writer of light verse who ever lived? That’s a …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PM

The Art of George Bellows by Trav S.D.

America lost the great American realist painter George Bellows (1882-1925) a century ago, and today (August 19) is one of two possible birthdays for him (August 12 is sometimes also given). …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM

For World Photography Day: The Photographers of Travalanche by Trav S.D.

Happy World Photography Day! This is not a photography blog by any means, but there have been a few occasions when our worlds have collided, so we link you to some notable photographers we h…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM
Monday, August 18, 2025

Tomorrow: Frank Capra, Ben Model, and Harry Langdon Converge at the Cinema Arts Center by Trav S.D.

This one is just for New Yorkers and Long Islanders. Tomorrow (August 19, 2025) the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, L.I. will be showing the first feature film directed by Frank Capra, sta…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:48PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 18, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 18, 2025 is on The Great Waldo Pepper. Previous August 18 posts have included ones on: Criswell Shelley Winters Jack Pickford Alan Mowbray Walter O�…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM

Robert Redford IS “The Great Waldo Pepper” by Trav S.D.

August 18 is Robert Redford’s birthday; August 19 is National Aviation Day; and it just so happens that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a motion picture that combines those two ele…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:03AM
Sunday, August 17, 2025

National Massachusetts Day by Trav S.D.

Today we inaugurate a new pocket of Travalanche dedicated to U.S. States. When I began the series I doubted I would do one on every State in the Union. Now that I have done nearly 20% of the…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:06PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 17, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 17, 2025 are on: National Massachusetts Day National Black Cat Day The Writing of Julian Fellowes Barbara Stanwyck’s Uncle Buck Previous August 1…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:06PM

For He’s a Julian Fellowes, or, What Kind of Suckers Are You People? by Trav S.D.

August 17 is the birthday of Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford DL (b. 1949), commonly known as Julian Fellowes by people who don’t have time to say all …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:03PM

For Black Cat Appreciation Day: On Black Cats in the Movies by Trav S.D.

We’re getting very niche these days! One would think that there was celebration enough of black cats on Halloween, or on National Cat Day (October 29) or International Cat Day (August 8). …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:42PM

On Buck Mack, Stanwyck’s “Uncle Buck” by Trav S.D.

August 17 was the birthday of Buck Mack (1888-1959), best known to vintage film fans as “Uncle Buck”, the somewhat shadowy friend, fixer, butler, bodyguard, and all around caretaker for …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AM
Saturday, August 16, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 16, 2025 by Trav S.D.

In addition to today’s new Travalanche post on The Unholy Three, previous August 16 articles include ones on: Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone Early screen star Mae C…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM

100 Years Ago Today: The Unholy Three (1925) by Trav S.D.

August 16, 1925 was the release date of the Tod Browning’s The Unholy Three. Browning had been directing in Hollywood for over a decade when he got a greenlight to direct his second pictur…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18AM

The Words of Ned Washington by Trav S.D.

August 14 was the birthday of Tin Pan Alley lyricist Ned Washington (Edward Michael Washington, 1901-1976). A Scranton native, Washington broke into vaudeville around 1922 both as an emcee a…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:18AM
Friday, August 15, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 15, 2025 by Trav S.D.

The new Travalanche posts for today (August 15, 2025) are ones on: The 80th Anniversary of V-J Day The 60th Anniversary the Beatles at Shea Stadium Hawaiian Statehood Day The 100th Birthday …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PM

80 Years Ago Today: V-J Day by Trav S.D.

I usually strive mightily not to be so basic in my choice of images, both because that’s how I roll, and because ya get fewer clicks if the pic you use is everywhere else. But this famous …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM

60 Years Ago Today: The Beatles at Shea Stadium by Trav S.D.

60 years ago today, the historic Beatles’ first concert at Shea Stadium (August 15, 1965). Did they intend for it to be scheduled on the 20th anniversary of V-J Day? I can’t imagine that…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM

For Hawaiian Statehood Day: A Tribute to the Aloha State by Trav S.D.

The third Friday in August is celebrated annually as Hawaiian Statehood Day. This year it just so happens to fall on the 80th anniversary of V-J Day, reminding us that the war with Japan beg…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM

The Don Ho Story by Trav S.D.

For a long time throughout my youth, the entertainer Don Ho (1930-2007) was the unelected, unofficial mascot for Hawaii in American pop culture. The Don Ho phenomenon was not unlike that of …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AM

The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor [Sic] Sesquicentennial by Trav S.D.

Well, I obviously learned about this interesting man when researching his near-namesake Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was so named not as the result of a coinc…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM

The Oscar Peterson Centennial by Trav S.D.

Born 100 years ago today, the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson (1925-2007), a.k.a. “O.P.” There was much to set Peterson apart from his contemporaries in the jazz field of his day. Firs…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AM
Thursday, August 14, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 14, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today we announce a new Travalanche feature that will hopefully help you maximize the value of this increasingly unwieldy site. Travalanche is about 17 years old now if my math is correct, w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PM

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