11,500 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 23, 2025 are about Cecil and Sally (John Patrick and Helen Troy) and Harry Guardino. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 23 (in no particu…
That's right! Harry Guardino (1925-1995)! Born a century ago today! And gone three decades. I don't know if there ever was such a thing as a Clint Eastwood stock company, but if there was Gu…
The radio comedy team of Cecil and Sally were John Patrick (John Patrick Goggin, 1905-1995) and Helen Troy (1903-1942). Their collaboration enjoyed a brief window of fame in the late '20s an…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 22, 2025 are about Dame Peggy Ashcroft and a dame named Peggie Castle. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 22 (in no particular order) inc…
Having done a single post on two Elaines just a couple of days ago, I promise this post on two Peggies represents a coincidence, not a trend. These otherwise completely unconnected women sha…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 21, 2025 are about western sidekick Guy Wilkerson and the late Melanie Winter, vaudeville descendent and environmental activist. Other earlier Trav…
I just heard from my old friend Dan Hagen that the lovely Melanie Winter (b. 1958) passed away from cancer a couple of months ago. The context in which I became acquainted with Melanie is an…
A brief nod in the direction of western character actor Guy Wilkerson (1899-1971). Wilkerson was a native of Whitewright, Texas, an hour north of Dallas, just over the Oklahoma border. He be…
What does it say about America in the late 20th century that classy, dignified, well-spoken actor John Hillerman (1932-2017) seemed to be from ANOTHER TIME? America had become slovenly and l…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 20, 2025 is about the late actor John Hillerman. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 20 (in no particular order) include ones on: Charlie C…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 19, 2025 are about Elaine Joyce, and one of the last Munchkins, Elaine Merk. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 19 (in no particular orde…
I don't usually lash together biographies of two different people into the same blogpost unless they are related somehow. But, dash it all, these two women with December 19 birthdays are bot…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 18, 2025 is about pioneering trans icons Boulton and Park. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 18 (in no particular order) include ones on:…
Notorious criminals and music hall teams both often come in named pairs: Burke and Hare, Leopold and Loeb, and Dick and Perry on the one hand…Harrigan and Hart, Foottit and Chocolat, and W…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 17, 2025 is about accordion giant Tony Lovello. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 17 (in no particular order) include ones on: An America…
Born in a December 17, Tony Lovello (Tony Lovullo, 1932-2017), widely billed as "The Liberace of the Accordion". Lovello was born and spent his early years in Buffalo. His father made him ta…
The title of this post is not intended satirically, though I suppose some may initially hear it that way. I'm no certified Janeite, but I have certainly enjoyed getting to know the writing o…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 16, 2025 honors the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. Other earlier Travalanche posts for December 16 (in no particular order) include …
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 15, 2025 include ones on: The Emperor Nero, and actress Kasey Rogers (born 100 years ago today). We also want to suggest four earlier posts in part…
December 15, 37 A.D. is the date traditionally given for the birthdate of the Roman Emperor Nero (37-68). The example of Nero is a timely reminder, if one were needed, of what perils await a…
This is a rather atypical photo of Kasey Rogers (Josie Imogene Rogers, 1925-2006), but the rub is that it depicts her in her most widely known role, that of Farley Granger's troublesome, and…
My son, who takes great pictures, snapped the one above about a month ago during our trip to visit to family homelands in Alabama. Today is Alabama Statehood Day, so I thought I would do a p…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 14, 2025 include ones on DeFord Bailey, the Addrisi Brothers, and National Alabama Day. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 14 (in no particu…
I first became aware of DeFord Bailey (1899-1982) just a few weeks ago, when researching my post on The Grand Ole Opry, which just turned 100, and which I just visited. Bailey was one of the…
The Addrisi Brothers are not exactly household words. Songwriters, even successful ones, seldom are. As it happens, they wrote one of my favorite songs in the world, though you may wretch wh…
