11,723 stories by "Trav S.D."
Film director and producer S. Sylvan Simon (1910-1951), who worked with such comedians as the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, et al, was born …
Last week,I wrote a tribute to the community I was then leaving; today an introduction to the one I have moved to. I mentioned that my new home inspired me romantically almost or about as mu…
When I saw that it was National Cereal Day, one thing sprang immediately to mind to blog about, almost a no-brainer. One of the first Old Time Radio shows I ever listened to was The Adventur…
Michael John Chaplin was born on this day in 1946. Michael is Charlie Chaplin’s third surviving son, and the oldest son from his marriage to Oona O’Neill. His older sister…
March 7 is the birthday of famed mentalist Julius Zancig (Juius Jorgenson, 1857-1929). Zancig was an iron smelter from Copenhagen who developed an elaborate verbal code with his wife Agnes (…
Born today: beloved character actor: Henry Travers (Travers John Heagerty, 1874-1965.) Tarvers’ gentle presence distinguished such classic Hollywood films as The Invisible Man (1933), …
Born today: Ferencz Dezso Weisz (1876-1945), the younger brother of Harry Houdini, professionally known as “Hardeen.” Called “Dash” by his family, Hardeen was, like h…
Character actor Barney Martin (1923-2005) was born on this day. When I learned the name of the face I knew so well, it made me laugh: could there be a more Barney-Martin-looking Barney Marti…
Something seismic is happening to me today: I am moving out of my beloved Brooklyn, the borough where I have lived for nearly a quarter century and almost half my life. I don’t do such…
Huzzahs resounded here at Travlanche when we heard the news that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had been picked up for a full season by Amazon a few months ago. For Women’s History Month we…
Say “Happy Birthday” to Travalanche, which turns ten years old sometime between today and tomorrow! Travalanche is a Leap Year Baby, born on February 29, 2008. The first post was…
Happy birthday, Gavin MacLeod (Allan George See, b. 1931). MacLeod is a pretty Scottish surname, but it isn’t his; he took it to honor his acting teacher Beatrice MacLeod. He’s a…
February 28 was the birthday of Billie Bird (Berniece Bird Stowell, 1908-2002). Bird was in show business for over 80 years, so there’s something skewed about using the photo above…
Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar (1882-1967) crossed over into pop culture so we thought we’d give her a little attention here. Farrar spent the beginning and end of her life in New Engl…
h Many happy returns of the day to Reginald Gardiner (1903-1980). We thought to fit to treat of him today, for his clipped British diction, and poised demeanor grace many a classic comedy. H…
Born February 26, Irene Lydia Siewert Jewell a.k.a. Ricki Covette (1925-2016). Originally from British Columbia, Ricki eventually grew to a height of 6’8″, making her easily the …
Godfrey Cambridge (1933-1976) is badly missed. There’s no way in hell Cambridge didn’t help to drastically rewire the white American public’s impressions of black America, …
Born today: Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg (1920-1984) known better to the world by his stage name Tony Randall. We’ve already paid tribute to Randall’s co-starring turn on the origi…
Happy birthday, Larry Gelbart (1928-2009)! Among Sid Caesar’s list of legendary writers, Gelbart’s is normally noted somewhere after Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and cast …
Broadway producer and director Jed Harris (1900-1979), was born on this day. It’s hard to reconcile the opinions of people who knew Harris with his amazing theatrical output. Everybody…
Today is the birthday of minor movie star Wini Shaw, often billed as Winfred Shaw (Winifred Lei Momi , 1907-1982). Shaw was of Hawaiian descent, the youngest of 13 children. She grew up i…
Just got the word that Nanette Fabray (b. 1920) passed away today. She’d been retired for a decade; it was a surprise to know that she was still with us. When I was a kid growing up in…
Film and television actor Robert Young (1907-1998) was born on this day. Young’s career can neatly be divided into four phases: Movie Actor (1931-1954) I grew up during Young’s l…
Frank Orth and Ann Codee were an unusual male-female comedy team in that Codee (Anna Marie Vannuefflin, 1890-1961) was from Belgium, and spoke with what Americans took for a French accent. H…
Robert Altman (1925-2006) was born on this day. Do you believe he’s been dead a dozen years? He doesn’t seem dead. He’s so present in his films, and his films are so alive …
