Monday, July 24, 2023
Alan Curtis (Harold Ueberroth, 1909-1953) was well on the way to some kind of lasting stardom when a bad reaction to a routine kidney operation took him at age 43. Despite a somewhat forgett…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:25AMSunday, July 23, 2023
July 23 marks the beginning of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week this year, an annual tradition since 1988. I have always been shocked at how successful this promotional campaign has been…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:33AMSaturday, July 22, 2023
Vivian Martin (1893-1987) was a Broadway actress and movie star of the silent era, one of the many rivals to Mary Pickford as a sweet screen damsel, and a for a time the wife of actor Willia…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:43AMFriday, July 21, 2023
July 21 was the natal day of stage and screen actress Gladys Hulette (1896-1991) — the same birthday as my beautiful wife. not to mention Chauncey Olcott; Don Knotts; Joe Laurie Jr; Little…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:43AMThursday, July 20, 2023
The final screen credit of Verna Felton (1890-1966), as Winifred the Elephant in Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967) makes a good touchstone for exploring the rest of her career. She spec…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:49AMWednesday, July 19, 2023
Well, it’s a big day, and I really ought to be focusing on tonight’s show at QED or the Tom Carvel documentary podcast I’m in that dropped this morning, but old habits die hard so I th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:13AMTuesday, July 18, 2023
Within a span of hours, two press releases have hit my inbox concerning the departures of two of my favorite indie theatre artistic directors, Alex Roe of Metropolitan Playhouse, and Kristin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:37PMI first became aware of Billy Sullivan (William Arthur Sullivan, 1891-1946) through my investigation of boxing movies in this post. His association with the genre, and the fact that he was f…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:07AMMonday, July 17, 2023
Happy National Tattoo Day! We thought this a suitable day to share a finding aid to our little tattoo section of Travalanche, for we do indeed have one, with about 15 posts. None precisely t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:19AMI contemplated writing about a much more famous Canadian actor this morning, one who’d certainly attract more clicks, but that’s not how we roll on Travalanche. Mission first, clicks sec…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:07AMSunday, July 16, 2023
My reasons for ssssssselecting Sssssss (1973) to write about today are ssssssseveral: Sssssss is also one of those movies that, when I talk to people of about my own age, most of them seem t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:25AMSaturday, July 15, 2023
Unlike nearly everyone else of my acquaintance, I’ve been mum on the topic of the writers’ (and now actors’) strike for a variety of reasons. One is that, given my long-standing and ce…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:49AMFriday, July 14, 2023
We just word on the passing a couple of days ago of ventriloquist, voice-over artist, announcer, children’s host, and actor Jimmy Weldon (1923-2023), just two months shy of his centennial …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:13PMHow lucky was French actress Annabella (Suzanne Georgette Charpentier, 1907-1996) to be born on Bastille Day? It’s kind of like George M. Cohan being born on the 4th of July. And that’s …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:43PMBorn today, the much-missed ice cream entrepreneur Tom Carvel (Athanasios Karvelas, 1906-1990). Those of a certain age RELISHED (and I mean ALL of us) Carvel’s voice-overs in his own TV an…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:25AMJuly 14 isn’t only Bastille Day, it’s now also Non-Binary Peoples Day, and so today we use the occasion to celebrate Tre’vell Anderson, founder of Slayzhon, podcaster, former Editor-At…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:19AMThursday, July 13, 2023
Few people in show business have enjoyed such a huge impact in the daily lives of millions of Americans and then vanished from the public consciousness so utterly Dave Garroway (1913-1982). …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:07AMTuesday, July 11, 2023
I find myself awestruck by that it is possible to have directed so many well-known Hollywood movies, many regarded as “classics” or semi-classics, while remaining as anonymous as Alfred …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:07AMMonday, July 10, 2023
It wasn’t that long ago, but still I can’t recall what in particular it was that motivated me to take note of Tony Hendra (1941-2021) with the purpose of writing a post on him. It may ha…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:43AMJuly 10, 2023 would have been the centennial birthday of Betty Brian (1923-2015), who, with her sibs Doris (1926-2018) and Gwen (1928-1990) was one third of the juvenile sister act trio The …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:33AMSunday, July 9, 2023
Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to be mean to the Ames Brothers — I just like a bit of sonic wordplay in my headlines. But if I’d written this post back in the ’70s when I was a kid…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:37AMSaturday, July 8, 2023
An overdue salute today to early television pioneer Faye Emerson (1917-83). Emerson was a stunning Broadway, radio, and Hollywood movie actress who just happened to be married to Elliott Roo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:43AMFriday, July 7, 2023
I just got the memo that today is the birthday of the STILL-LIVING Carl “Doc” Severinsen (b. 1927). Severinsen was a transitional figure of a very rare sort when I was a kid. Rock and ro…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:07PMHere’s a historical cul-de-sac! Hank (1965-66) was the first sit-com created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, before Happy Days, before The Odd Couple, and before even Hey Landlord. It …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:55AMThursday, July 6, 2023
Della Reese (Delloreese Early, 1931-2017) wound up with that curse of the successful television star, public over-identification with a role on account her decade-long run on Touched By An A…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:07PMThanks Killy Dwyer for letting me know that Travalanche got a real nice mention on the popular podcast Stuff You Should Know on July 4. The episode topic was long-haul trucking industry of a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:49AMWednesday, July 5, 2023
It gives me great pride and pleasure to announce the next thing on the horizon, something that…just kinda made sense. I have a new monthly show at the Queens-based comedy club QED, 27-16 2…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:43PM“Stop da music, stop da music!” as Jimmy Durante used to shout, for we have some absolute News You Can Use regarding a matter of timely importance. TCM is showing the rare and strange ci…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:13AMTuesday, July 4, 2023
In my never ending search for a Grand Unified Field Theory of Show Business, I have been harping an awful lot the last several months on the topic of the ancient Pagan holidays that were abs…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:55AMMysteries abound about the great snake charmer Nala Damajanti (1861-?). Like Little Egypt and many famous 20th century advertising mascots, “Nala Damajanti” may have been played by more …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:37AMMonday, July 3, 2023
What a delight it’s been learning about minor movie star Winifred “Wynne” Gibson (1898-1987), whose name is an evocative mash-up of associations of folks from her own era; Wini Shaw, B…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:19PM 
