11,723 stories by "Trav S.D."
R.I.P. Dorothy Malone, who passed away today at age 92. I was surprised to note just how how many of her performances I had seen. In truth, Malone’s best known work was in the sort…
It seems to me everyone (including most people back in the day) have the wrong idea about Alexander Woollcott (1887-1943). There’s this idea of the influential drama critic and wit, be…
Happy birthday, Tippi Hedren (Nathalie Kay hedren, b. 1930). A Minnesota native, of German and Scandinavian ancestry, Hedren first made a name for herself as a highly successful New York fas…
Modern audiences probably know Harry Davenport (1866-1949) best from his role as Dr. Meade in Gone with the Wind, not just one of his biggest roles during the sound era, but one of his best …
Ye Gods! If there was ever a Renaissance woman on this earth it was Natacha Rambova (Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy, 1897-1966.) I’d come across the name of course in connection with Val…
Robert Blake (Michael James Gubitosi) came into the world in Nutley, New Jersey on January 18, 1933. When he was three years old, his parents (who had their own song and dance act) put M…
As we have previously written, the first human cannonball was Zazel (Rosa Richter), who was launched out of spring operated “cannons” devised by The Great Farini starting in 1877…
Harold Switzer (1925-1967) had an awkward role in life. He was two years older than his brother Carl. Both were hired at the same time in 1935 by Hal Roach to be in Our Gang. Harold was nick…
Here’s one we know chiefly by her credits, which bring her plenty close to many of the folks we have written about. As for the woman behind the credits, we know next to nothing. Her bi…
Quintessential blue-collar actor William Bendix (1906-1964) was often cast as a guy from Brooklyn or the Bronx, although he was a native of the Manhattan neighborhood of Murray Hill. He drop…
Herbert Brenon (1880-1958) was one of the most important Hollywood film directors of the silent era. Born in Dublin, he moved to London with his family when he was two years old (his father …
This is the best thing that has happened to me in months, years, possibly (and apologies to whomever that offends!) and I hope the knowledge brings you as much sheer joy and amusement as it …
So much more is known about Leona Duval and her Coney Island burlesque act “Tirza’s Wine Bath” since her lawyers sent that “cease and desist letter” to Coney Is…
Don’t get me wrong! I’m not one of those radical people who claim that silent cinema is intrinsically superior to films containing dialogue and recorded sound effects. Is there a…
Comic actor Bob Denver (1935-2005) was born on this historic day. Something downright sinister happened to Denver towards the end of his life, happened in public, happened for all to see, an…
Just a little post about The Post. I think it ranks with Spielberg’s 6 or 8 tent pole films, the ones we remember him for, and for many of the same reasons his best ones are great. Spi…
Today marks the 95th birthday of comic actor and performer Larry Storch (b. 1923). We have purposefully not led off with his most famous character, whose popularity marked the height of Stor…
There is little to tell about actress and performer Kathryn Perry (1897-1983) aside from her credits, but she is notable in being one of the few whose life embraced both of those great Jazz …
It’s National Bird Day again! We thought we’d add to the post we’ve already done on bird acts with a special tribute to burlesque star Rosita Royce (Marjorie Rose Corrin…
No doubt in my mind that Richard Stahl (1932-2006) has many fans, despite the fact that most of them probably don’t know his name. His bald dome and dry, midwestern drawl enlivened man…
Sterling Holloway (1905-1992) was born on this day. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I first knew this amazing performer as a voice — the highly distinctive voice …
This one is a work-in-progress, and yet I suspect it is a fuller portrait than is elsewhere available of stage and screen performer/ producer/ teacher Sammy Burns. Notably, I lack the …
New Years Day was the birthday of one of the 20th century’s greatest circus clowns, Lou Jacobs (Johann Ludwig Jacob, 1903-1992). Jacobs’ influence on the form is incalculable; he…
Xavier Cugat (Francisco de Asis Javier Cugat) was one of the first people born in the 20th century — January 1, 1900 (making it very easy to calculate what was going in his life in rel…
Matthew “Stymie” Beard of Our Gang/ Little Rascals fame was born on the first day of 1925. Born in Los Angeles into a religious family (his father was a preacher) Beard was alrea…
