11,744 stories by "Trav S.d."
At some point in recent years November 13 became “Odd Couple Day”, due to the voiceover narration at the top of every show during the ABC situation comedy’s first season: &…
November 13 is the birthday of the late Garry Marshall (Garry Masciarelli, 1934-2016). It’s not hard to remember the date; he dunned it into us at the top of every episode of The Odd C…
Maude Adams (Maude Ewing Adams Kiskaadden 1872-1953) is one of those wonderfully transitional figures in the American theatre, with one foot in the 19th century, one in the 20th. There are a…
It’s a measure of how busy and scattered I am that this post didn’t go up on Tuesday or even late Monday evening, when the afterglow of Everett Quinton’s production of Char…
Today we celebrate a minor — but not insignificant — figure in show biz history: Bob (or “Bobby”) Callahan (1895-1938), whose birthday it is today. Even comedy bu…
This Saturday night! A gala benefit to support Coney Island USA! Come, come, you must come! It’s a hundred smackers but I guarantee you it contains more than $100 of party — one …
November 8 is the birthday of the best remembered female member of Our Gang/ Little Rascals, Darla Hood (1931-1979). We remember Darla for all sorts of reasons. One is that she starred with …
The legendary Hollywood character John Decker (Leopold Von Der Decken, 1895-1947) was born on this day. Many of my New York friends live and die by dreams of the Algonquin Roundtable. Person…
Comedy character actor Joe Flynn (1924-1974) has the same birthday as me! There is no one quite like the irascible, diminutive, bespectacled Flynn, a perfect comic foil, for he could wor…
Joe Cobb (1916-2002) was born November 7. Due to his large size, Cobb was to be one of the most memorable of the original Our Gang kids, during its earliest, silent phase. He appeared in 86 …
Okay, maybe not God, but if George Burns had been unavailable, Herb Edelman (1933-1996) would have been very amusing in the role.(Even Christians ought to know that God is Jewish; if they…
Born on November 3: burlesque legend Ricci Cortez (Ethel Bronson, 1924-2008.) Originally from New York City, she changed her name for professional reasons after she started dancing circa 194…
There’s a case to be made for Thompson and Dundy — that is, Fred Thomson and Skip Dundee — being the greatest showmen of all time. There are other contenders of course and …
Having earlier done a post on classic horror era giant monster films (e.g. King Kong, etc) and also yesterday’s post on man-sized monsters of the drive-in era, this one combines the…
Songwriter and performer Tell Taylor (William Tell Taylor/Tell Roberts, 1876-1937) was born this day. Taylor was a farm kid from rural Ohio who sang with church choirs, studied music at Find…
This post was conceived as a sort of postscript to a series I did a couple of Halloweens ago which covered the classic horror monsters of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. It occurre…
Two important American cultural heroes passed away within 24 hours of each other this week; both were exactly the same age, 89. Robert Guilliaume, star of Soap and Taxi, passed away on Tuesd…
Lew Brice (1893-1966) was born on this day. Unfortunate fellow! Brother of Fanny Brice, husband of Mae Clarke, Brice was destined to be outshone by the women around him — to the extent…
John F. Byrne, founder of the Byrne Brothers, was born on this day in 1859. The Byrne Brothers may the major vaudeville act with origins closest to my own hometown in Southern Rhode Island. …
While today he is one of the better known of the Our Gang kids, Eugene Gordon “Porky” Lee (1933-2005) had one of the least eventful careers of any of them. One encounters no tale…
Bio-pics are preposterous enough when the star decides his job is to don a bad Halloween disguise to impersonate a real person — John Travolta just did a gut-busting turn as Robert Sha…
Born on this day, character actress Billie Bennett (Emily B. Haynie, 1874-1951). Bennett began her career as a stage actress in the mid 1890s, breaking into comedy films in 1913, with…
Irish-American man of the theatre Arnold Daly (1875-1927) was born and bred in Brooklyn. To my shock, he is no relation to the seminal Augustin Daly, although I have little doubt he profited…
Many thanks to friend Beth Greenberg who happened to be in Texas a few months and sent these photos back, prompting this post. Missouri-born Karl Hoblitzelle (1879-1967) was one of 13 childr…
Screen actress Marian Nixon (Marian Nissinen, 1904-1983) was born on this day. Nixon began as a teenage vaudeville dancer, before landing her first walk-on in The Shriek of Araby (1923) with…
