11,741 stories by "Trav S.D."
 Based on Victor Hugo’s novel, The Man Who Laughs is performed in the style of a silent film, complete with live piano accompaniment, projected title cards, and vibrant black-and-w…
This image from the Meserve-Kinhard collection depicts Lizzie Reid (sometimes rendered as Reed), one of P.T. Barnum’s performing little people, circa 1865. Her maiden name is given …
Vasco ( 1871-1925) was a British music hall entertainer known for his flamboyant showmanship (he would often drive around town in a car adorned with signs advertising his act). Billed as the…
Today is the birthday of J. Homer Tutt (1882-1951). Along with his brother (or half-brother) Salem Tutt Whitney (1869-1934) he formed one half of a concern variously called the Tutt Brothers…
John Coffey (sometimes known as James) was the man who stood of the shoulders of the original Living Skeleton, Isaac W. Sprague, and thenceforth brought a little flair and panache to the rol…
Today is the birthday of Dick Martin (1922-2008). We already wrote about his most famous show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In a few days ago. But do you know about his syndicated gam…
In our typical kamikaze fashion, on Sunday and Monday CR and I watched the entire Up series: (7 Up, 14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up) then went to the IFC Center on Tuesday to see…
Today is the birthday of British music hall and radio comedian Sandy Powell (1900-1982). His early music hall years often featured his parody of a Scottish vaudeville comedian, in which he w…
Today is the birthday of Rose Melville (Rosa Smock, 1867-1946). A native of Terre Haute, she toured vaudeville for several years with her sister Ida as “Two Jays from Indiana.”. …
Alexander Montarg was one of P.T. Barnum’s Living Skeletons, whose period of greatest activity appears to have been from the late 1850s through the 1860s. The man’s vital statist…
I’m the sort of person who must always be reading something. In the can, if there’s no magazine, then it’s the ingredients on the toothpaste tube. And, when listening to mu…
Today is the birthday of Jack Wilson (1894-1970), one-third of the team of Wilson, Keppel and Betty. Actually, the core team consisted of Wilson and his partner Joe Keppel; the two worked wi…
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…
Today is the birthday of the incomparable Alan Alda (Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo, b. 1936). As a teenager I idolized him — obviously for his role as Hawkeye on M*A*S*H, altho…
Today is the birthday of Charles Dodgson (1932-1898) bettern known as Lewis Carroll. The extent to which his nonsensical writing was important to me as a child will come as no surprise to…
Today is the birthday of the great blues artist Elmore James (1918-1963). A highly influential figure, he is one of the generation that bridged the gap between the country blues of Robert Jo…
Today is the birthday of Lyle “Skitch” Henderson (1918-2005). He is perhaps best remembered today as Steve Allen’s pianist/bandleader for both The Tonight Show and Th…
A great day for songwriters! Not Just Jerome Kern, but also George “Buddy” DeSylva (1895-1950) has a birthday today. DeSylva was one third of the great Tin Pan Alley songwriti…
Today is the birthday of the great Broadway composer Jerome Kern (1885-1945). Kern contributed songs to over 100 musicals between 1904 and his death. His most well known shows include Sho…
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 Manor Media…
Tomorrow at 1pm: "Quo Vas Is?: The Impact of German Immigration on 19th Century American Popular Culture." In sheer numbers, Germans were one of the largest American immigrant groups duri…
A very bluesy birthday day — not only is it the birthday of Florence Mills and Sleep John Estes, but also Etta James (Jamesetta Hawkins, 1938-2012). Born to a teenage single mom, she w…
Today is the birthday of the great Memphis blues man Sleepy John Estes (1899-1977). Born into a shrecropping family he was a field hand himself until the 1920s when he began playing and reco…
Today is the birthday of the Scottish national poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). Despite the fact that he is the poet of My People, I’ve only dabbled in him; frankly I’ve found it t…
Today is the birthday of John Belushi (1949-1982), my second favorite Albanian. I originally planned to put this post in the “Stars of Slapstick” series, but, though Belushi was …
