11,726 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Edward “Eddie” Dillon (1879-1933). New York native Dillon was a professional horse jockey who transitioned into acting in stage plays with the likes of O…
Oh, to be only the third most famous person named William Morris! Neither the famous show biz agent, nor the famous Renaissance Man of the Arts and Crafts movement , this William Morri…
Filed under: HOLIDAYS/ FESTIVALS/ MEMORIALS/ PARADES, Hollywood (History), Movies, New Year's Eve Tagged: New Year's Eve, Poseidon Adventure
Today is the birthday of Mike “King” Kelly (1857-1894). Irish-American Kelly was one of the first sports stars to go on the vaudeville stage. Baseball right fielder, catcher and …
Happy New Year! (in a few hours). Below is my little pictorial recap of some high points from 2015, in the way of Thanksgiving to the Universe and to You. And below that some hints at our pl…
I knew TCM wouldn’t let me down! Tomorrow, they close out 2015 in the best way possible: a day of Marx Brothers films. (Followed by a Thin Man marathon, but you know where our heart li…
The sad passing of Meadowlark Lemon prompts this post, of course. Meadowlark has easily got to be my first black hero, as I’m sure he was for millions of others of kids, and it was lar…
The great cinematographer Haskell Wexler died yesterday at age 93. There will be a million appreciations of him today; I just thought I’d tip my hat to him about something quite small …
Filed under: Comedy, Jack Benny, PLUGS, Radio (Old Time Radio) Tagged: Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol, Jack Benny, old time radio
Another chunk of my family history clicked into place the other day, and it’s quite possible that I am close to the solution to a mystery. This gave me nice things to think about at Ch…
Tomorrow morning, Turner Classic Movies presents two classic musical films of the 1930s: 6:00am (EST): A Night at the Opera (1935) A Night at the Opera usually presents a bit of a problem…
Tonight on Turner Movie Classics, three classic musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: 8:00pm (EST): Swing Time (1936) The dancing and songs are so great in these films the fact t…
Today is the anniversary of the Syd Chaplin  comedy A Submarine Pirate (1915). A major hit in its day and still one of the the best known comedies of its star Syd Chaplin (Charlie̵…
There is something not an entirely inappropriate about Christmas also being the birthday of Baron Lew Grade (Lev Winogradsky, 1906-1998). After all, the British TV mogul headed up the Indepe…
Just under the wire, with an hour and a half of Christmas left to go! Some Christmas cards by my first cousin, thrice removed, the illustrator Harrison Cady: Filed under: Christmas, My Famil…
Well, someone else has a birthday today — prolific character actor Dick Miller (b. 1928). I first knew Miller from his role as the man who eats flowers in Roger Corman’s original…
Today is the birthday of the pathbreaking Eugene “Pineapple” Jackson (1916-2001) Jackson got his start as a child actor in silent films. He was all of five when he appeared as Ve…
It’s well known that W.C. Fields was a comedian, a screenwriter and a juggler — probably less well known that he was an amateur cartoonist. His drawings were interesting, origina…
Today is the birthday of the always hilarious Eric Blore (1887-1959). Astounding to note that we haven’t done an appreciation of this stalwart comic actor until this late date. I think…
Today is the birthday of the poet Edwin Arlington (E.A.) Robinson (1869-1935). I first became aware of Robinson 20 years ago when I stayed for two months in his old cottage on a writing fell…
Tomorrow on TCM:Â several classics by the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. On the menu: 6:00am (EST):Â Mr and Mrs Smith (1941) An interesting hybrid film — Hitchcock directing…
Filed under: Broadway, Comedians, Comedy, Uncategorized, Vaudeville etc., W.C. Fields Tagged: American Theatre of Actors, canary trial, comedy, W.C. Fields
Today is the birthday of Edith Taliaferro (1894-1958). Taliaferro was born into a theatrical family in Richmond Virginia. Not only were her parents in the theatre but so were her sister (Mab…
Today is the birthday of Adele Ritchie (1874-1930). Ritchie was a contemporary and peer of Lillian Russell; her name is often paired with hers, although usually in a “Coke and Pepsi…
Dooley and Sales were a popular, big time, headlining male-female comedy team in the teens and twenties. I have only been able to glean scraps about them thus far. I know they played the Pal…
