11,717 stories by "Trav S.D."
A few fragments today on actress/ playwright/producer Louise Carter (1875-1975), not to be confused with Mrs. Leslie Carter. I became aware of Louise Carter through her entertaining playing …
Learning that big band leader and trumpet player Harry James (1916-1983) started out in circuses is like meat and drink (or rather, popcorn and lemonade) to me. James' parents were with the …
Another post in honor of the National Day of Hungary. This post concerns the three Matina Brothers, a trio of siblings born in Hungary, who moved to the U.S. in 1915 and were later naturaliz…
St. Patrick's Day draw near, an appropriate birthday week for the actor George Brent (George Nolan, 1904-1979). Brent wasn't the most memorable fellow, being just one of a slew of Hollywood'…
A brief salute to impresario Morris Gest (Moishe Gershnowitz, 1875-1942). Born in Lithuania, Gest came to the U.S. at the age of 12, initially living in Boston, where he worked at local carn…
March 15 is the National Day of Hungary. This post comes about as result of my recent viewing of Peter Medak's The Ghost of Peter Sellers, Medak's 2018 exercise in self-flagellation about th…
On March 14, 1891, 11 Italian Americans were lynched by a mob of thousands of (presumably Anglo- and Franco-American) men in the streets of New Orleans. The mob had forced their way into a j…
March 13 was the natal dal of big bandleader Sammy Kaye (Samuel Zarnocay, 1910-1987). Kaye played clarinet and sax, and started his first band Sammy's Hot Peppers in his small town Ohio high…
Born 100 years ago on this day: Abraham "Al" Jaffee (b. 1921), creator of the Mad Magazine "fold-in", as well as other regular features in Mad, such as as "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions…
Hey Queens fans, boosters, and inhabitants! This weeks' Queens Gazette features an interview with yours truly. Queens is the closest NYC borough to me these days geographically, so naturally…
Back in the day, there were at least four or five actresses running around calling themselves "Florence Lee". Their credits are all run together on the major databases. Someone ought to take…
Jessie Matthews (1907-1981) was a major British stage and screen star of the 20th century, who also worked in the States. Raised in poor circumstances, Matthews made her professional debut a…
Tomorrow, March 11, at 7:30pm, The Smith Center for the Arts is presenting a virtual discussion of the silent film  WITHIN OUR GATES (1920), produced and directed by the pathbreakin…
Eddie Foy's birthday seems the fitting time to let you know that next Wednesday, March 17 at 7pm, I'll be after giving a free illustrated talk on the Irish in vaudeville and film comedy. As …
This frivolous little post came about because I recently re-watched the original Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and was reminded of how crazy I was about the theme song to that movie when it …
Little is known about female magician Mademoiselle Margo (1889-1936) but that she was from Irish and her period of greatest professional activity was primarily 1911-1917. Having begun as an …
For International Women's Day, today we induct the historically important Worrell Sisters into these precincts. Hailing from Cincinnati, the trio, Irene, Jennie and Sophie, were daughters of…
March 4 is the D.O.B. of stage and screen actress and education Maude Fealy (Maude Mary Hawk, 1883-1971). Fealy was the daughter of actress Margaret Fealy (1865-1955) and stepdaughter of Raf…
A rare example of a show person to whom I may be related, if distantly, is Harriet "Big Hattie" Bowen, ca. 1840-1890. (Another Bowen connection is here). Hattie hailed from Fairhaven, Mass.,…
There are many reasons for us to be especially interested in Rochelle Hudson (1916-1972): her roles in classic comedies, her status as a beauty queen, and her late dabbling in schlock horror…
There's nothing false about Geordie Austin; I've been a fan of his deep, risky, soul-baring oeuvre for over 20 years now (and I can hear him mocking"oeuvre" even as I type this). Geordie's n…
As a fan of some 40 years' standing, I was pleased as punch to learn of that 2020 Emmy going to Catherine O'Hara (b. 1954) for her work on Schitt's Creek. O'Hara plays the broadest character…
For some reason, we've had a cluster of Australians here recently, direst Louise Lovely, then Sydney Deane, and now The Great Levante (Leslie George Cole, 1892-1978). Since we generally work…
A thing or two about Jack-of-All-Trades Chief Tahachee (Jeff Davis Tahchee Cypert, 1904-1978) " not to be confused with the similar-sounding Chief Yowlachie, another Native American actor. .…
A salute today to the amazing Rafaela Ottiano (1888-1942). Originally from Venice, the young actress moved to the U.S. at the age of 22 " hence the thick Italian accent that characterized he…
