All articles by Trav S.D.
And a moment in the sunlight is about all the sunshine enjoyed by cowboy actor and musician Monte Hale (Samuel Buren Ely, 1919-2009) — to be more accurate, about six years (1944-1950). (Mo…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 8, 2026 is about B movie western star Monte Hale. Also Happy National Best Friends Day! Celebrate with this post on several famous “best friends” …
Born 100 years ago today: actress Mona Freeman (1926-2014). Freeman grew up in Pelham, New York, in Westchester County, right outside the Bronx. She began modeling in high school, culminatin…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 7, 2026 is about Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: Charley Bowers …
June 7 was the birthday of big bandleader Glen Gray (Glenn Gray Knoblauch, 1900-1963). Gray was a sax player from Roanoake, Illinois who played with various Detroit area jazz outfits through…
Readers of Travalanche know that we love theatrical dynasties here, though they can sometimes be nettlesome to sort out. Actors tend to be more promiscuous than most, especially true in ages…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 10, 2026 are about British character actor Lionel Jeffries and songwriter/ producer/ impresario Bobb Goldstein. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 10 …
Shortly after the release of my first book No Applause 20 years ago I heard from a wide variety of strangers who were eager for sit-downs to discuss one project or another, some to pitch col…
A message to our daily readers: we are delighted to report that we have found a temporary solution to our technical difficulties, and should be able to limp along semi-productively until our…
This is me on the way to my local computer repair shop yesterday! As I mentioned in my previous post, it will be over a week from now until my laptop is repaired, sadly, resulting in a conco…
Alert! I’m having some computer problems on this end, folks! I may disappear for a couple of days whilst I get this workhorse repaired. If that turns out to be the case, I’ll make up the…
June 6 is not only D-Day, it also happens to be National Caves and Karst Day. For which I have been saving this little post about my most recent adventure in one. As a New Englander, caves a…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 5, 2026 is about the new audio recording featuring Harpo Marx TALKING! Also, Happy Hot Air Balloon Day. I have several related posts with which to obs…
The big day has arrived! As we reported here two years ago, an audio recording starring the famously silent Harpo Marx is hitting stores today. Just six months before he died, Harpo narrated…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 4, 2026 are about the 1976 movie Ode to Billy Joe, the variety program Cavalcade of Stars, and Eddie LeVeque (The “Last Keystone Kop”). Earlier T…
June 4, 1976 was the release date of the motion picture Ode to Billy Joe. Which is funny, for as all fans of the song it’s based on know, the events of the narrative take place on “the t…
June 4 was the birthday of a certain shadowy figure named Edward “Eddie” LeVeque (1896-1989). LeVeque was a Hollywood bit player during the 1950s and ’60s as well as a pal of Mack Senn…
June 4, 1949 was the premiere date of the Golden Age tv variety program Cavalcade of Stars (1949-52). Cavalcade of Stars was, along with Captain Video and His Video Rangers, one of the two t…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 3, 2026 are about poet Allen Ginsberg and comedian Ted Ziegler, both born 100 years ago today. For World Bicycle Day, a guide to bicycle related post…
A minor figure to be sure, but one who made his mark in television, and some of you lot may actually remember him: Ted Ziegler (1926-1999), born 100 years ago today. Ziegler enjoyed a nice s…
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born 100 years ago today and that’s a mind-blower. In some other dimension, one pictures him at this age, perhaps as a denizen of Shangri-La, high atop a Him…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 2, 2026 are about Howard Johnson (Tin Pan Alley songwriter, not restaurateur/ hotelier) and the Marquis de Sade. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 2…
No wait, hear me out! Okay, I don’t precisely celebrate the life and legacy of the Marquis de Sade (Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, 1740-1814) taken as a whole, but neither do I conde…
There are two famous Howard Johnsons, both of them associated with ice cream. The better known of the two is of course the founder of the popular restaurant and hotel chain. We may well take…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 1, 2026 is about Tennessee. That’s it. Just Tennessee. Also, June is Pride Month. Check out over 300 LGBTQ-related posts here. And go here to obvers…
Look, kids: I did your school report, so AI won’t have to! I don’t know what motivates me to do posts like this, apart from the fact that I’m a nerd at bottom, and by that I mean less …
Madge Blake (Madge Cummings, 1899-1969) was one of those Grandma Moses actors. She didn’t take the plunge into acting professionally until she was 50 years old, but she flourished. She spe…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 31, 2026 are about Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet from Batman) and Dave O’Brien (Reefer Madness). Earlier Travalanche posts for May 31 (in no particular …
The career of Dave O’Brien (David Fronabarger, 1912-1968), though it consists largely of B movies, serials, and shorts, fills me with envy and awe. He was an actor, director, stunt man, da…
Today’s new Travalanche post for May 30, 2026 is about radio, TV, and Broadway writer Joseph Stein. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 30 (in no particular order) include ones on: Copacaban…
The title of this post because I am a little nonplussed that Joseph Stein (1912-2010) is almost invariably left off of a very prestigious list on which he belongs, a list that includes Neil …
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 29, 2026 are about Rodolphe Salis and Le Chat Noir, and a tribute to the late Karen McCarty. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 29 (in no particular or…
New York’s clown scene lost one of its most beloved figures a few days ago. Karen McCarty has succumbed to cancer after a long battle. There’s a special irony about that manner of death …
We touched on the topic of Rodolphe Salis (1851-1897) and Le Chat Noir briefly in my book No Applause, and in this earlier post on cabaret, and what makes it different from vaudeville. On hi…
Much as Bill Robinson’s birthday is National Tap Dance Day, two years ago I unilaterally declared Tony Pastor’s birthday to be National Vaudeville Day. This year there are things to anno…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 29, 2026 are about stage and screen actors Minna Gombell, Billy Engle, Jack Curtis, a tribute to the late silent film preservationist Dorothy Bradley,…
Just learned from my friends at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum the sad news that their former President Dorothy Bradley has passed away. Originally from nearby San Francisco, Dorothy w…
Tribute today to actress Minna Gombell (1892-1973). Gombell was prized mostly for her comic abilities, and was known for playing tough talking and shrewish characters by her movie years, alt…
May 28 was the birthday of actor Jonathan “Jack” Curtis (1880-1956). Curtis was born in San Francisco to a show biz family. His father (also Jack Curtis) was in vaudeville and later beca…
Only the barest bones biography on William “Billy” Engle (1889-1966), for we know scarcely more than his (over 300) screen credits, though there are probably enough clues for some intrep…
Today’s new Travalanche post for May 27, 2026 is about the Vanderbilts, partial inspiration for characters in The Gilded Age. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 27 (in no particular order) …
If there must be a show biz justification for this post, call it backgrounder for The Gilded Age, though it embraces many other historical topics I’ve been exploring with increasing heat o…
Today’s new Travalanche post for May 26, 2026 is about Won Ton Ton the Dog That Saved Hollywood, which is 50 years old today. Also, it’s World Dracula Day! Check out my posts on: Bram St…
We present today’s topic as a wonderful example of telescoping history. Released 50 years ago today, Won Ton Ton: The Dog That Saved Hollywood (1976) is a tribute to the Hollywood of 50 ye…
Today’s new Travalanche post for May 25, 2026 is about the Sharkey the Sea Lion documentary. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 25 (in no particular order) include ones on: National Tap Dan…
Three years ago we reported here about Gary Bohan’s terrific book about Sharkey the Sea Lion; he and his team have also been putting together a documentary on the topic in which your corre…
May 24 is the birthday of many eminences, including my own son, and also Little Nell (Laura Elizabeth Campbell, b. 1953). Little Nell is known primarily for her iconic role as Columbia in th…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 24, 2026 are about Peter Minuit’s Purchase of Manhattan (400 years ago today) and Little Nell from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For National Broth…
Today is New York City’s 400th birthday. The official celebration seems to have been pegged to 1609/2009, the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the area around what is no…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 23, 2026 are about Douglas Fairbanks and a new book about the Flying Karamazov Brothers. Also it’s World Wrestling Day: check out the wrestling sect…
