11,727 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the gifted comic actor Fred Willard (1939). Most contemporary people know him I imagine from his turns in movie comedies from the last 20 or 30 years. I first bec…
We were much saddened by the recent passing of the late comedienne Joan Rivers, not just because she was a pioneer (for some context on that go here), and not just because she was terr…
It being the birthday of Roddy McDowell (center) it seemed a perfect time to toot a horn on behalf of a favorite show of mine when I was the ripe old age of nine. The Planet of the Apes…
Today is the birthday of the late Roddy McDowell (1928-1998), one of the few child performers to weather the career doldrums of adolescence and enjoy a successful career in adulthood. A seco…
Today is the birthday of the great comedy film producer and director Jules White (1900-1985). White is alternately revered and reviled among comedy and film fans; I am unabashed in my …
Today is the birthday of Dolores Costello (1903-1979). The daughter of stage and screen star Maurice Costello, she began acting in films as a child at age six along with her sister Helene. B…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Laurel and Hardy feature Pack Up Your Troubles (1932). Their second feature for Hal Roach, it is as close as the team came to organi…
The fact that the true "star" of any Mack Sennett film was always the ensemble is evidenced by his studio's most famous legacy (after Charlie Chaplin), the Keystone Kops. The phrase has beco…
This little show is from before my time, but I associate it with a particular time in my life. My high school years coincided with the early ’80s explosion of cable television, which m…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: A Night of Burlesque, Foxy Vermouth, Francine, Ivory Fox, Kita St. Cyr, Melody Jane, Planned Parenthood of New York C…
As we noted earlier, today is Penny Singleton’s birthday (for more on this star of stage, screen and radio go here). Singleton was best known for her role as the title character in the…
Today is the birthday of Fay Wray (1907-2003). For decades she was unfairly known for only one role, that of Ann Darrow, the reluctant love interest of the title character in King KongÂ�…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the film Rio Rita (1929), the cinematic debut of the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. The movie was an adaptation of the …
A century ago today (according to IMDB)  influential cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay released his creation “Gertie the Dinosaur”. The titles in the clip below are line…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle comedy The Cook (1918), featuring also Buster Keaton and Al St. John. This is one of the more ca…
Yesterday was so gorgeous we had to take a lengthy constitutional through Prospect Park and came upon the happy surprise of Woman-with-a-Beard Jennifer Miller and her joyous troupe Cirkus Am…
Today is the birthday of silent screen comedian and stunt man Billy Gilbert (William Victor Campbell, 1891-1961), sometimes known as “Little Billy Gilbert” (he was 5’3̸…
Don’t look so appalled! Yes, while most of my horror blogging has been about classic horror (see here) , I do watch lots of contemporary horror for pleasure, and tend to choose that ge…
Tonight is the crowning of Miss America 2015, a fitting time to look into a fascinating detail I came across in Brent Walker’s indispensable reference work Mack Sennett’s Fun …
 Today is the birthday of the French-American film director Robert Florey (1900-1979), best known today for having co-directed the Marx Brothers first film The Cocoanuts (192…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harry Langdon comedy short The Luck o’ the Foolish (1924), directed by Harry Edwards and produced by Mack Sennett. This is one…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Folk (Ethnic), Music, PLUGS Tagged: 61 Local, Brooklyn Accordion Club
Tomorrow starting in the wee hours, three entertaining horror classics scattered throughout the TCM’s schedule. 2:ooam (EST) Madhouse (1974) A wonderfully late entry in the Gothic h…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Dixieland & Early Jazz, Music, PLUGS, Singers Tagged: Bria Skonberg, Hot Jazz, Sidney Bechet Society, Symphony Space
Today is Mae Questel’s birthday (for my full article on that squeaky voiced pixie go here). While it’s well known she provided the voices of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop in animated …
