Monday, September 25, 2023
Horror fans undoubtedly know the name Nick Castle (b. 1947). He was the original Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), and reprised the role in cameos in the three films of t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:49AMSunday, September 24, 2023
It’s World Gorilla Day, and while we have certainly dealt with gorilla depictions here, in this post about ape horror movies, this one about King Kong, and this one just a couple of days a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:03AMSaturday, September 23, 2023
Lovers of American folk music know and revere the name of Lomax. For over a century and four generations this family has devoted itself to the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:07AMFriday, September 22, 2023
September, 1973 (50 years ago) marked the first televised broadcast of the 1968 box office hit Planet of the Apes. Probably not coincidentally that was also the year the last in the original…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:07AMThursday, September 21, 2023
The woman who would be “Boobs” is unleashing her superpower tonight in a weekly show that runs through the end of October at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. We’re hoping to catch it, but …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:43PMWednesday, September 20, 2023
Balk if you must; scoff if you will; but all roads lead to vaudeville. Case in point, I had an entirely different agenda in catching Frontier Marshal (1939) on Criterion’s streaming platfo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:33AMTuesday, September 19, 2023
I originally intended to do a post on The Mamas and the Papas on the birthday of their late songwriter and arranger John Phillips (1935-2001), but by most accounts he was a piece of work and…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:55PMMiracle of miracles, a silent comedy star I haven’t yet written about. I don’t know how Glen Cavender (1883-1962) slipped through the cracks (maybe I thought Glenn Tryon was Glenn enough…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:37AMToday we celebrate the late James Haskins (1941-2005), author of somewhere upwards of 150 books for young people and adults. We know of Haskins chiefly on account of two works in particular:…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:33AMGreat news! Today is the pub date for Eve Golden’s new book Strictly Dynamite: The Sensational Life of Lupe Velez. Fans know the high marks set by Eve’s earlier works on Jean Harlow, The…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:25AMMonday, September 18, 2023
I wish there was a better encapsulating title for “man (or woman) of the theatre”. There have been many such figures over the centuries, people who performed too many important functions…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:07AMSaturday, September 16, 2023
On account of the tumultuous nature of the 20th century, the Hungarian-Jewish producer-director Sir Alexander Korda (Sándor László Kellner, 1893-1956) became a film-maker of international…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:07AMFriday, September 15, 2023
A respectful nod today to the work of actor/director Joseph Pevney (1911-2008). Pevney’s is not one of your more widely circulated Hollywood names, so I’ll help you out at the top. His f…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:19AMSeptember 15, 1973 is the most frequently given pub date of the first edition of the book Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Sometimes Zeppo, by Joe Adamson — 50 years ago today. Many or most die-…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:13AMThursday, September 14, 2023
Amy Winehouse (1983-2011) would have been 40 years old today, had she not joined the 27 Club a dozen years ago. As I grow older and less engaged with a lot of contemporary pop culture, Wineh…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:25AM20 years ago today marked the television premiere of the HBO television show Carnivàle (2003-2005). Of course I’m a fan of this show, given its Depression era carnival setting, though lik…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:13AMWednesday, September 13, 2023
News you can use, but you gotta act fast! Mark St. Leon, who I mentioned in my earlier post on Elsie St. Leon is giving a talk on his famous circus family at Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gard…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:49PMI have but little doubt that many look at the “books and authors” section of Travalanche and walk away thinking “ya basic”. I’m a lover of classics, and this section is a sort of m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:43PMAs we’ve amassed a bunch of pieces related to the events of 9/11 here, as well as on my other blog, and elsewhere, I’ve created this hub from which they all can be accessed. 9/11: Americ…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:43AMI had the pleasure and honor of working closely with neo-burlesque queen Angie Pontani on her revue Burlesque-a-pades about a decade ago. I learned tons in the doing of it; it was the princi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:37AMIt’s surely not necessary for you to remember the name Matthew Betz (1881-1938), particularly since he himself used a variety of professional aliases, like M.C. Von Betz, Matthew Von Betz,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:19AMTuesday, September 12, 2023
I cannot tell a lie, all the good intel on Alice Washburn (1860-1929) comes from Steve Massa’s indispensable tome Slapstick Divas. I’ll give you broad strokes; there are lots more specif…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:19AMMonday, September 11, 2023
The writer known as O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910) covered a lot of ground in his relatively short life: small town druggist, bank clerk, Texas ranch hand, hotel cigar vendor, p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:37AMSunday, September 10, 2023
I am pleasantly surprised this morning to learn how much is now concretely known about the famous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (1801-1881), and her daughter Marie Laveau II (1827-ca. 1890s). I …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:07PMNational Suicide Prevention Week, an annual public awareness campaign organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, launches today. It’s not a pleasant topic, but it’s an …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:49AMToday’s post concerns not the esteemed President, but the son of the famous actor Joseph Jefferson, who went on to distinction in his own right, even if he did have a confusing name. This …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:43AMSaturday, September 9, 2023
Had we not lost him earlier this year, today would have been the 64th birthday of The Amazing Johnathan (John Szeles, 1958-2023). Early as his passing was, it might have been much earlier. H…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:37AMBorn 100 years ago today: actor Cliff Robertson (Cliff Parker Robertson III, 1923-2011). In preparing this post I came across a quote about Robertson to the effect that he “never became a …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:33AMFriday, September 8, 2023
Okay, I freely admit that this is not the most momentous day in show business history, although it may be somewhat of note to people precisely my age: today marks the 50th anniversary of the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:43AMThursday, September 7, 2023
Few voice-over actors had the range of Don Messick (1926-1997), who could go from straight parts to character roles to non-humans (a specialty) often in the same cartoon, without the audienc…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:49AMMost sources are telling the life and death of Gary Wright (1943-2023) wrong, so I feel compelled to step in and attempt a better job of it. The headlines are reading like Wright was a one h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:33AM 
