11,727 stories by "Trav S.d."
Roshanara (Olive Craddock, 1894-1926) is today remembered as the more authentic competitor to Ruth St. Denis in the presentation of South Asian dances to Western audiences. While St. Denis i…
Sorry for the last minute bulletin, but I only just learned about this yesterday. Tonight and tomorrow, New Yorkers, MOMA will be screening a restored version of The Unknown (1927), includin…
The fame of vaudeville performer Gus Visser (1894-1967) is ironically perhaps greater now than it was in his own day. This is because footage of Visser's hilarious act wound up in the PBS do…
A story of strange bedfellows today, and not the first we've encountered in our exploration of vaudeville's annals. And apparently content ones! We begin with Emma Haig (1898-1939), a diminu…
Opening today (January 20, 2023) at New York's Film Forum, and running through February 2, a screening series entitled Written and Directed by Preston Sturges. I have already written extensi…
David Crosby (1941-2023) has just passed away at the age of 81. Few thought he would make it to this age! I was a fan of The John Larroquette Show (1993-94), on which Crosby was stunt cast i…
A century ago this year, George Burns teamed with Gracie Allen and made their debut in a vaudeville house somewhere in New Jersey. Nowhere that I've been able to find (and I and others have …
The amazing director Richard Lester (Richard Lester Liebman, b. 1932) is still with us, though he hasn't directed for 30 years, and his career hasn't been honestly vital for 40. The reason w…
We've had numerous occasion to mention author A.A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne, 1882-1956) on this blog, and as often as not, the references were NOT to his most famous creation Winnie-the-P…
When I graduated from high school, my aunt/godmother gave me an incredibly thoughtful gift: a paperback copy of An Actor Prepares by Konstantin Stanislavski (Konstantin Stanislavski Alekseye…
News travels so quickly nowadays " apparently the great Italian star Gina Lollobrigida (1927-1923) died TODAY at age 95 and the press release is already out. Usually, you know, it's a few ho…
Vaudeville was all about the Big Finish; the best shows and the best acts all ended on a spectacular, climactic note because audience reaction was everything. Frank Bacon's (1864-1922) was o…
January 15 was the birthday of the father of modern drumming Gene Krupa (1909-1973) and this year will also mark 50 years since he shuffled off this mortal snare. Krupa remains one of the mo…
Today is the birthday of Margaret O'Brien (Angela Maxine O'Brien, b. 1937), not to be confused with Margaret Sullavan or Maureen O'Sullivan, who is not to be confused with Maureen O'Hara. No…
We were very sorry to learn the other day, a year after the fact, of the passing away of vaudeville scholar and author Arthur Frank Wertheim (1935-2020). In all fairness to ourselves in miss…
I feel hugely out of step, even a little guilty this morning. Every other show biz writer is going to be discussing yesterday's passing of Lisa Maria Presley " and I will cop to the fact the…
Today we add world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (1944-2011) to our honor roll of fighters who moonlighted in the limelight behind the footlights. Raised on a South Carolina farm, Frazier…
For most of my time on this earth Luise Rainer (1910-2015) was one of Hollywood's best known unknown actresses, on account of several distinctions that catapulted her to trivia contest immor…
Broadway and Hollywood supporting player Murray Alper (1904-1984) had over 250 screen credits (basically he was the Brooklyn cabby from central casting), but we thought it would be expedient…
Thanks, Noah Diamond for slipping me this image of an old ad for steamer trunks. Believe or not, I actually used to own one of these babies. My friend and performing partner Robert Pinnock g…
I learned the name of Gisele MacKenzie (1927-2003) around the same time I learned that of Ghislaine Maxwell, and now I live in fear that I'll always mix them up, for aren't they similar? But…
Here's an image you can't unsee; a picture of President Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) playing the piano, singing, and apparently trying to feel something. Nixon was second only to Truman as a…
Two weeks from now: please join us for two major celebrations of the bicentennial birthday of the 19th century's greatest clown and pioneering American circus impresario Dan Rice (1823-1900)…
I promise I don't write about every single thing I see or do, but last night was minorly momentous as far as I'm concerned. It marked the first time I have watched movies in a room with othe…
