11,741 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the popular Shakespearean actor Fredericke Warde (1851-1935). His theatrical career began in his native England in the mid 1860s; he moved to the U.S. in 1874 to app…
Today is the 100th birthday of the great Bengali magician Protul Chandra Sorcar (1913-1971). After graduating from college with a mathematics degree, he began to pursue his true pas…
Today is the birthday of film director Victor Fleming (1889-1949). I tend to think of him as a creature of the studio system, producing rather impersonal but competent work over a diverse…
Alzoria Lewis and Johanna Dickens were presented jointly on Coney Island sideshow stages from the 1930s through the 1950s. Though unrelated, they were usually presented as “sist…
This coming Sunday, The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut celebrates the 150th anniversary of “The Fairy Wedding,” an event that captured the nation’s heart when cel…
And it makes me wish I was in Topeka. That’s the first time I’ve said that all year! I fully intend to be there next year though  come hail or high water. For a full schedule …
The very film I was ranting about in my blogpost here just a few weeks ago. John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln is a perfect film to inspire young people (and old people), and to remin…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Ma…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Kyle Peterson, Loose Caboose
Filed under: BOOKS, EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Cooper Union, New York Nineteenth Century Society
New Yorkers, the Film Forum is in the midst of its 1933 series. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be pointing out certain noteworthy bills that tickle my fancy. Today they̵…
Today is the birthday of Lew Cody (1884-1934). Of French stock, the New England native acted in melodramas for the stage before the silver screen made use of his suave good looks starting in…
Today is the birthday of Mildred Davis (1901-1969). She is best known for having been Harold Lloyd’s leading lady from 1919 to 1923, at which point she is best known for being Harold L…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #300: James Reese Europe. For more on this groundbreaking African American bandleader g…
Today is the birthday of Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), the tallest man ever recorded (at least the tallest since Goliath). At the time of his death, he was 8′ 11.1″ tall, but I̵…
Today is the birthday of David Devant (David Wighton, 1868-1941). Devant was a top of the bill English music hall magician, revered to this day for his humor and presentationalism. He is cre…
Today is the birthday of Fannie Ward (Fannnie Buchanan, 1872-1952). She began acting in local companies in her native St. Louis as a teenager. moving to New York for her career in 1889. She …
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Here’s one that’s fallen through the cracks. That’s My Mama was a step down in the evolution of the black sit-com…
Today is the birthday of Hollywood character actor Zachary Scott (1914-1965). He was discovered acting in his native Texas by Alfred Lunt and encouraged to move to New York, where he got Bro…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Today is the birthday of Ernest Whitman (1893-1954). A veteran of black vaudeville, burlesque and revues, his first film was the 19…
Norah Hildebrandt (1857-1893) was the daughter of America’s first tattoo artist, German-born Martin Hildebrandt. When he didn’t have soldiers and sailors to work on, he would dec…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. John Rogan (ca. 1865-1905) was one of the tallest men reported since the beginning of modern record keeping, eventually reac…
Two of my favorite neo-vaudevillian performers are opening their shows tonight in the Frigid Festival at St. Marks Place! 1. Mock Star Killy Dwyer in…. MY BOX "I'm not sure I'm good en…
Today is the birthday of the immortal Gale Gordon (1906-1995), best remembered as the comic foil on all the post-Desi shows of Lucille Ball (The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life …
Today is the birthday of the great American character actor Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905). Posterity associates him with but one role, his mega-success as the title character in Dion Boucicau…
