11,729 stories by "Trav S.d."
This post actually dates to over 3.5 years ago, when some over-hasty vulture jumped the gun and announced that Olivia Newton-John (1948-1922) was dying of cancer…in response to which she (…
I'm sure I was prompted to investigate Nigel de Brulier (Francis Packer, 1877-1948) by his role as Rajah the Fortune Teller in Mae West's I'm No Angel (1933). But I quickly realized that I k…
A brief thing on Nora "Teddy" Sampson (1895-1970), who figures in the histories of vaudeville and silent comedy both. Sampson was born and raised in New York City, the daughter of an Irish i…
Happy National Sisters Day! This is an especially auspicious day to peruse our section on the sister acts of vaudeville and other entertainment forms, where you will find over 50 posts. Toda…
I chanced to come across the name of John W. Ransone (1852-1929) the other day and recognized it, and was nonplussed to see that I had not yet done an article on this once popular and signif…
I can't tell you how delighted I was this morning to realize that Paul Bartel (1938-2000) shares a birthday with Andy Warhol. Not only did Bartel frequently work with former Warhol Superstar…
I only just learned the sad news from friend Paul Bartlett that Theater for the New City co-founder George Bartenieff (b. 1933) passed away on July 30. Bartenieff was one of those exceedingl…
August 4th was the birthday of vaudeville performer Jed Dooley (1884-1973). According to this auction site, Dooley's partners in his trick cycling act were his siblings Ethel and Billy. They…
On the strength of his movie career alone, I doubt I would have done a post on actor David Brian (Brian Davis, 1914-1993), despite the fact that insomuch that he is remembered at all, that w…
We are over a week late in reporting the news of the passing of that towering international exponent of Irish culture Mick Moloney (1944-2022). Though sad news, I was glad to have learned of…
The deep, dark, dirty secret of Travalanche is that its author spends much more of his time watching contemporary television than either classic movies or theatre. I tend not to blog about c…
We promise that it is only a coincidence that we are posting about Yank cover girls two days in a row. As it happens, today's subject, Patricia Dane (Thelma Patricia Pippins, 1917-1995) is p…
August 3 was the birthday of cinema pioneer William Kennedy Dickson (1960-1935). Somehow or other, I have managed to write about just about all of the major early American film studios (Edis…
Born 100 years ago today, actress and dancer Martha Holliday (Harriette Olson, 1922-1970). We're not certain whether Holliday would have made it into our annals if not for not that significa…
When it came time to devise a professional name, Mae Smith (1890-1971) of San Rafael, California chose personal significance over immortality perhaps: "Marin", after the county she came from…
August 1, 1962 (60 years ago today) marked the first appearance of the Marvel character Spiderman in Amazing Fantasy #15. This isn't a comics blog, nor one that pays special attention to the…
Just a few lines this morning about minor British character actor Charles Paton (1874-1970), not to be confused with old time blues man Charley Patton! The Paton in question was born and rai…
I realized the other day that of course the celebrity I wanted to meet most in the world was Geraldine Chaplin (b. 1944). (When I was a child, it had been Judy Garland, though that was quite…
Henry Ford (1863-1947) was born of a July 30. Why post about him on a blog that's focused on the history of show business? Well, I'll tell yer! I mentioned Ford no fewer than four times in m…
British comedian, actor, and singer Bernard Cribbins (1928-2022) gave up the ghost today at age 93, and naturally many are leading with his Doctor Who connection, but that'll have to be some…
Not so fast! The true Latin scholar never uses the word "vulgar" vituperatively. Vulgaris means "of the people". I just needed a word with V. As it happens, your correspondent is agnostic on…
Tony Sirico (1942-2022) would have been turning 80 years old today but for the fact that he slipped away from us three weeks ago. Somebody get the lime and shovel out of the trunk! (Too soon…
Don't feel bad if you don't know the name Laird Cregar (1913-1944). He was well on the way to becoming a star, but his early death at age 31 meant he left scarcely more than a dozen films to…
More people should know the name Maureen Dallas Watkins (ca. 1896-1969) but at least now YOU do. Her name honestly ought to be as well remembered as Ben Hecht's, not just because as a journa…
July 26 was the birthday of Stanley Kubrick. Having had cause to mention him on Travalanche around 50 times, it would seem to be about time for a dedicated post on the director, though one c…
