11,717 stories by "Trav S.D."
Tonight! Catch me on the Cabin Fever livestream show, streaming at 10pm Eastern (9pm Central). We'll be talking about the new book Rose's Royal Midgets and Other Little People of Vaudeville,…
I was already planning a post about pioneering female filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver but we just got word that she passed away on December 31 at the age of 85, so we move it to the top of the…
"Vera Zorina" would be an excellent professional name for a fortune teller or a Circassian Beauty. As it happens, it was the stage name adapted by Eva Brigitta Hartwig (1917-2003), a balleri…
I've completely forgotten who tipped me off about the existence of Harry "Pop" Kramer (1875-1959), or if I stumbled over him somewhere " like one trips over a bicycle in the dark. Kramer was…
Here's a fact I somehow managed to live a lifetime without knowing: '40's noir star Dana Andrews (1909-1992), best known for Laura (1944), was the much older brother of Steve Forrest (Willia…
Roy Brooks (1901-76) was a friend of Harold Lloyd's leading lady (and later wife) Mildred Davis. Well off and well educated he stood an impressive 6'4″, towering over most other people…
Goodbye, 2020! Don't let the door bang you on the ass on the way out! I started my traditional year end wrap-up assuming that I hadn't accomplished much in 2020, a feeling naturally enhanced…
I actually had an internal debate as to whether I should post my "stars who died in 2020" piece a day early, and then I finally did so, on the theory that I could just share it two days in a…
People who love old movies are by definition sentimentalists. That's why those year-end wrap-ups of the people who died this year that TCM produces are invariably DEVASTATING. It's like an E…
Today is the birthday of Noel "Paul" Stookey (b. 1937). When I was a kid I played my dad's old Peter, Paul and Mary records (especially their eponymous debut record) over and over and over, …
Rosina Lawrence (1912-1997) was on track for a screen career as a musical comedy star that would last many decades, but she retired when she was still on the rise, when she was only 27 years…
The screen career of Ruth Hall (1910-2003) was brief but significant and of particular interest to classic comedy fans. Born Ruth Gloria Blasco Ibáñez in Jacksonville, Floria, she was …
Today we write of Frank R. Butler (1890-1967), not to be be confused with Frank E. Butler, sharpshooter and husband of Annie Oakley. Our Butler was a a silent screen actor and screenwriter, …
Wow! Wow. Just wow. I generally peg my posts to birthdays and other significant dates. I had nothing new in the hopper planned for today (having already done posts on Marlene Dietrich, Oscar…
"General" Willis Carver (1868-1898) was a professional Little Person who was generally exhibited alongside his mother, Madame Carver, a professional "Fat Lady". Hailing from the town of Belo…
December 25 is the birthday of a suspiciously large number of people: among them is the beloved character actor Mike Mazurki (Markijan Mazurkiewicz, 1907-1990). A former professional wrestle…
Most classic movie buffs " but no one else " know the name of Helen Twelvetrees (1908-1958). The briefness of her prominence reminds me a bit of Harry Langdon's " from out of nowhere, sudden…
"The Fakir of Ava" (1813-1891) is today chiefly remembered as the mentor and teacher of The Dean of American Magicians, Harry Kellar, and thus progenitor of a long chain of magicians who cam…
A quick nod today to the career of stage and screen actress Eugenie Besserer (1868-1934). Born in upstate Watertown, New York, Besserer was largely raised in Canada, and orphaned at a young …
Because some have requested it, an excerpt from my presentation in the Coney Island Museum benefit a few weeks back. The words to my poem are below (I've put helpful hotlinks on some of the …
The career of Ava Gardner (1922-1990) can neatly be divided into thirds: 1) anonymity; 2) reign as world class siren; 3) schlock. I was there for the last third of it in my nonage, first exp…
Fame will not be controlled. And thus it is that Ronnie Schell (b. 1931) ought to be best remembered for his own sitcom Good Morning World (1967), which after all was a starring vehicle for …
I became intrigued by Barbara Ruick (1930-74) from an eye-catching bit turn she performs in Robert Altman's California Split. She plays a lady bartender in a cowgirl outfit in the climactic …
I became curious about actor Minor Watson (1889-1965) when I noticed him playing vaudeville mogul Edward Albee in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). This was not his only dalliance with such-like b…
I'm very proud of the series of holiday related historical articles I was able to write for Chelsea Community News thanks to Covid-19 grant money. The previous two were on the Ghosts of the …
