Thursday, June 26, 2025
I have scant intel on ventriloquist Roy Douglas other than he was popular during the 1940s and ’50s, other vents respected him and bought dummies from him, and his most famous gimmick was …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMWednesday, June 25, 2025
Thanks, Eve Golden, for the reminder that June Lockhart’s 100th birthday is upon us. June was born the day before Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush was released! I’m on vacation at the m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:36PMAs vaguely promised in our post on Harvey Lembeck eight years ago, a piece finally on his son Michael Lembeck (b.1948) whose work may be better known to those of my generation. Oddly, I grew…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AMTuesday, June 24, 2025
I learned of Jack Sterling (Jack Sexton,1915-1990) whilst research Electric Vaudeville, my upcoming book on radio and tv variety. Sterling was the ringmaster and host of the CBS children’s…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AMMonday, June 23, 2025
Back in the day it was a matter of course that you could see more than one sideshow presentation in Coney Island on the same day, and by that I mean different presentations by different orga…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:48AMSunday, June 22, 2025
We find ourselves guided by world events, a desire for peace, and, as always, the historical calendar in the title of today’s post. As it happens, two major literary figures from The Great…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:32AMSaturday, June 21, 2025
June 21, 1985 was the release date of that red-headed step-child known as Return to Oz. Ozania is its own content area on Travalanche; we now have over five dozen posts on the books, the fil…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:32AMFriday, June 20, 2025
Brian Wilson (1942-2025) would have been 83 today. As promised when he passed a couple of weeks ago, here is further tribute. It’s still a bunt. There’s scads more to be said. I found mu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18PMAudie Murphy (1925-1971) was born 100 years ago today. It is very strange that this once prominent American has been swallowed up by time, for he has one of the most unique biographical prof…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AM350 years ago today, several Pokanoket warriors attacked homesteads in the vicinity of Swansea, located in what was then the Plymouth Colony (now Massachusetts). This was the start of King P…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AMThursday, June 19, 2025
We’ve had numerous occasions to mention actress Mildred Natwick (1905-1994) on Travalanche; high time for her own entry. We love her of course principally for being everything you would wa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AMAmong my favorite surprises is taking in the mail and discovering someone sent me a book out of the blue. The other day it was a review copy of Dorothy Parker’s New York by Kevin Fitzpatri…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMWednesday, June 18, 2025
Today (June 18, 2025) marks two years since the submersible Titan imploded at a depth of about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet), killing all five people aboard. We are prompted to mark the occasio…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:12PMMost of us know Nedra Volz (Nedra Gordonier, 1908-2003) from the last act of her life’s drama, when she was a ubiquitous tv character actress and an occasional presence in films as well. S…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:02PMA tip of the hat today to singer, dancer, actor, and all-around performer Avon Long (1910-1984). A Baltimore native, Long got his start in Harlem in the late 1920s, at such venues as the Laf…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMHow delightful that April March (Velma Fern Worden, b. 1935) has a June birthday! Mark your calendar — I certainly did! April March is still very much with us, feted and lauded as one of t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AMTuesday, June 17, 2025
Today is the official publication date of my friend Ben Model’s much-awaited new book The Silent Film Universe. We have long admired the entrepreneurial Model, who has built an empire on h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:48PMJune 17, 1775 was the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is fascinating to me (in my old age) to mark these anniversaries off so that you can mark the progress of Revolutionary War events…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PMAs promised in our National Alligator Day post — an entirely separate one on crocodiles. Because we are crazy in just that way! This one will be very brief in comparison with the alligator…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AMJune 17 was the birthday of magician Paul Valadon (Adolphe Weber, 1867-1913). Originally from Cologne, Germany, Valadon began his working life as a hairdresser, though magic was always his u…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:18AMMonday, June 16, 2025
Valerie Mahaffey would have been 72 today, but she passed away a couple of weeks ago. While I had certainly seen some earlier performances, the comic excellence of Mahaffey didn’t really r…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:02PMIs it by pure chance that I pen this review on Ondine’s birthday or was it decreed by demented Gods? I had occasion to mention playwright H.M. Koutoukas in this morning’s post about Ondi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:02PMFortunate for those who celebrate Pride Month, the birthday of Ondine (Robert Olivo,1937-1989) falls within it. Ondine was one of those legendary Warhol Superstar characters, oft mentioned i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AMSunday, June 15, 2025
June 15 is the birthday of some mighty big stars in my personal pantheon: silent comedian Harry Langdon, who has a whole section on Travalanche; 19th century stage star Adah Isaacs Mencken, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMSaturday, June 14, 2025
The United States Army was created by the Continental Congress on this day in 1775. George Washington was appointed as its commander on the following day. (Note how the army was always inten…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AMFriday, June 13, 2025
If you’re a fan of classic films and don’t recognize the name Ian Hunter (1900-1975), relax, it’s okay. I didn’t! But he’s right there, right there, in prominent roles in some of t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AMThursday, June 12, 2025
June 12 was the birthday of Anne Frank (1929-1945). Confronted with the bewildering descent of America into a place where schoolgirls need to hide out in attics and where Jews are being viol…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:36PMJune 12 being the birthday of Weegee (1899-1968), we thought it might be useful to create a little post that relates him to some of this blog’s customary topics. First, some short biograph…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMWednesday, June 11, 2025
Just got the word that Brian Wilson has passed. Never mind the cause. The man was 82. Still, who’d ever dream that all three Wilson brothers would die before Keith Richards? I had somethin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PMIf I didn’t know any better and you had asked me which of the cast members of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) was named “DUDLEY MANLOVE” I almost certainly would have pointed to Bunny B…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:02AM 
