Today’s new Travalanche posts for September 30, 2025 include ones on director Lewis Milestone, chorus girl Blanche Satchel, actor Frank Lawton (in stereo), and my recommendations for Inter…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMThis International Podcast Day finds me chagrined to report that I have nothing new of my own to share or announce, apart from general intention to create new stuff for The Year of Vaudevill…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMThere were two generations of thespian Frank Lawtons, their combined careers spanning nearly a century. The family name was originally spelled “Laughton”. If there is any connection to B…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM“Blanche Satchel” (1906-2004) is one of the most unappealing stage names that I’ve ever heard; it evokes a leather saddle bag that has been boiled until it turns as white as a dead fis…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 29, 2025 include ones on B movie star Anne Nagel, songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and a special post for Silent Movie Day! If you’d li…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:54PM“What silent movies should I watch?” someone asked the other day, and it’s a perfectly valid question. It’s much preferable to the indifference (and worse, scorn) most people evince …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:54PMGood and bad breaks were the portion of actress Anne Nagel (Anna Marie Dolan, 1915-1966), a star of B movies, and something less than a star in major features. An Irish Catholic girl from Ma…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AMSeptember 29 was the birthday of Tommy Boyce (Sidney Thomas Boyce, 1939-1994); and we lost Bobby Hart (Robert Harshman, 1939-2025) about three weeks ago, so I thought this would be a good ti…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:24AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 28, 2025 include ones on Peck’s Bad Boy and a Vaudeville Call to Arms. It also happens to be Drink Beer Day. In no particular order, other Tra…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:02PMSeptember 28 was the birthday of both Ed Sullivan and his boss, CBS founder and President William S. Paley. I wonder who got the bigger cake? Anyway, It seemed like a good time to catch you …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:54PMWe’ve had numerous occasions on which to mention the pop culture phenomenon of Peck’s Bad Boy, which was vital roughly from 1880 to 1940, in newspaper columns, books, stage plays, films,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AMIn researching the Variety critic Chicot a few months ago, I stumbled across a detail that sent me down a rabbit hole. The Variety writer’s real name was Epes Sargent, and it turns out the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 27, 2025 include ones on three pretty obscure guys: 19th century writer Epes Sargent, Broadway songwriter Joseph McCarthy (right?), and sit-com …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PMSeptember 27 was the birthday of comedy creator Cy Howard (Seymour Horowitz, 1915-1993), apparently no relation to the Howards from the Three Stooges, who were also born Horowitz. This Howar…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:12PMHave no fear! The title of this post doesn’t refer to some imagined “good side” of the Red-Baiting Senator from Wisconsin. That man was all bad. But as it happens there was another guy…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 26, 2025 include ones on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, fitness guru Jack LaLanne, and artists Thomas Nast and Charles Bird King. In no particul…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36PMSeptember 26 was the birthday of fitness pioneer and health guru Jack LaLanne (1914-2011). LaLanne’s significance lies at the very pivot point between old school physical culture of the ma…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:24PMOkay, the title of this post is hyperbole. Whenever you think you’ve I.D.’d the first anything, you’re sure to be foiled. And of course everyone CLAIMS primacy. That’s just p.r. 101.…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PMSeptember 26, 1975 was the date of the American release of that singular cinematic specimen, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Is Rocky Horror the hub of the universe? For a theatre-maker of my…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PMJust a few words of acknowledgment about 19th century painter Charles Bird King (1785-1862). I first became aware of the artist through repeated visits to the Redwood Library and Athenaeum i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 25, 2025 include ones on Mercy Otis Warren, and the Beatles animated cartoon show. In no particular order, other Travalanche posts for September…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM60 years ago today, September 25, 1965 saw the television premiere of the animated children’s television show The Beatles. The show aired 39 new episodes over the following two years, and …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMSeptember 25 was the birthday of pioneering American literary figure Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814). Daughter of Massachusetts lawyer James Otis, Mercy received the benefit of the same educat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 24, 2025 includes ones on Jim Henson, silent movie director Barry O’Neill, and movie actress Julia Faye. In no particular order, other Travala…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PMSeptember 24 was the birthday of actress Julia Faye (Julia Faye Maloney, 1892-1966). Faye was a faye-vorite of Cecil B. DeMille, in more ways than one, and had over 100 screen credits to her…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PMIt’s Jim Henson’s birthday again! Having already posted a good deal about him and his Muppet creations, I thought this year I would observe the occasion by adding this little finding aid…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:02PMSeptember 24 was the birthday of pioneering silent film director Barry O’Neil (Thomas J. McCarthy, 1865-1918). O’Neil was the son of Irish immigrants residing in New York City. His name …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 23, 2025 includes ones on Ken Burns’ The Civil War, and Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander. In no particular order, other Travalanche posts for Sept…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PMThe order in which I have posted about the primary cast members and creators of Seinfeld speaks volumes: Jerry Seinfeld (2020), Larry David (2021), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2024), Heidi Swedberg…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PMToday marks 35 years since the opening shot of Ken Burns’ The Civil War (1990) went hurtling toward Fort Sumter. Arriving at the height of the Culture Wars, this nine part, ten hour docume…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for September 22, 2025 includes ones on Narragansett Indian track champion Tarzan Brown, and a thing on rhinoceros movies. In no particular order, other Trava…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PM