11,730 stories by "Trav S.D."
We’re very excited back here at Trav S.D. Laboratories about the two talks we have lined up this month, one more connected with my first book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book…
Like the Cisco Kid, this is a show from a couple of decades before my time that I grew up watching in reruns. I’m posting this today in connection with this morning’s post abo…
When I was a kid watching the re-runs of the then 20 year old tv show The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, I little dreamt that the talented German Shepard who was its star was actually (or was…
Today is the birthday of Jack Duffy (1882-1939). Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (yes!), he became a vaudeville performer and then went into musical comedies, spending ten years total on the…
Today is the birthday of Louise Glaum (1888-1970). Born in Baltimore and raised in Los Angeles, Glaum began her performing career on the stage, touring with stock companies from 1907 through…
Today is the  birthday of the lovely Kitty Carlisle Hart (Catherine Conn, 1910-2007). For the purposes of easy digestion, her career divides conveniently into thirds. I first became aware…
Just got word that David Frost passed away on Saturday at age 74, felled by a heart attack while on a cruise ship. Frost was someone I admired a lot — part comedian, part journalist, a…
Filed under: Circus, EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES, PLUGS, VISUAL ART Tagged: David Carlyon, John Towsen, North Manhattan Arts Alliance, Northwestern University
Originally posted in 2010. Mantan Moreland, best known today for playing the terrified comic relief in films like the Charlie Chan series, and for his immortal catch phrase “Feets, don…
Originally posted in 2011 In 1901, the White Rats went on strike. The White Rats, as the vaudeville performers' union was known, was founded by comedian and prize fighter George Fuller G…
This comes more under the heading of “historically interesting” than “exciting” or even “funny”, but it is necessary viewing for any “well-viewed…
Today is Chuck McCann’s birthday (born 1934)! McCann’s is one of those faces and voices that have made up part of the fabric of your life, whether you know his name or not. Once …
Monday and Tuesdays in September TCM will be showing a 15 part documentary series entitled The Story of Film, and screening 52 key films alongside it. Be sure to check TCM’s web sit…
Today is the birthday of Amanda Randolph (1896-1967), a theatrical Renaissance woman and pioneer on many fronts. Originally from Kentucky, her professional career began as a teenager playing…
Originally posted in 2011. A rare example of old school show biz overlapping with New York’s cultural elite. Jean Dalrymple (born this day in 1902) is best known to contemporaries …
Originally posted in 2011. Edith Wilson (born Edith Goodall this day in 1896 and not to be confused with the First Lady during World War I) was a blues and jazz singer who got her start i…
Originally posted in 2011. Jack Norton (born this day in 1882) was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable bit players of the 1930s and 40s, usually but not always, playing a comic drunk …
Cool news for lovers of NYC history. Tomorrow morning at 6am Eastern, TCM will be showing Hester Street, Joan Micklin Silver’s 1975 film adaptation of Abraham Cahan’s 1896 …
Today is the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. Edgar Rice Burroughs is not good. Misled by Hollywood public relations effort…
Today is the birthday of Don Wilson (1900-1982). A college football player in his youth, he worked his way into radio as a sportscaster and a singer in the 1920s. Gradually he became an anno…
Originally posted in 2010 James J. Corbett was born this day in 1866. Gentleman Jim’s profile was far from the usual one of a professional pugilist; in many ways it was more suited…
Originally posted in 2010. Marilyn Miller (born Mary Ellen Reynolds this day in 1898) began her vaudeville career at age four under the nom de guerre Mademoiselle Sugarlump. From here …
Today is the birthday of the great comic actress Lily Tomlin (b. 1939). Tomlin is easily one of the first comedy performers who ever made an impression on my tiny mind, her time on Rowan and…
Today is the birthday of Tony Slydini (1900-1991), seminal close-up magic man of the 20th century, master of the psychology that informs sleight of hand. Originally from Foggia, Italy he mov…
Today is the birthday of Betty Blythe (Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, 1893-1972). A native of Los Angeles, Blythe studied opera and art in Paris, and spent some time performing in musical comed…
