11,729 stories by "Trav S.d."
A few words this morning on German-American bandmaster and composer Theodore "Theo" Metz (1848-1936). Born the same year as Europe's multiple "Revolutions of 1848", Metz became one of thousa…
Classic film fans know well the work of Henry Hathaway (1898-1985), especially later triumphs like the original True Grit (1969), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), How the West Was Won (1962, …
Young singer/pianist Estrild Raymona Myers (1909-1972) performed under the single name "Ramona", much like the incomparable Hildegard, and "Jerry" (she of the Baby Grands). In her day, it wa…
We just learned of the passing of designer and director Tony Walton (1934-2022). I once had the honor of talking to him for about an hour at a party, although I rather stupidly didn't know i…
Like millions around the world, I can't help obsessing about the conflict in Ukraine (I was about to characterize it as "one-sided" but, no, the Ukrainians, from uniformed soldiers to old la…
Playwright Kenneth H. Brown (1936-2022) passed away a month ago, but as with my recent Howard Hesseman post, I thought I'd save an obit for his impending D.O.B, which is today. And another t…
Haha, THAT title got your attention! With this post, I believe we complete the Holy Trinity of Jewish comedy Marties, joining Marty Allen and Marty Feldman. No less of a kooky character than…
I am proud and relieved to report that, as it turns out, my lifelong record of never having seen Cirque du Soleil remains unbroken. (Curious about why? Looka here). I was offered a chance to…
This past weekend we had the distinct privilege of obtaining a much clarified picture of an American institution we had long known and written about and occasionally experienced: the small t…
A hard-working sword swallower was born in Russia on this day in 1881. He had more professional names than a check kiter and I've no idea which came first, although over his half century car…
The life and career of Kalla Pasha (Joseph T. Rickard, 1879-1933) make for a ripping yarn, one both comical and dramatic " just like a wrestling match! Originally a professional wrestler, Pa…
A credo for the times, for good or for ill. 100 years ago this day black Broadway star Bert Williams left the earth at the young age of 47. The causes were a bad heart and, more immediately,…
Paging Friends of Dorothy! Haha, and straight people, too. But on a whim I just did a little tally and realized that we have done articles on nearly 30 Dorothies here on Travalanche. That wo…
More exciting news for Buster Keaton fans! This weekend, New York's Film Forum is launching a two month series of Keaton films called Buster's Century (though to be quite anal, they're later…
Fans of classic movies all know and love character actor Felix Bressart (Solomon Breslau, 1892-1949). The wispy, willowy little man with an otter-like face often played music masters, profes…
The name Edwin Milton Royle (1862-1942) is important in show business annals for at least a couple of different reasons. One is that he wrote The Squaw Man, which had five Broadway productio…
I originally published this review here on Travalanche ten years ago (2012). At some point, I moved most of my book reviews over to Goodreads. A couple of days ago a bunch of people noticed …
Today would have been the 80th birthday of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones (1942-1969); this year will also mark the 60th of the Stones as a group. The fact that the Stones outlasted him …
To clarify what we intend by the title of this post and what is meant by "us": A member of the human race? Sure. A proponent of (small "L", small "D") liberal democracy? No doubt. Jewish? Tr…
"Happy birthday, Howard Hesseman" " sounds like the title of a Kurt Vonnegut novel, doesn't it? Mr. Hesseman (1940-2022) passed away a month ago, but it happened during a seemingly unprecede…
Here's a major British entertainment phenomenon that never seemed to cross the puddle, but is well worth knowing about. Ventriloquist Peter Brough (1916-1999) was a major star of music hall/…
Appropriately surnamed was Alan, or Al Bridge (1891-1957), whose nearly 300 screen credits are split between B movies (mostly westerns) and main features. And we all know the drill by now " …
Happy World Sword Swallowers Day! It is scheduled every year for the last Saturday in February. This year's is a special one on Travalanche however as it is the first one to come along since…
February 26 is a good day for Paulines. It gave us Pauline Musters, the Smallest Woman Ever. And also stage star Pauline Hall (Pauline Fredrika Schmidgall (1860-1919). Like Musters, Hall was…
One week from today (March 4, 2022) will mark the centennial anniversary of the passing of the great black comedian Bert Williams. To observe this milestone I'll be presenting a podcast abou…
