11,724 stories by "Trav S.D."
July 5 is the birthday of William Thomas Stead (1849-1912). I was flabbergasted to learn about this fascinating man only recently — flabbergasted not only because of how I died (I prid…
July 5 is the natal day of Billy “Froggy” Laughlin (1932-1948). Though he was a Johnny-Come-Lately to the Our Gang/ Little Rascals series of film comedies (he was a member of the…
July 5 is the birthday of Eugenia M. Clinchard (1904-1989). From the ages of 3 through 19, Clinchard acted and performed locally in San Francisco area vaudeville theatres. At the time, this …
July 4 is the birthday of George Murphy (1902-1992). Previous generations would be nonplussed to know how quickly and thoroughly this prominent American cultural figure (both theatrical and …
Gertrude Lawrence (1898-1952) was born on the Fourth of July. She is a frustrating figure for the show biz buff. She may well be the latest (most recent) star of her stature to be so out of …
The irreplaceable George Sanders (1906-1972) was born on July 3. I am astounded to contemplate that I haven’t done a post on him yet. Perhaps the undertaking has seemed too daunting. S…
When Edwina Barry died in 1988 she was memorialized as the world’s oldest vaudevillian — 1o2 years old. Born July 3, 1886, Anna Edwina Barry was the younger sister of Jimmy Barry…
There is a gent on IMDB who speculates that the Hazel Green in the 1927 Vitaphone Hazel Green & Company is the granddaughter of Confederate General John Stuart Williams and was bor…
We are now midway through the centennial anniversary of what may have been silent comedy’s most auspicious year. Yes, there were other momentous events in other years. Mack Sennett sta…
We’ll be blogging (and hopefully lecturing) shortly on why 1917 was the most fortuitous year in silent comedy. Among many other things, it was Keaton’s first year before the came…
Madge Bellamy (Margaret Derden Philpott, 1899-1990) was born on June 30. Originally from Denver, she moved to New York as a teenager and got a job as a chorus girl in the Earl Carroll showÂ…
Just got word from the Marxian grapevine that Groucho’s daughter Miriam Marx Allen passed away yesterday at age 90. She was one of the last links to the Marx Brothers’ glory d…
You’ve got one chance left to see the amazing Willi Carlisle in his solo show There Ain’t No More! Death of a Folksinger before he blows town for parts north (Maine and New Hamps…
We’d been drooling to get our mitts on Robert S. Bader’s Four of the Three Muskeers: The Marx Brothers On Stage, ever since we heard it was in the works back at Marxfest in 2014.…
. Frank Whitman was often billed as  as "The Dancing Violinist", “The Stepping Violinist”, “The Wizard of the Violin” and in 1926 his Loew's Circuit billing was "T…
June 28 is the birth date of one John Edward Kessler, a.k.a. Jack Baker, a.k.a., Dr. Silkini (1914-1980). If you are easily frightened I urge you to turn back now!!! He was born Kessle…
I write this post this morning at a time of stellar confluence, a constellational alignment — a harmonic convergence, if you will. Today is the birthday of Mel Brooks (b. 1926); Spa…
Kay Laurell (1890-1927) came into the world on a June 28. Born Ruth Leslie (an equally good professional name, I think) in Erie Pennsylvania, she moved to New York as a teenager where she ve…
June 27 is the birthday of the great French poster artist Paul Colin (1892-1985). A native of Nancy, Colin attended the École des Beaux-Arts and became a master of Art Deco style, inc…
The origin of this post: A few days ago someone on social media asserted with enormous confidence, that “the Code hurt the Marx Brothers” (meaning, if you’re new to such th…
On this day was born was born the funny, if accidental, comedienne Mary Livingstone (Sadie Marcowitz, sometimes shortened to Marks, 1905-1983). Livingstone grew up in Vancouver. The lore is …
Today is St. John’s Day, the traditional birthday for John the Baptist. Note the timing: just as Christmas is pinned close to the winter solstice, St. John’s Day falls right afte…
This is by no means an exhaustive catalog of Self Indulgent Vanity Movies, but merely  some of the most egregious examples that sprang to mind. To qualify for this list, a film must: 1) b…
Paul Frees (Solomon Hersh Frees, 1920-1986) made his entrance on a June 22. Seldom has there been a voice so well recognized without an equally well-recognized face to go with it. For well o…
Helene Costello (1906-1957) was born the first day of summer, June 21. She is usually spoken of as part of a pair with her older sister Delores Costello, also an actress. Both were daughters…
