11,744 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the conjoined Hilton Sisters (not Paris and Nicky, but Daisy and Violet. For their full bio go here.) A few weeks ago, the Countess and I had the opportunity to see …
Today is the birthday of Sidney Fields. For my full bio on this great burlesque comedian go here. And in honor of the day, here he is with Lou Costello, performing the famous “Slowl…
Today is the birthday of Red Buttons (born Aaron Chwatt, 1919-2006). Too late for vaudeville, he got his start in the Catskills (where he partnered with Robert Alda), Minsky’s burlesqu…
Veloz and Yolanda were a husband wife ballroom dance team who specialized in Latin numbers. Frank Veloz was born today in 1906; Yolanda Casazza, March 21, 1908. The sleek and chic couple…
Today is birthday of familiar Hollywood character actor Walter Catlett (1889-1960). He began to appear in operettas as a child (with a brief detour into pugilism) and graduated to a flourish…
Fay Marbe (born this day in 1899) was a Jazz Age siren who reportedly had “Society” origins. Discovered while dancing at a charity event, she was cast in the Broadway show Oh, Bo…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Johnson and Dean were a husband-wife dance team who bridged the era between minstrelsy and vaudeville, and are best known for devel…
This post is one of a series honoring Black History Month. Earl “Snakehips” Tucker (1905-1937), was billed as “The Human Boa Constrictor” and “The Gelatinous Da…
Today is the birthday of Benny Rubin. When I wrote No Applause and wrote his bio (here) all I knew about him came from books (but that was quite a bit — he was quite a legendary charac…
This post is one in a series that defines for the layman the various types of variety arts. For the full panoply go here. We present this edition in conjunction with Black History Month. Whi…
What, I ask you, could be more vaudevillian than a banjo-playing Harry Langdon impersonator? Answer: nothing! Born this day in 1908, Gene Sheldon’s act was that he would come out and c…
Ed Lowry (born today in 1896) is better known today than he might have otherwise been, because of his legacy. He left behind his trunk of sketches, jokes and gags, which was published as the…
February is Black History Month — every day this month look at Travalanche for short biographical articles on African American vaudevillians and related subjects. And please go here fo…
And now, here’s the dynamite Princess Sunshine (Juliet Jeske) , the next installment in our Vaudephone series. Sunshine rocks the accordion and sings her signature number “Ba…
Today is the birthday of the great Eddie Cantor. (For my full biographical article go here). In honor of the day I attach what may well be my favorite musical number in the world, from the f…
Kara (born Michael Steiner on this day in 1867) was one of the first and most prominent of the “gentleman jugglers”. A native of Nuremburg, Germany he began by juggling stones as…
Today is the birthday of Will Marion Cook (1869-1944). He was emphatically not a vaudevillian, although there’s nothing about a serious musical training (he studied with Dvorak amo…
Desperate for a post today (prepare for an onslaught in February and March) I herewith present a little performance circa 1995-96 — me trying out some songs from my play House of Trash…
This 1904 Biograph film records the “Oriental” dance of one Princess Raja, whose wow finish has her swinging furniture around in her jaws. Good thing no one’s sitting on it…
Frank Cullen and Donald McNeilly are the co-authors of the indispensable Vaudeville Old and New and the previous Porridge Sisters mystery Murder at the Tremont Theatre. Here’…
And now, here’s a hilarious routine by funny man Bob Greenberg, the next installment in our Vaudephone series. Bob cuts up big time with his killer impressions of classic comics —…
Today is the birthday of possibly the coolest human being ever, Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962). I’ve already spilled a lot of ink over him, notably in this review of the recent DVD boxed set…
Mae Barnes (born on this day in 1907, according to some sources) was a popular singer and dancer who got her start at age 12 in the chorus of Harlem’s Plantation Club. After five years…
 “Eva Taylor” was just one of many professional names used by this versatile performer, who could sing, dance, and cut up in musical comedy. At various times she was also kno…
