Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 24, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 24, 2025 is about Eugène Scribe and the Well Made Play. In honor of the season, here are some highlights of the Christmas section of Travalanche:…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM

Eugène Scribe and the Well Made Play by Trav S.D.

Well, if you’re named “Scribe”, you had better be a writer. Eugène Scribe (1791-1861) was to be one of the most prolific and influential playwrights in theatrical history. He turned o…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AM
Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 23, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 23, 2025 are about Cecil and Sally (John Patrick and Helen Troy) and Harry Guardino. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 23 (in no parti…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:06PM

The Harry Guardino Centennial by Trav S.D.

That’s right! Harry Guardino (1925-1995)! Born a century ago today! And gone three decades. I don’t know if there ever was such a thing as a Clint Eastwood stock company, but if there wa…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PM

Whatever Became of Cecil and Sally? by Trav S.D.

The radio comedy team of Cecil and Sally were John Patrick (John Patrick Goggin, 1905-1995) and Helen Troy (1903-1942). Their collaboration enjoyed a brief window of fame in the late ’20s …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AM
Monday, December 22, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 22, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 22, 2025 are about Dame Peggy Ashcroft and a dame named Peggie Castle. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 22 (in no particular order) i…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM

Two Dames Named Peggy by Trav S.D.

Having done a single post on two Elaines just a couple of days ago, I promise this post on two Peggies represents a coincidence, not a trend. These otherwise completely unconnected women sha…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM
Sunday, December 21, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 21, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 21, 2025 are about western sidekick Guy Wilkerson and the late Melanie Winter, vaudeville descendent and environmental activist. Other earlier Tr…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PM

R.I.P. Melanie Winter by Trav S.D.

I just heard from my old friend Dan Hagen that the lovely Melanie Winter (b. 1958) passed away from cancer a couple of months ago. The context in which I became acquainted with Melanie is an…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM

Guy Wilkerson: Played “Panhandle” by Trav S.D.

A brief nod in the direction of western character actor Guy Wilkerson (1899-1971). Wilkerson was a native of Whitewright, Texas, an hour north of Dallas, just over the Oklahoma border. He be…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AM
Saturday, December 20, 2025

The Hilarious Hauteur of John Hillerman by Trav S.D.

What does it say about America in the late 20th century that classy, dignified, well-spoken actor John Hillerman (1932-2017) seemed to be from ANOTHER TIME? America had become slovenly and l…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 20, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 20, 2025 is about the late actor John Hillerman. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 20 (in no particular order) include ones on: Charlie…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PM
Friday, December 19, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 19, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 19, 2025 are about Elaine Joyce, and one of the last Munchkins, Elaine Merk. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 19 (in no particular or…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PM

Two Elaine Blog-Top by Trav S.D.

I don’t usually lash together biographies of two different people into the same blogpost unless they are related somehow. But, dash it all, these two women with December 19 birthdays are b…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM
Thursday, December 18, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 18, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 18, 2025 is about pioneering trans icons Boulton and Park. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 18 (in no particular order) include ones o…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:42PM

The Persecution of Boulton and Park by Trav S.D.

Notorious criminals and music hall teams both often come in named pairs: Burke and Hare, Leopold and Loeb, and Dick and Perry on the one hand…Harrigan and Hart, Foottit and Chocolat, and W…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AM
Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 17, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 17, 2025 is about accordion giant Tony Lovello. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 17 (in no particular order) include ones on: An Ameri…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM

Tony Lovello, Liberace of the Accordion by Trav S.D.

Born in a December 17, Tony Lovello (Tony Lovullo, 1932-2017), widely billed as “The Liberace of the Accordion”. Lovello was born and spent his early years in Buffalo. His father made hi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:32AM
Tuesday, December 16, 2025

250 Years of Jane Austen by Trav S.D.

The title of this post is not intended satirically, though I suppose some may initially hear it that way. I’m no certified Janeite, but I have certainly enjoyed getting to know the writing…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:12PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 16, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 16, 2025 honors the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 16 (in no particular order) includ…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:12PM
Monday, December 15, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 15, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 15, 2025 include ones on: The Emperor Nero, and actress Kasey Rogers (born 100 years ago today). We also want to suggest four earlier posts in pa…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:06PM

10 Actors Who Have Played Nero Onscreen by Trav S.D.

December 15, 37 A.D. is the date traditionally given for the birthdate of the Roman Emperor Nero (37-68). The example of Nero is a timely reminder, if one were needed, of what perils await a…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:02PM

The Kasey Rogers Centennial by Trav S.D.

This is a rather atypical photo of Kasey Rogers (Josie Imogene Rogers, 1925-2006), but the rub is that it depicts her in her most widely known role, that of Farley Granger’s troublesome, a…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AM
Sunday, December 14, 2025

The State of Alabama by Trav S.D.

My son, who takes great pictures, snapped the one above about a month ago during our trip to visit to family homelands in Alabama. Today is Alabama Statehood Day, so I thought I would do a p…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 14, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 14, 2025 include ones on DeFord Bailey, the Addrisi Brothers, and National Alabama Day. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 14 (in no particu…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM

DeFord Bailey: The First Black Country Singer by Trav S.D.

I first became aware of DeFord Bailey (1899-1982) just a few weeks ago, when researching my post on The Grand Ole Opry, which just turned 100, and which I just visited. Bailey was one of the…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:42AM

The Addrisi Brothers’ Great Leap by Trav S.D.

The Addrisi Brothers are not exactly household words. Songwriters, even successful ones, seldom are. As it happens, they wrote one of my favorite songs in the world, though you may wretch wh…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:42AM
Saturday, December 13, 2025

The Short Flight of Florine McKinney by Trav S.D.

The screen career of Florine McKinney (1909-1975) started on a very promising note. When still a high school student, the Texas beauty went to Hollywood and made the rounds of casting direct…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 13, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 13, 2025 include ones on Dick Van Dyke (for his 100th birthday), husband-wife silent screen comedians Harry Todd and Margaret Joslin, nightclub c…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PM

Harry Todd and Margaret Joslin: From Snakeville to Tinseltown by Trav S.D.

December 13th was the birthday of screen comedian Harry Todd (John Nelson Todd, 1863-1935). Let the buyer beware! I just came across an online article about the comedian which I found both t…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36PM

For His 100th Birthday: On the OTHER Dick Van Dyke Shows by Trav S.D.

Happy 100th birthday to Dick Van Dyke (b. 1925)! I’ve already long since done a post on Van Dyke and his classic sit-com and on the films Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and The Comic (1969…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM

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