11,502 stories by "Trav S.D."
November 29 was the D.O.B. of theatrical and cinematic Jack-of-All-Trades Otis Turner (1862-1918). What a name! Suggesting on the one hand a mash-up of James Otis and Turn: Washington's Spie…
I was first put wise to the existence of Lillian Fitzgerald (1882-1947) and her industrious theatrical family through Kevin Fitzpatrick of the Lambs Club. Fitzgerald's son-in-law, whom we'll…
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 28, 2025 include a celebration of the Grand Ole Opry Centennial, and a post on the late Anna Nicole Smith. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 2…
I had long planned to mark this date anyway, but our ardor to do so was redoubled by our recent time in Nashville and the series of posts we ended here just a week ago. That revered American…
No, this chronicler is not "above" paying some attention to the life and career of the late Anna Nicole Smith (Vickie Lynn Hogan, 1967-2007). Indeed, we have an entire section of nearly 700 …
Happy Thanksgiving! Please peruse the Thanksgiving section of Travalanche for numerous posts related to the history of the holiday. Today's new Travalanche posts for November 27, 2025 are ab…
I have several November 27 birthdays flagged for future posts, but this year the date falls on Thanksgiving, and I do like to keep to a theme. As you can probably glean, your correspondent i…
This one goes out to my old colleague Robert Engel, who used to work at Clermont, the museum at the historic upstate estate of Robert Livingston (1746-1813). Engels' is a face and name I wil…
As we come upon Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, and every other Shopping Day through Christmas and Beyond, may we suggest the following Trav S.D. products? From newes…
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 26, 2025 are about Robert Goulet and an upcoming screening of the Dogville comedy shorts. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 26 (in no particul…
This one is strictly for New Yorkers, dog lovers, and vintage slapstick aficionados " preferably all three, but any combination of two will do. That Slapstick Show is returning to QED in Que…
A frequent theme of this blog is the army of performers one encountered on television variety shows in the 1970s whose presence was a little inexplicable. Invariably, when you look into them…
Note! This is a different fellow from radio, television, and film actor John Larkin (1912-1965), who was associated with Perry Mason and The Edge of Night. That's a larkin for another sunris…
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 25, 2025 are about Evacuation Day, three new screen projects with a Rhode Island connection, and stage and screen actor John Larkin. Earlier Traval…
Your correspondent is never more provincial than when attention is paid to his tiny home state. It's reached the point that not only is there an entire Rhode Island section on Travalanche, b…
Happy Evacuation Day! You may be surprised to learn that its has nothing to do with promoting colon health. November 25, 1783 was the day that the British finally departed from New York City…
Today's new Travalanche post for November 24, 2025 is about that unlikely television star William F. Buckley, who was born 100 years ago today. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 24 (in …
Author, editor, and television presenter William F. Buckley (1925-2008) was born 100 years ago today. Having now done posts on Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, and Truman Capote, of…
This concludes our multi-part series on my 60th birthday road trip to visit dead relatives. As you see from this photo, only one of them rose up to greet us. Below is an organized re-cap of …
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 23, 2025 are David Rappaport (Time Bandits), the final installment of my Southern travel series, and a recap of the entire series. Earlier Travalan…
The few stalwarts still reading this series on my sexagenarian southern sojourn will be relieved to know that we're sewing the whole thing up today. Just a few straggling memories of our las…
Like most Americans, I'll wager, I first encountered little person/ actor David Rappaport (1951-1990) in his role as Randall in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981). As leader of the group of…
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 22, 2025 are a review of Ken Burns' The American Revolution and (in a related post) a visit to the site of The Battle of Kings Mountain. Earlier Tr…
As promised in my earlier post, a few thoughts on The American Revolution docu-series by Ken Burns and his collaborators Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. On the whole I would say the untram…
The Battle of Kings Mountain (1780), South Carolina, looms large in my family history, as several of my ancestors, relations, and their neighbors were among the so-called Overmountain Men wh…
