11,741 stories by "Trav S.D."
 Today is the birthday of Henry Irving (1838-1905), the first actor ever knighted by the British monarchy (nowadays they seem to give away knighthoods with green stamps). From where we s…
Today is the birthday of Babe Ruth (for more on him and his surprising connection to vaudeville go here). And see below for his funny turn in the 1928 Harold Lloyd comedy Speedy: To find …
Today is the birthday of teen idol “Fabian” (b. 1943.) A sort of craven record company attempt to cash in on the Elvis craze (and a fairly successful one), I still can’t he…
Today is the birthday of Dot Farley (1881-1971). A second generation thespian from the Chicago area, she made her stage debut at the age of three. After several years as a professional actre…
Today is the birthday of Roy Smeck (1900-1994). Billed as the “Wizard of the Strings” he was proficient and entertaining on the uke, banjo, guitar and steel (Hawaiian) guitar. A …
Today is the birthday of Katherine Lee (1909-1968). She and her sister Jane (1912-1957)Â were a kiddie sister act who starred in silent movies and vaudeville from the mid teens through th…
Today is the birthday of poet, heroin addict and murderer (in that order) William S. Burroughs (1914-1997). I like his writing a lot, as I like most of the Beats, although his writings (unli…
Today is the birthday of the great comic actor, Christopher Guest (b. 1948). I talk about him (and his unofficial troupe) a little bit in my new book Chain of Fools. The context is tha…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of one of the greatest character actors…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. 103 years ago today the following review appeared in the NY Clipper: “A colored ventriloquist is rather a novelty, and at …
Today is the birthday of Frank Van Hoven (1886-1929), who billed himself as the “Mad Magician”. He was less noted for his magic tricks, however, than his practical jokes. His mos…
Today is the birthday of David Brenner (b. 1936), not to be confused with David Steinberg! While both were Jewish stand-up comedians whose heyday was the 1970s, the two had very different st…
Today is the birthday of Ida Lupino (1918-1995). Most people know her strictly as a beautiful English-American noir dame, and as one of America’s first female film directors. Â What …
Today is the birthday of Alice Cooper (b. 1948). My ten year old self would have been appalled to learn that I would one day come to appreciate him. In point of fact, being several decades t…
What a surprise it was to learn about this book! One tends to think of former British Prime Minister John Major as a colorless fellow (in fact, I’d already sort of forgotten about him)…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. John W. Cooper (1873-1966) was the first African American ventriloquist to play the predominantly white vaudeville circuits. A broo…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Patterson and Jackson were a plus sized African American comedy duo who billed themselves as “Two Tons of Song and Mirth̶…
Today is the birthday of the very funny comedian Shelley Berman (b. 1925. If he sticks it out two more years, he’ll make it 90!) A Chicago native got his start at that same Compass Pla…
Today is the birthday of Dave Davies (b. 1947, the very same day as Melanie!) His biggest mark was as guitarist for the Kinks of course, but he occasional writes and performs his own materia…
Today is the birthday of the late Joey Bishop (1918-2007). I think of him mostly as a live comic, working night clubs and resorts, but this is mostly because his two TV shows in the 1960s…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of the late great Victor Buono (1938-19…
Today is the birthday of Melanie Safka (b. 1947), a.k.a. “Melanie”. She had a number of hits in the early 70s but this is the one I remember. For a brief while it was on everyone…
Today is the birthday of the great American experimental writer Gertrude Stein (1876-1946). (How amazing that her birthday is one day off from Joyce’s. Say, maybe there is something to…
Today is the birthday of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978). A couple of years ago I reviewed a retrospective of his work at the Brooklyn Museum; see my review of that show and some thoughts about …
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. The Crackerjacks (seometimes billed as 4, later as 5 and 6 when others joined the act) was an acrobatic African American dance team…
