11,498 stories by "Trav S.D."
I maintain a running list of significant people who were taken by Covid-19 during the pandemic: black country singer Charley Pride (1934-2020) was one of them. There is, or was, an unfortuna…
March 18 was the birthday of the rare exotic bird Susan Tyrrell (Susan Creamer, 1945-2012). I'd certainly seen many of Tyrrell's screen performances over the years, but only recently did I e…
Today's new Travalanche post for March 17, 2026 is about the late Patty Mahoney. Happy St. Patrick's Day for those who celebrate. We invite you to look at our brief post on the Irish in vaud…
How thoughtful for a lady named Patricia "Patty" Maloney (1936-2025) to be born on St. Patrick's Day. Maloney died less than a year ago, but it seemed (forgive me) magically delicious to hol…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 16, 2026 are about the Jerry Lewis Centennial, the Charles Halton Sesquicentennial, National Panda Day, and silent star Conrad Nagel. Earlier Travalan…
Citoyens Français, écoutez mon appel ! Je vous crie dessus depuis un pays barbare, une nation sans culture, une terre sans goût ni discernement. Cette terre, ce sont les États-Uni…
March 16 is National Panda Day, so I thought I'd add to my store of animal representation features on Travalanche with this brief tribute. Pictured above are Ling-Ling (1969-1992) and Hsing-…
The title of this post references a quip in an episode of M*A*S*H, surely the first place I ever heard uttered the name of Conrad Nagel (1897-1970). March 16 was Nagel's birthday, but today …
Born 150 years ago today, Hollywood character actor Charles Halton (Charles Herzberg, 1876-1959). With his pinched features, wire spectacles, and wispy thin comb-over, Halton was prized for …
Today's new Travalanche post for March 15, 2026 is about about Andrew Jackson and our recent trip to The Hermitage. Also, it's the Ides of March " so here's a post on Julius Caesar in the mo…
The Ides of March happens to be the birthday of that American Caesar, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845). This is not a U.S. history blog per se, but there are numerous places of overlap here with o…
Today's new Travalanche post for March 14, 2026 is about artist Reginald Marsh. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 14 (in no particular order) include ones on: The Mathematicians of Travala…
Inevitably we come to celebrate Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) today, mostly on account of his memorializing of Coney Island, the Bowery, Times Square, dance halls, vaudeville, and burlesque. In…
100 years ago today, March 12, 1926 was opening day for The Savoy Ballroom on Lennox Avenue in Harlem. Named after London's Savoy Hotel, it was designed to be an uptown alternative to the Ro…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 13, 2026 are about Neil Sedaka, Paul Fix, and Bumps Adams. Also it's Friday the 13th! I thought I would take the occasion to share a vaudeville bad lu…
March 13 was the birthday of Neil Sedaka (1939-2026). He passed away two weeks ago, but I decided to save a tribute for the customary annual day. I am too young to have been around for Sedak…
I was already resolved to include Paul Fix (1901-1983) in this history for having played Micah on The Rifleman (1958-63) and for having been John Wayne's acting coach. But the detail that se…
And a word or two is about all there is! The little I know (and probably all anyone knows) about W.L. "Bumps" Adams (Walter Lawrence Adams, 1894-1943) comes at the hands of Steve Massa's ind…
I was delighted to bump into my old yet evergreen friend Jonny Porkpie last night at Target Margin's This is Real " it reminded me that I have yet to plug his excellent Substack Burlesque 19…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 12, 2026 are about Liza Minnelli's new book and recent documentary, as well as Target Margin's terrific new production This is Real, and Jonny Porkpie…
We are grateful for a third occasion to post about show biz monster Liza Minnelli, on top of our main biographical post, and the account of the time we met her. Her new autobiography Kids, W…
Thus, in just under a week, Travalanche takes you all the way from Moxie to Doxsee. The Doxsee, that is, Target Margin's theatrical fortress in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The company moved into …
Today's new Travalanche post for March 11, 2026 is about songwriter and serial rapist Joseph Brooks. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 11 (in no particular order) include ones on: Buster K…
Good Lord, has this one taken me to some unexpected places. Who would have thought that looking into Joseph "Joe" Brooks (Joseph Kaplan, 1938-2011), the ultimate lucky stiff hack songwriter …
Today's new Travalanche post for March 10, 2026 is a review of a new movie starring Rosanna Arquette. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 10 (in no particular order) include ones on: Bix Bei…
