Thursday, January 22, 2026
We confess that this post is a bunt — I am out all day on various errands which you will soon learn about in upcoming posts. But this information is no less valuable. Tonight is the premie…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:02AMToday’s new Travalanche post for January 22, 2026 is about the new Mel Brooks documentary! Also, January 22 is National Polka Dot Day. See my post on the origins of the comics character �…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:02AMWednesday, January 21, 2026
Oscar Eagle (1861-1930) — a man whose name conjures no fewer than two different Muppets! Eagle was an actor and director of the stage and the silent screen. Readers of Travalanche will no …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for January 21, 2026 are about Wolfman Jack and old time director Oscar Eagle (The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers original stage productions). Other earlier Tr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMYesterday (Jan. 20) was National Disc Jockey Day but it seemed kind of wrong to do a post on DJs until I had honored Wolfman Jack (Robert Smith, 1938-1995), whose birthday is today. But look…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AMTuesday, January 20, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for January 20, 2026 is a centennial celebration of Patricia Neal. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 20 (in no particular order) include ones on: Geo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:12PMToday would have been the 100th birthday of Patricia Neal (1926-2010). Both of my parents were fans of this actress, for reasons that are easy for me to glean. Like my dad, she was from Tenn…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMMonday, January 19, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for January 19, 2026 are about two upcoming events, one celebrating Dorothy Parker, and another William Henry Lane (Juba). Also it’s Martin Luther King Day …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PMHere’s another one for Martin Luther King Day! It concerns the famous dance-off between the legendary black performer William Henry Lane, known as Juba or Master Juba, and his Irish Americ…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:36AMSpeaking of the Laurie Beechman….(we spoke of it yesterday), here is a thing that is happening there tonight to benefit the NAACP. Did you know that when she died Dorothy Parker left her e…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:36AMSunday, January 18, 2026
I sometimes come to regret my obituaries for famous businesses and restaurants that fold, because unlike people, some of them come roaring back to life (e.g. The Laurie Beechman, and Hallowe…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for January 18, 2026 are about Daniel Webster, the closing of Cafe Un Deux Trois, and vaudevillian Andy Rice. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 18 (…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PMDaniel Webster (1782-1852) was born on January 18; the statue dedicated to him in Central Park turns 150 years old this year. (A terrific article on the 1876 monument is here). When I was a …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMThe ephemeral reference above is the only image I came across that provides any sort of visual on vaudeville writer and performer Andy Rice (1881-1963). The path that led me to awareness of …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMSaturday, January 17, 2026
I know I’ve been assaulting you with posts today, but all the people I’m writing about have a January 17 birthday, and I’ve been overdue to include them all here. And I really want to …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for January 17, 2026 are about Amy Sherman-Palladino, Sheree North, Warren Hull, Dick Contino, and Oscar Apfel. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 17…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02PMMost contemporary folks would be apt to know Sheree North (Dawn Shirley Crang, 1932-2005) from memorable recurring roles on sit-coms: she was Kramer’s mom on Seinfeld, Blanche’s sister o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54PMOscar Apfel (1878-1938) was a major figure in the early film industry as a director; he later opted to take a back seat as a very minor actor, apparently for the sheer enjoyment of it. Origi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:32PMHaving written about Tony Lovello, the Liberace of the Accordion just last month, it would be remiss of me to omit his principal competition in the industry, Dick Contino (1930-2017), whose …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PMHere’s a story of a man who was prominent in every entertainment medium of his day, the stage, movies, radio, and television, but today will be known only to hard-core show biz buffs: Warr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMFriday, January 16, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for January 16, 2026 is about Jim Stafford. Yes. Jim Stafford. Stay tuned! There are a great many cool ones coming up over the weekend! Other earlier Travalanc…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36PMIf you’re like me and have any space at all for country comedy musicians of decades past in your cluttered mind, they’re all jumbled together. When I was a kid in the ’70s guys like to…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AMThursday, January 15, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for January 15, 2026 are about vaudeville singer Will Oakland, and several recent, current and upcoming indie theatre shows (and celebrity sightings) Other ea…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:02PMI used to have a theatre column years ago and lord knows I don’t want another one, but over the last (and next) several days there’s so much going on that I’d like to see (and have see…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:48PMToday, one of those occasional Travalanche essays that exceed what you will be able to find elsewhere on the internet. The subject is vaudeville countertenor Will Oakland (Herman Hinrichs, 1…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AMWednesday, January 14, 2026
Faye Dunaway (b. 1941) turns 85 today, and not long ago we watched the 2024 HBO doc about her called Faye, not to be confused with the Lee Grant sitcom Fay. And we’ve mentioned the actress…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:06PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for January 14, 2026 are about the Raymond Griffith’s Hands Up (100 years old this year), Faye Dunaway, and Richard Outcault (The Yellow Kid and Buster Brow…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:06PMReleased 100 years ago today! Raymond Griffith in Hands Up! (1926). And I caught it in the nick of time. I assumed I had already done a post on this terrific comedy, but in fact I had not, t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PMThis dashing dude is Richard F. Outcault (1863-1928), once hailed by many as the inventor of the newspaper comic strip. Many hands went into the evolution of this unique art form however; it…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AMTuesday, January 13, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for January 13, 2026 is about Tin Pan Alley songwriter James V. Monaco. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 13 (in no particular order) include ones on…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMJanuary 13 was the birthday of Tin Pan Alley composer James V. Monaco (1885-1945). Monaco was an Italian immigrant who moved to the U.S. with his family when he was six years old. He was rai…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM 
