11,729 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of John Cassavetes (1929-1989). NOW, some of us know him as one of the most important and influential American film-makers of all time. And some of us know him as an ef…
 Alright now, this morning we’ve had posts on Redd Foxx, Tim Moore and Uncle Remus…Now to shift all the way to the other end of the color spectrum. For today is Donny Osmond&…
Today is the birthday of Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), best known today as the writer (more like the collector, really) of the Uncle Remus stories, a collection of African American folk-…
Today is the birthday of John Elroy Sanford a.k.a Redd Foxx (1922-1991). He was born in St. Louis and raised in Chicago, where he became known as Chicago Red on account of his reddish hair. …
Today is the birthday of Emmett Kelly (1898-1979), whose Weary Willie character was probably the best known (or best recognized) circus clown of the 20th century. Kelly started out as a trap…
Today is the birthday of beloved American humorist James Thurber (1894-1961), among many other things, author of the 1939 short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. Thi…
Today is the birthday of David Carradine (1936-2009). Given the fact that I was between the ages of seven and ten when his his show Kung Fu aired (1972-1975), I could not let this day …
Continuing our series of Christmas themed posts. This 1947 Christmas episode of Jack Benny’s radio program returns us to the recurring Benny theme of last minute holiday shopping. Noth…
Continuing on with our Christmas themed series of posts… Here is a true television classic, from the first season of The Odd Couple (1970), when the poker players were still r…
In further observation of Sammy Davis Jr, ‘s birthday, a fairly unobjectionable holiday clip, featuring a jazzing up of “Jingle Bells” To find out more about the variety…
Adapted from a post originally published in 2011. The name Georges Méliès (born this day in 1861) is no doubt on everyone’s lips very much these days thanks to the recent r…
Another in our series of Christmas themed show posts… Here’s Bing Crosby’s 1947 Christmas special on Philco Radio Time. Skitch Henderson is musical guest! Selections includ…
Another in our series of Christmas themed show posts… This is one of several Christmas episodes of Maude, this one from the show’s second season in 1973. Bea Arthur is a…
Today is the birthday of that amazing mutt-like creature Tom Waites (b. 1949). True American romantics also tend to be cynics. I don’t know of any other country in the world about whic…
Today is the birthday of cool jazz pianist David Brubeck (1920-1912). If you recall, he passed away at around this time last year (one day shy of his birthday) and there were many tribute an…
Another in our series of Holiday themed posts… This moment on the Christmas episode of Gilligan’s Island always flipped me out when I was a kid. The implied v…
Continuing on with our series of Christmas themed old time show biz posts… Here are Jim and Marian Jordan, a.k.a Fibber McGhee and Molly in the 1943 Christmas edition of their eponymou…
Today is the birthday of the great stage and screen star William S. Hart (1864-1946). Hart is best remembered today as the pre-eminent star of movie westerns during the silent era. But he wa…
A brief follow-up  to this morning’s birthday post on Lynn Fontanne. While there’s very little tv or film record of her or husband Alfred Lunt’s in performance, copio…
Today is the birthday of Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983). Fontanne and her husband and acting partner Alfred Lunt are wonderful modern anomalies. They are among the last of the great stage actors …
Here’s a classic  – and typically surreal — bit of 70s television. I really don’t think we get culture clashes like this anymore in today’s show biz environm…
Another in our series of Christmas themed posts. This Christmas themed episode of Eddie Cantor’s Time to Smile program aired in 1941, featuring announcer Harry Von Zell and special…
Today is the birthday of Sonny Boy Williamson II (1912-1965), not to be confused with the original Sonny Boy Williamson. Nor is this one the son of the original Sonny Boy Williamson. This is…
Today is the birthday of “Little Richard” Penniman (b, 1932). Richard’s life and career are an example of the perils and pitfalls of Manicheanism, his life perpetually  …
Today is the birthday of Walt Disney (1901-1966). The highlight of my short NYU career was the course I took on Disney taught by the world’s pre-eminent Disney scholar John Canemake…
