Friday, July 26, 2024

An Appreciation of “Dr. Strangelove” by Trav S.D.

This one goes out to my friend Seth Shelden, Harpo interpreter and peace-monger extraordinaire. Today is Stanley Kubrick’s birthday. Having already done a general post on the great directo…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:42PM
Thursday, July 25, 2024

Happy Birthday, Illeana Douglas by Trav S.D.

The above was taken back in April, and it depicts my joyous opportunity to reunite and catch up with actress/author/presenter Illeana Douglas (Illeana Hesselberg, b. 1961) I knew Illeana sho…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AM
Wednesday, July 24, 2024

The Legacy of Frank Silvera by Trav S.D.

I first heard the name Frank Silvera (1914-1970) when I was working in the back office of Theater for the New City; I think the Frank Silvera Writers Workshop had presented work there, or ma…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AM
Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Ruth Duccini: The Last Lady Munchkin by Trav S.D.

Today we celebrate Ruth Duccini (Ruth Robinson, 1918-2014) whose place in history is assured by being the last female surviving cast member of the 1939 classic picture The Wizard of Oz. Ducc…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:02PM
Monday, July 22, 2024

A Look at the Lambs’ Laurie Collection by Trav S.D.

A few days ago I took advantage of my membership in The Lambs to start diving into their remarkable archives, starting with the papers of the Homer of Vaudeville, Joe Laurie Jr, whom I first…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PM

R.I.P. Bob Booker by Trav S.D.

Comedy writer and producer Bob Booker (1931-2024) no longer resides in the Land of the Living. Booker has been top of mind for me lately, as I had ample chance to talk about one of his more …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:02AM
Sunday, July 21, 2024

Happy Birthday, Carolyn by Trav S.D.

This is my beautiful wife during our recent trip to the Laurie Beechman which I wrote about yesterday. She hates having her picture taken so I always have to sneak candids like this one, but…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:02PM
Saturday, July 20, 2024

Last Days of the Laurie Beechman by Trav S.D.

This piece started out as a review, and then it grew to two related reviews, in the midst of which circumstances then dictated that it also include some hard news reporting, which then sugge…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:32PM
Friday, July 19, 2024

Addie McPhail: The Last Mrs. Arbuckle by Trav S.D.

An interesting if belated new edition to our Stars of Slapstick series, screen comedian Addie McPhail (Addie Dukes, 1905-2003). McPhail was born in Kentucky, but moved to Chicago with her fa…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM

Dallas McKennon: The Grizzled Voice of Gumby by Trav S.D.

Most of the photos one finds online of character actor Dallas (sometimes Dal) McKennon (1919-2009) look like this one: a grizzled, bearded western sidekick type. One might be apt to mix him …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AM
Thursday, July 18, 2024

Dion and His Roots in “Vaudeville” by Trav S.D.

All hail Dion (Dion Francis DiMucci, b. 1939)! I’d inevitably have written an appreciation of this great idol of the interregnum between Elvis and the Beatles anyway, but certain news came…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AM
Wednesday, July 17, 2024

A Sit-Down With The Permanently Unelected Mayor of Coney Island by Trav S.D.

This week I was honored to be the first guest (but somehow also, seemingly, the host) on Dick Zigun’s new youtube show. Best known as the Founder of Coney Island USA, the Mermaid Parade, a…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PM

R.I.P. Donald Sutherland by Trav S.D.

No, I’m not a month late in eulogizing Donald Sutherland (1935-2024). Today was the late actor’s birthday, the day on which I had already been scheduled to write about him. And it’s pr…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PM
Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Born 100 Years Ago Today: Bess Myerson, The First Jewish Miss America by Trav S.D.

When I first moved to NYC the big local scandal of the day was the Bess Mess, a bribery beef centered around the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Bess Myerson (1924-20…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AM
Monday, July 15, 2024

The Val Avery Centennial by Trav S.D.

Born 100 years ago today: Armenian-American character actor Val Avery (Sebouh Der Abrahamian, 1924-2009). Avery’s family was among the persecuted Armenian minority in Ottoman Turkey. He gr…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM
Sunday, July 14, 2024

R.I.P. Ruth Westheimer and Richard Simmons by Trav S.D.

Well, my friend the author Eve Golden had scarcely announced the launch of her new website Eve’s Obits when two prominent celebrities obligingly demonstrated its usefulness by dying within…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PM
Friday, July 12, 2024

Digging Up Dudley Murphy by Trav S.D.

Juy 10 was the birthday of filmmaker Dudley Murphy (1897-1968); 2024 marks the centennial of one of his best known works Ballet mécanique (1924), an avant-garde film co-directed with Fernan…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:02PM
Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Some Additional Arbuckles by Trav S.D.

Having already written about such Fatty Arbuckle-adjacent figures as nephew Al St. John, wife Minta Durfee, ill-fated associate Virginia Rappe, and countless of his professional colleagues (…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AM
Monday, July 8, 2024

WNYC Turns 100 by Trav S.D.

July 8, 1924 was the day that WNYC radio in New York first went on the air. It’s been years since I was a regular listener, but I am a big fan of public media, and certainly went through p…

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

A Look at Lydia Knott and Lambert Hillyer by Trav S.D.

…And Adelbert Knott (1858-1933), as well, for he came onto the scene first. Hailing from Tyner, Indiana (about a half hour from South Bend), Knott was both a writer and an actor. He was on…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:32AM
Sunday, July 7, 2024

The Fairy Tale Life of Shelley Duvall by Trav S.D.

Brewster McCloud (1970) is one of the least well-remembered films by its director Robert Altman, and doesn’t even top the list of movies people know which feature its star Bud Cort (surely…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PM
Saturday, July 6, 2024

For International ‘Zine Month: On Some Close-to-Home Theatre ‘Zines by Trav S.D.

July is International ‘Zine Month! The occasion has inspired a little navel gazing, for in those dim dark days before blogging was available, ‘zines were the only way many of us could se…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM
Friday, July 5, 2024

For Barnum’s Birthday: A P.T. Barnum Finding Aid by Trav S.D.

Three P.T. Barnum posts in one day? This is unprecedented! I’m pretty sure I’ve never done that for anybody, two is the max. But I just so happened to have gotten three ideas for new Bar…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PM

Leave Barnum Alone: 7 Reasons Donald Trump is NOTHING Like P.T. Barnum, but In Fact Far, Far Worse by Trav S.D.

The walking tour I referred to in the previous post was, as intended, a revivifying return to basics for this correspondent. As I mentioned in that post, locations connected to P.T. Barnum w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:42PM

A DIY P.T. Barnum NYC Walking Tour by Trav S.D.

This is the first of three new posts for our P.T. Barnum section today, in observance of the showman’s birthday. He’s top of mind at the moment because I conducted a walking tour of nota…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AM
Thursday, July 4, 2024

Hooray for Henry Armetta by Trav S.D.

Henry (Enrico) Armetta (1888-1945) is top of mind at the moment because I recently watched the Marx Brothers’ The Big Store (1941) while putting together my new book and prepped for Marxfe…

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

For the Eva Marie Saint Centennial: On the Bonnie Maid Versatile Varieties by Trav S.D.

Happy 100th birthday to the still-kicking Eva Marie Saint! I confess the occasion presented me with something of a dilemma. Like everyone else I’m a big fan of her two biggest movies On th…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:32AM
Wednesday, July 3, 2024

200 Years Ago Today: The Birth of Castle Garden by Trav S.D.

A few days ago I led a 13 mile walking tour tracing the origins of New York theatre to its peak in the 20th century. I began that tour at Castle Clinton National Monument in the Battery, not…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AM

John Mason Brown: Cheers for a Forgotten Critic by Trav S.D.

July 3 was the birthday of theatre critic, columnist and author John Mason Brown (1900-1969). Most of the major theatre critics of Brown’s day enjoyed lingering pop culture fame by expandi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM
Tuesday, July 2, 2024

A Statue to Stephen Stucker by Trav S.D.

I’m in major need of a laugh today (if you follow the news and have a half a brain I imagine you are too) so I am grateful that today is the birthday of Stephen Stucker (1947-1984). Stucke…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AM
Monday, July 1, 2024

A Bicentennial Tribute to Liver Eating Johnson by Trav S.D.

Born 200 years ago today, John Jeremiah Garrison (1824-1900), gold prospector, guide, hunter, lawman, sailor, scout, soldier, trapper, woodhawk, whiskey peddler, and more. Originally from Ne…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AM

All that Chat