11,703 stories by "Trav S.D."
I've little original to say upon the the topic, but I cannot let it go unobserved: today marks 100 years since George Gershwin premiered his Rhapsody in Blue at Aeolian Hall in New York (Feb…
The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was incorporated on this day in 1890. I'm not here to celebrate or endorse their product, but RJR did leave a camel print in the shifting sands of show busi…
Harry Beaumont (1888-1966) is not regarded today as a great cinematic auteur, and perhaps he shouldn't be in terms of such matter as camera placement, shot composition, and so forth (and to …
Today's post on Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) goes out to another Carmen M, my friend Carmen Mofungo (Michele Carlo), one of the many performers influenced and inspired by the Brazilian star. (…
I categorically discourage this sort of thing but an acquaintance recently approached me and asked whether the James Murray he saw in some vintage advertising for a vaudeville bill that feat…
You see what I did there, right? It wasn't easy. Just TRY to find an unglamorous photograph of James Dean (1931-1955). Naturally, to focus my search, I went to "as old man in Giant", calcula…
Sudden death always feels like a sucker punch, sometimes more than others. I just got the word that Kenyan actor Charles J. ("Charli") Ouda has passed away at the age of 38. I had the happin…
Today we pause to acknowledge actress Gloria Talbott (1931-2000). We've had a handful of occasion to mention Talbott here, chiefly in relation to her horror films: she has key roles in The C…
The bad news " my hard drive died so I won't be churning out a few thousand new daily words for a couple of days. The good news? I've just opened up to the public over 900 additional posts t…
This one is far from an exclusive but the show biz angle lured me in. I'm quite sure I first heard of Ronald Pellar (1930-2013) a.k.a Dr. Dante a.k.a. Ronald Dante a.k.a. Mr. Hypnotist as th…
Melanie (b. 1947) passed away a week ago. I'd already planned a post for her birthday, which is today, so I thought I'd save the obit and let this one, regrettably, do double duty. Melanie S…
Launching today in New York: Sapph-o-Rama, Film Forum's 30 film series of movies "exploring the eccentric, enduring, and genre-encompassing history of the Lesbian image in cinema". The most …
A somewhat unusual case to contemplate today: a father and son, both of whom made well-known, well-respected and popular movies in two countries: France and America. Maurice Tourneur (Mauric…
It's quite true, although it must be pointed out that there have been three generations of Drs Bronner since the mid 20th century, and many generations of soap-making Heilbronners before tha…
Bill Mumy (Charles William Mumy Jr, b. 1954) turns 70 years old today. For someone who has nearly 100 screen credits accumulated over nearly half a century, and has distinguished himself in …
More than once here have we pointed out the real true fact the many theatrical forms that owe their origins all or in part to France: melodrama, farce, vaudeville, burlesque, revues, even th…
Oh, there's no "dirt" on Tammy Grimes, per se, only information. it's just wordplay and a shameless headline. Grimes (1934-2016) was an actress/performer whose legend was primarily in the th…
We've long since passed 100 posts on the topic of William Claude Dukenfeld, a.k.a. W.C. Fields (1880-1946) on this blog and so we thought we'd mark his birthday (January 29) with this new ha…
Yes! Google it and you will find many published books and articles with titles much like this post! I even dropped his name with reference to the many uses of the word vaudeville in my book …
If I were any kind of a guy, I'd plug every single episode of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast as they drop, but the naked truth is, I can't keep up. It's the only podcast I listen to, but …
January 27 was the birthday of stage star Benay Venuta (Benvenuta Rose Crooke, 1910-1995). Old time movie fans will probably know her best from the movie musicals Annie Get Your Gun (1950, a…
It's Australia Day, and I've already done my big Australia omnibus post, so this year I thought I would do a short piece that flows very naturally out of my recent ones on Martin Sharp and t…
January 25 is National Florida Day. Two of my brothers have retired to the Sunshine State, and they keep inviting me to come down for a visit, which I have half a plan to do. The origin of t…
I'm not sure why I never thought to scratch beneath the surface of the career of classic Hollywood director Henry King (1886-1982) before, as I love several of his films. But I'm glad I did …
January 23 is the birthday of Chita Rivera (Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson, b. 1933). I'll risk getting New Yorkers' backs up by being overexplainy about who she is, for her l…
