11,723 stories by "Trav S.D."
Time has buried the Aces, as will happen when the fields you've conquered are such things as radio stardom, television writing, and magazine humor. But make mistake, they were well known in …
We spent an entertaining hour at Pangea on Saturday in a room full of Melody Jane fans, to see and hear the second iteration of her Violet Hour series. I've known Melody Jane in a few contex…
Her son Buck Henry having just passed away, and her birthday falling today, it would seem to be the perfect moment to bestow some attention on Ruth Taylor (1908-1984). Raised in Oregon, Tayl…
At this writing Mitzi McCall (b. 1932) and Charlie Brill (b. 1938) are both still with us, although unavoidably one can't help thinking of them in their heyday several decades ago. Peppy, pe…
Appropriate for such a complicated topic, I expected very little from the 2016 documentary Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown (2016), and was rewarded with unexpected riches. The film sho…
The career of silent screen comedian Ethel Teare (1894-1959) was brief but way prolific: over 150 credits during her decade of activity. Originally from Phoenix (back when Arizona was still …
Today we celebrate the great Jazz Age humorist, J.P. McEvoy, (Joseph Patrick McEvoy, 1897-1958). McEvoy's reach in pop culture was much longer than most people know about; I'd never consider…
As is not unusual in Hollywood, Rubye De Remer (Ruby Burkhardt, 1892-1984) was to become best known for her house. Her mansion "Sunkist" was located at the highest point in Beverly Hills, a …
Our title refers to the fact that the women we write about this morning is not the same as the fetching actress who played Atia on Rome a few years back, fitting though the latter may be for…
Today we celebrate Philip Astley (1742-1814), generally acknowledged to be the father of the modern circus, and by extension, one could argue, all the modern variety forms, be it vaudeville,…
The life and career of moderately well-known Hollywood actor Richard Cromwell (Leroy Melvin Radabough, 1910-60) proves to be unexpectedly interesting. Cromwell was the son of the man who inv…
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the new French series Le Bazar de la Charité, which they have they retitled in English The Bonfire of Destiny, which is not a translation, but is a…
With a name like Johnnie Walker (1894-1949) you're bound to get lost in the shuffle. Not only is there the whiskey by that name, but also a more famous Bollywood actor, not to mention Johnni…
Shirley Ross (1913-1975) almost got there. By "there", I of course refer to that coveted state where saying her name would require no explanation. Born Berenice Gaunt, Ross studied classical…
Having nothing scheduled in the pipeline today, I thought it would be entertaining to resurrect an artifact I stumbled across when preparing my Dabney Coleman post the other day. I hadn't th…
A little known fact: the father of the Monkees' Mickey Dolenz was a Hollywood actor himself. George Dolenz (Jure Dolenc/Giorgio Dolenz, 1908-63) was a minor figure to be sure, but he appeare…
Character actor Fred "Snowflake" Toones (1906-1962) notched 223 screen credits in his 23 year, all but two of them between 1931 and 1947. Though he worked in every genre, Toones is especiall…
Eleanor Bayley (1916-76) was a decidedly minor show biz figure, but her life and career do contain points of interest. Trained by the Moscow Brothers, who also taught Denishawn's Ted Shawn a…
We just got the word from Time Out New York's Adam Feldman that the New York Musical Festival (formerly the New York Musical Theatre Festival) has closed its doors after 15 years. Playbill b…
In keeping with our bid to be simultaneously relevant and irrelevant, we observe National Spaghetti Day with a brief survey of classic comedy scenes involving spaghetti: Charlie Chaplin, The…
Jesse White (Jesse Weidenfeld, 1917-1997) was used to being "Lonely" so I hope that his spirit will forgive my taking this long to pay him tribute on Travalanche. White was probably best kno…
Today a little thing on Beatles and Bonzos. We've been overdue for a tribute to Sir George Martin (1926-2016, it's his birthday today), having done 20 posts on the Beatles over the past deca…
Three cheers for character actor Dabney Coleman (b. 1932). Educated in acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, the Texas native got his first TV credit in 1961, meaning he'd been acting profes…
Nervo and Knox were a British music hall team who later made their mark on radio, film and television. Teddy Knox (1896-1974) was originally a juggler who started out with his brother in a d…
Today (January 2) in Cape Town, South Africa, residents will be celebrating the Tweede Nuwe jaar, or Second New Year. In the Malay Quarter known as the Bo-Kaape, up to 13,000 people will be …
