11,746 stories by "Trav S.d."
I first saw Groucho Marx on prime-time television, when he was still alive. This was years before I saw any Marx Brothers movie, but Groucho was a well known figure, and so when I saw him on…
Today is the birthday of Bert Lytell (1885-1954). Lyell was a thespian of stage and screen, whose Broadway career lasted from 1902 to 1946, and whose film career from 1917 to 1953. A notable…
Today is the birthday of the great Marjorie Main (Mary Tomlinson, 1890-1975). The daughter of an Indiana minister, Main started out in vaudeville, on the Chautauqua and Orpheum circuits. She…
This being the birthday of the great Marjorie Main, we thought we’d take the opportunity to publish a little guide to the comedy film series she starred in with Percy Kilbride, Ma a…
Today is the birthday of Miss Juliet (Juliet Delf, 1889-1962). She appears to have been a musical impressionist in the mold of Elsie Janis and to have begun her career in the 1910s. She was …
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of Alan Rickman (1946-2016). He passed …
Filed under: African American Interest, Comedy, EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES, Indie Theatre, Jews/ Show Biz, PLUGS, Women Tagged: Fried Chicken and Latkes, Museum of Jewish Heritage, performan…
Today is the birthday of Susan Fleming (1908-2002). Appropriately enough, the lady who would one day marry Harpo Marx began her career as a chorine, although she hadn’t appeared in a s…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Punch Bowl, Ziegfeld Society
Today is the birthday of Canadian-American song and dance man Donald Brian (1877-1948). Originally from Newfoundland, he started out in medicine shows and then became a tenor in the Boston C…
Great News, comedy lovers! Our friends at BearManor Media are offering something great in support of I’ll Say She Is. Donate $50 to the new production and receive a $50 …
Today is the birthday of the actor Chester Morris (John Chester Brook Morris, 1901-1970). Many people know Morris primarily as the star of the Boston Blackie serials from the 1940s. I …
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Magicians/ Mind Readers/ Quick Change, PLUGS Tagged: Adam RealMan, Cardone, House of Magic, magic, Slipper Room
Happy Presidents Day! Officially this is a day on which to celebrate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but I’m viewing it as a good opportunity to write about several others in ad…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, Indie Theatre, PLUGS, Valentine's Day Tagged: Laurie Beechman, Le Scandal, Miss Bonnie Dunn, Valentine's Day
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Valentine's Day Tagged: burlesque, Burlesque-a-Pades, Pontani, Valentine's
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Valentine's Day, Vaudeville etc. Tagged: Filthy Gorgeous Burlesque, Highline Ballroom, Shelly Watson, Valentines Spectacular
Today is the birthday of one of the last of great actor/managers William Faversham (1868-1940). I was tempted to include him in our Hall of Hams, but though Faversham was a great dramatic ac…
Filed under: Amusement Parks, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Dime Museum and Side Show, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: 2016 Spring Gala, Coney Island USA, Fred Kahl
Filed under: Burlesk, Indie Theatre, PLUGS Tagged: Hollywood Honeymoon, Le Poisson Rouge, The Love Show
Today is the birthday of tennis great “Big Bill” Tilden (1893-1953). Long a symbol of the Roaring Twenties, Tilden was the World #1 tennis player from 1920 through 1925, won seve…
Today is the birthday of Roy D’Arcy (Roy Francis Giusti, 1894-1969). I am wracking my brains this morning as to how he ever got onto my radar — and I think it is because I saw hi…
Today is the birthday of the great midwestern humorist, author and playwright George Ade (1866-1944). I’ve already blogged here about his Fables in Slang and other humor, incl…
Today is the birthday of Alma Rubens (Alma Genevieve Reubens, 1897-1931). Originally from San Francisco, Rubens started out when still a teenager as a chorus girl in musical comedies. There …
 Today is the birthday of Valerie Bergere (Valerie Zenobia de Beaumont Lieb, 1867-1938). Borne in Alsace-Lorraine, she moved to to the San Francisco area with her family some time prior t…
