11,492 stories by "Trav S.D."
As an outgrowth of working on my book No Applause (now over 20 years ago!) I became something of an aficionado of what may well be one of the worst of all cinematic subgenres, film for film …
I could find no good photo of radio and television director Robert Dwan (1915-2005), but this one of his memoir As Long as They're Laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life (2000) will do…
A few months ago I learned (from Eve's Obits, I think) of the death of Eva, the taller member of the Berlin performance art duo (and married couple) Eva and Adele. I have no idea who they re…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 31, 2026 are about jazz great Red Norvo, and performance art couple Eva and Adele (for Trans Day of Visibility). Earlier Travalanche posts for Marc…
Born of a March 31: jazz great Red Norvo (Kenneth Norville, 1908-1999), master of the melodic mallet instruments: vibraphone, xylophone, and marimbas. Norvo started in a Chicago band called …
Today's new Travalanche post for March 30, 2026 is about an upcoming New York screening of Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush. ALSO: Today is National Doctors Day. I've created two previous …
New Yorkers and Near-New Yorkers! I am excited to report the news the my good friends of the Silent Comedy Film Series are presenting a centennial screening of Charlie Chaplin's great featur…
Today's new Travalanche post for March 29, 2026 is about vaudeville performer and silent screen actor James O. Barrows. It also happens to be World Piano Day. See my post on The Piano Player…
Some lives and careers of significance come with no thrilling hook or angle; the individuals in question were simply at the Big Show, in the limelight, but not at center stage. Yet knowing s…
Thanks Carly Sommerstein for affording me the privilege of attending the memorial concert for Clem Burke at the Bowery Palace this past Thursday. Burke, who passed away about a year ago, was…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 28, 2026 are about Flora Robson, Frank Lovejoy, and the memorial for Clem Burke. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 28 (in no particular order) in…
Frank Lovejoy (1912-62) had an extremely pleasant face and voice, yet he was just gritty enough to get cast mostly as cops, reporters, and military people. You've surely seem him in things, …
Dame Flora Robson (1902-1984) was not unattractive (to my eyes) in her younger years, but by middle age she was known for playing severe characters, forbidding queens and dowagers, spirited …
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 27, 2026 are about Snooky Lanson, Maud Gage Baum, and some final works of Noah Diamond's Pintele. Also, it's World Theatre Day. My key to many of t…
A science teacher at my old high school used to characterize his teaching method every time he conducted a review for a quiz or an exam thusly: "I told you I was gonna tell ya, I told ya, an…
March 27 was the birthday of Maud Gage Baum (1861-1953), just three days after the birthday of her famous mother Matilda Joslyn Gage. Today Maud is much better known for her relationship wit…
I was more aware of Snooky Lanson (Roy Landman, 1914-1990) than I otherwise might have been as a kid growing up in the 1970s because a close family friend had the same nickname, apparently d…
Today's new Travalanche post for March 26, 2026 is about character actor Strother Martin. I've also updated my post on Martin Short to reflect recent sad developments. Earlier Travalanche…
Odd to report, I happen to know that exact day that I learned the name of character actor Strother Martin (1919-1980). Martin was the guest host on one of the very last episodes of Saturday …
Just a brief shout out for director and all around movie man Ray Enright (1896-1965). Enright made his mark in three cinematic genres (others as well, but these three, in particular): comedi…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 25, 2026 are about movie directors David Lean and Ray Enright, and vaudeville and Broadway star Ralph Herz. Also, today is the anniversary of the T…
That's right! Ralph C. Herz (1878-1921) Get with it, people! I only learned about Herz because I was writing about one of his wives, Lulu Glaser, to whom he was married from 1907 through 191…
I think it's funny that a man noted for making lengthy, bloated, motion picture epics was named David Lean (1908-1991). The director's best known films are about as svelte as Jack Sprat's Wi…
Today's new Travalanche posts for March 24, 2026 are about a new exhibition on magicians at the NYPL, pioneering feminist (and L. Frank Baum's mother-in-law) Matilda Joslyn Gage (born 200…
Today is Houdini's birthday. He's the only magician who has his own section here on Travalanche. I've something big planned for later this year, since 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the…
