11,723 stories by "Trav S.D."
It’s President’s Day AND Black History Month. Time for YOU to get better acquainted with the 1933 Vitaphone musical short Rufus Jones for President! Directed by Roy Mack, Rufus J…
On this day in 1918 were born Naomi and Ruth Stevenson, known to posterity as Barbara and Glora Brewster, a.k.a. the Brewster Twins. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, the singing, dancing…
George Kleine (1864-1931) was an early film producer, best known for founding the Kalem Company, whose stable included comedians and actors like Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew,  Ham and Bud,…
February 17 is the birthday of Priscilla Bonner (1899-1996). Bonner’s career as a silent film actress co-existed almost precisely with the decade of the 1920s: 1920-1929. Our main poin…
George Bickel (1863-1941) was born on this day. Originally from Saginaw, Michigan, Bickel was a circus, burlesque and vaudeville comedian who gained greatest popularity in a trio called R…
A little birthday love for musical star Vera-Ellen (Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe, 1921-1981). I’m not sure I would have flagged her for attention in this space if not for the fact that sh…
Born today: The First Lady of the American Theatre, Katharine Cornell (1893-1974). Helen Hayes is also sometimes called by that honorary title, but Cornell I think can lay the greater claim,…
February 15 is the natal day of Gale Sondergaard (1889-1985). There are several reasons in particular we wanted to mention her today. One is that, because she was often cast as a dark woman …
Ezra Kendall (1861-1910) was a popular comic actor, playwright, impresario, humor author, and vaudeville monologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kendall was the son of a Centre…
I have been sitting on this post for years. It was certainly percolating prior to Harold Ramis’s death, and then his death (four years ago this February 24) kicked the sentiments that …
Val Harris (Valle Edward Harris, 1882-1961) became known for one particular specialty in vaudeville, playing a crusty old western coot who was full of stories. He worked with a variety of pa…
Just a brief squib for Fat Tuesday. Being as we are huge fans of New Orleans, we would never for a moment slight the mother of all Mardi Gras parades today but we did want to briefly mention…
Today is the birthday of our Greatest President. In honor of the day, a look at some notable Lincolns of screens big and small. The Birth of a Nation (1915) We’ve previous blogged abou…
For the record, I generally scorn blooper reels; as something to laugh at they rank for me somewhere below farts and dick humor and that is very low on the Travy Scale indeed. But one of our…
February 10 marks the natal day of English essayist, poet, critic, novelist, and playwright Charles Lamb (1775-1834). Even if no theatrical clubs had been named after him, I’d ultimate…
February 10 was the birthday of British impresario and performer Phyllis Dixey (1914-1964). Dixey is best remembered as a “striptease artiste” but her career was much more varied…
February 9 is the birthday of the great Peruvian-American pin-up artist Alberto Vargas (Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez, 1896-1982). Vargas learned airbrushing techniques at the studi…
Broadway and vaudeville stage performer Lotta Faust (1880-1910) was born on this day. I am surprised to learn that Lotta Faust appears to have been her real name — it’s a perfect…
Thanks to the tv show Showtime at the Apollo (1987-2008) and subsequent shows like Apollo Live, Harlem’s Apollo Theater may well be the most famous variety venue in the United States, …
Voiceover actor (and actor actor)Â Walker Edmiston (1926-2007) was born on this day. I’m not sure if I would have done a post on him, but for one cool fact: his voice for Dr. Blinky …
Black History Month is the perfect time to acknowledge an iconic venue that provided prestige, high salaries and a prominent outlet for so many of the African American entertainers we’…
Eddie Foy, Jr. (1905-1983) was born on February 4. Foy was actually Eddie Foy, Sr.’s fourth son, and was given the honor of being his famous father’s namesake by virtue of th…
John W. Isham (1866-1902) was a producer of groundbreaking all-black minstrel and proto-burlesque shows. Of mixed-race ancestry, he often “passed” for white, which gave him emplo…
February 3 is the birthday of the legendary Broadway producer Sam H. Harris (1872-1941). It’s a famous name, but one that is apt to cause confusion. He was not, for example, related to…
Just a brief squib on 19th century actor Edwin Adams (1834-1877). Born in Medford, Mass. on this day in 1834, I think it more likely than not that he bears some relation to those Adams (the …
