11,727 stories by "Trav S.d."
As we mentioned in our recent podcast special about the Little Rascals, the great neo-big band outfit Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks is starting a 7 week residency at Birdland, with weekl…
Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) is largely pioneered with largely reinvented the tenor sax a as a jazz instrument, as well as being on the pioneers of be bop. Hawkins was a musical prodigy, play…
Happy World Children's Day! We've chosen this symbolic day to release our new podcast special exploring the 100 year history of Our Gang a.k.a. The Little Rascals. It's a half hour long, and…
Tommy (1905-56) and Jimmy Dorsey (1904-1957) were among the biggest musical names of the Big Band era, and we've had dozens of occasions to mention them here, so today we shine the spotlight…
The screen career of Eugenia (sometimes Eugenie) Gilbert (1907-1978), coincided almost precisely with the decade of the 1920. (It's an auspicious day for those with her surname; W.S. Gilbert…
Man, do I find myself intrigued by the career of character actor Robert Weil (1914-2002). On account of the kinds of projects he did, I'm going to guess that his origins were in burlesque, o…
Martin Scorsese (b.1942) turns 80 today, so I thought it would be a good time for some kind of omnibus post on him, having scribbled about his movies piecemeal over the years. Thus far in so…
Question #1: Is Casper the Friendly Ghost cool? Answer: WRONG! Caspar is WAY cool since Daniel Johnston wrote a song about him. Question #2: Is he the only cartoon character named Casper? An…
Born 100 years ago today, the amazing, always memorable Royal Dano (1922-1994). Dano was a supporting player, but one of those ones who was so distinctive that he stood out even in bit parts…
Returning to work at Theater for the New City for a couple of months earlier this year gave me a shot in the arm in more ways than one. We've been living in a sort of frustrating exile since…
Which is more than Edina and Patsy would admit to doing " turning 30, I mean. One of the principal jokes of Absolutely Fabulous (1992-96) was that the two characters, played by Jennifer Saun…
November 15 was the birthday of dancer, choreographer, actress and painter Tilly Losch (Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine Losch, 1903-1975), not to be confused with Lillie Tossas (not that you would,…
November 15 was the date of the birth of Martin Nodell a.k.a Mart Dellon (1915-2006). Who's he when he's at home, you wonder? Well, he's the chap who originally cobbled together the perplexi…
What a great double feature this will make with today's earlier post on Jack Smith, he thought, rubbing his hands together… The mature Meg Myles (1934-2019) was a regular on soap operas th…
I owe more than I can say than I can say to the 1991 book Midnight Movies by J. Hoberman and Jonathan Rosenbaum, which goes far beyond its title to contextualize the films at its center, pai…
Ah, here's a rarity " a figure in classic comedy to whom I have any kind of close cultural relation. Director Henry Codman "H.C." Potter (1904-1977). Potter's cinematic footprint is small bu…
Long ago, Whoopi Goldberg (b. 1955) became an American institution. Her stage and screen credits wax close to a thousand in number. She acts in movies, plays and tv shows; does solo theatre …
I wish I had known the amazing story of Roy Radin (1949-1983), beginning, middle, and end, when I was writing my book No Applause, as I definitely would have incorporated it into the last ch…
The title of this post is devised because its core subject is no apparent relation to either George Whiting or Jack Whiting, each of whom we have profiled, and it will concern not only songw…
Well, I have little doubt that there will be no "too soon" grace period for jokes about the fact that Gallagher (Leon Anthony Gallagher Jr, 1946-2022) has gone to that Great Watermelon Patch…
I hope the techno-geeks among the readership don't feel misled by the headline. I refer to restoring the reputation of the great French film-maker; not the physical preservation of his films…
Roy Scheider (1932-2008) would have been 90 years old today. Stardom came late to this unique actor (he was nearly 40 when his career hit), which meant that fans only got about 20 years of h…
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) would have been 100 years old today, but of course that wasn't about to happen after all those Pall Malls. As a result of some kind of cosmic joke, Vonnegut's birth…
Thanks to a tipster who put it on my radar, it gives me great pleasure to let readers know about the new musical The Tattooed Lady, starring the divine Jackie Hoffman. (Her character's name …
November 10, 1940 was opening night of the legendary New York nightclub known as The Copacabana. Powerful English press agent Monte Proser, who had represented Flo Ziegfeld, Walt Disney, and…
