Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 3, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 3, 2025 are about March Master Henry Fillmore, portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (and daughter), and the 150th Anniversary of the New York Coaching…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AM

Henry Fillmore: March King Successor by Trav S.D.

December 3 was the birth date (and December 7 the death date) of bandleader, musician, and composer Henry Fillmore (1881-1956), who was especially known for his original marches and screamer…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:54AM

The Revolutionary Art of Gilbert Stuart and His Daughter Jane by Trav S.D.

I’m quite certain that the first museum and/or historical site of any kind I ever visited was the birthplace of the portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), which is located barely ten…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:54AM

150 Years Ago Today: The Founding of The New York Coaching Club by Trav S.D.

This post was prompted by my visit to Newport’s Redwood Library this past summer. December 3, 1875 was the date on which the Coaching Club of New York, sometimes shortened to New York Coac…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:42AM
Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 2, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for December 2, 2025 are about a new Sid Caesar book launch, and a couple of R.K.O. film series that revived silent films and vaudeville. Before we proceed to…

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

When R.K.O. Revived Silent Film and Vaudeville (Sort Of) by Trav S.D.

Today we treat of some interesting programmatic experiments implemented by R.K.O. in the ’40s and early ’50s I really wish I’d known about when I was writing my books No Applause and C…

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

Tonight: When Caesar Was King by Trav S.D.

Tonight (December 2, 2025) at 6pm, New York’s Film Forum will be presenting an unusual sort of event (for them) — a compilation of great clips from the television programs Your Show of S…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM
Monday, December 1, 2025

Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats by Trav S.D.

The Harmonicats were a splinter group off of Borrah Minnevich’s Harmonica Rascals formed in 1941 by Jerry Murad (1918-1996) and Al Fiore (1922-1996). Murad and Fiore had been playing Chica…

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

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for December 1, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for December 1, 2025 is about Jerry Murad and the Harmonicats. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 1 (in no particular order) include ones on: World AIDS Da…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM
Sunday, November 30, 2025

Woody Allen on Stage and Screen, Pt. One: 1965-1975 by Trav S.D.

Woody Allen turns 90 today, and his great collaborators Diane Keaton and Marshall Brickman have recently passed way. The moment seems worth observing. Allen may or may not have directed his …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:24PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 30, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 30, 2025 are about the new Stiller and Meara documentary, the early films of Woody Allen, and a wonderful anti-fascist film penned by Donald Ogde…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:24PM

Stiller and Meara: Nothing is Lost by Trav S.D.

Ben Stiller and I are exactly the same age (3 weeks different) so I happen to know that today he reaches a fraught birthday threshold. Sans doute, it’s no coincidence that he just released…

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

On Donald Ogden Stewart and “Keeper of the Flame” (1942) by Trav S.D.

November 30 was the birthday of Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980). As we share a given name (I’m Donald Travis Stewart, according to my birth certificate), I have long been aware of this Al…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AM
Saturday, November 29, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 29, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 29, 2025 are about Otis Turner, director of the first Oz plays; and Broadway and vaudeville performer Lillian Fitzgerald and her several notable …

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

Otis Turner: Director of First Oz Movies by Trav S.D.

November 29 was the D.O.B. of theatrical and cinematic Jack-of-All-Trades Otis Turner (1862-1918). What a name! Suggesting on the one hand a mash-up of James Otis and Turn: Washington’s Sp…

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

A Little on Lillian Fitzgerald and Family by Trav S.D.

I was first put wise to the existence of Lillian Fitzgerald (1882-1947) and her industrious theatrical family through Kevin Fitzpatrick of the Lambs Club. Fitzgerald’s son-in-law, whom we�…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AM
Friday, November 28, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 28, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 28, 2025 include a celebration of the Grand Ole Opry Centennial, and a post on the late Anna Nicole Smith. Earlier Travalanche posts for November…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:54PM

The Grand Ole Opry Turns 100 by Trav S.D.

I had long planned to mark this date anyway, but our ardor to do so was redoubled by our recent time in Nashville and the series of posts we ended here just a week ago. That revered American…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AM

The Anna Nicole Smith Stories by Trav S.D.

No, this chronicler is not “above” paying some attention to the life and career of the late Anna Nicole Smith (Vickie Lynn Hogan, 1967-2007). Indeed, we have an entire section of nearly …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:31AM
Thursday, November 27, 2025

A Couple of Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Films by Trav S.D.

I have several November 27 birthdays flagged for future posts, but this year the date falls on Thanksgiving, and I do like to keep to a theme. As you can probably glean, your correspondent i…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 27, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Happy Thanksgiving! Please peruse the Thanksgiving section of Travalanche for numerous posts related to the history of the holiday. Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 27, 2025 are …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM

Robert Livingston, I Presume? by Trav S.D.

This one goes out to my old colleague Robert Engel, who used to work at Clermont, the museum at the historic upstate estate of Robert Livingston (1746-1813). Engels’ is a face and name I w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:24AM
Wednesday, November 26, 2025

“No Applause” Turns 20! Great Gift Ideas for the Vaudeville and Slapstick Lovers in Your Life! by Trav S.D.

As we come upon Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, and every other Shopping Day through Christmas and Beyond, may we suggest the following Trav S.D. products? From newes…

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

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 26, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 26, 2025 are about Robert Goulet and an upcoming screening of the Dogville comedy shorts. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 26 (in no partic…

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

This Saturday: Walk Yourself to Dogville by Trav S.D.

This one is strictly for New Yorkers, dog lovers, and vintage slapstick aficionados — preferably all three, but any combination of two will do. That Slapstick Show is returning to QED in Q…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AM

Pourquoi Robert Goulet? by Trav S.D.

A frequent theme of this blog is the army of performers one encountered on television variety shows in the 1970s whose presence was a little inexplicable. Invariably, when you look into them…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM
Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Jolly John Larkin: The Rajah of Mirth by Trav S.D.

Note! This is a different fellow from radio, television, and film actor John Larkin (1912-1965), who was associated with Perry Mason and The Edge of Night. That’s a larkin for another sunr…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:12PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 25, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 25, 2025 are about Evacuation Day, three new screen projects with a Rhode Island connection, and stage and screen actor John Larkin. Earlier Trav…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:12PM

Three More Rhode Island Joints by Trav S.D.

Your correspondent is never more provincial than when attention is paid to his tiny home state. It’s reached the point that not only is there an entire Rhode Island section on Travalanche,…

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

This is a Very Good Time to Revive Evacuation Day by Trav S.D.

Happy Evacuation Day! You may be surprised to learn that its has nothing to do with promoting colon health. November 25, 1783 was the day that the British finally departed from New York City…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AM
Monday, November 24, 2025

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

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 24, 2025 is about that unlikely television star William F. Buckley, who was born 100 years ago today. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 24 (i…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM

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