11,746 stories by "Trav S.d."
Mae West was a pro — she had been in show business for several decades. In fact, it would be technically accurate to say that she had been a professional actress and performer s…
In continuing celebration of Mae West’s birthday….a little post about a historical event which occurred on December 12, 1937. That is the date on which Mae appeared on The Cha…
Here’s a little tidbit that should be known not only to every classic comedy fan — but to every soul, living or dead who has ever spent time on planet earth. For God’s Sake…
Continuing with our series of posts honoring Mae West in celebration of her birthday, herewith is my entirely subjective ranking of her films. As with the Marx Brothers, her output was far t…
For over 80 years, Mae West has ruled the screen, as one of the pantheon of so-called “classic comedians”, as one of the top female comedians of all time, and as a boundary break…
 My first paid acting job was in a production of an educational history play about the migration of settlers from Connecticut to the Western Reserve of Ohio in the early 19th century. It…
As readers of this blog know, an area of especial interest to us is the connection between the ancient art of theatre (with all its myriad manifestations…(clowning, high melodrama, vau…
Today is the birthday of that key member of the Algonquin Round Table Edna Ferber (1885-1968). Like many popular American writers, Ferber wasn’t so much any kind of literary geni…
Today is the birthday of Mary Nash (Mary Ryan, 1884-1976). Her stage name comes from her stepfather Philip F. Nash, an important vaudeville booker for F.F. Proctor, B.F. Keith and the Uni…
Today is the birthday of Emma Calve (Emma Rosa Calvet, 1858-1942). Calve, a soprano, was the most famous French opera singer of the Belle Epoque. Originally from Aveyro, she studied in Franc…
So much for labor saving! One of the happy benefits of having written a popular book (and now a popular blog) is that I have accrued pen pals all over this great land of ours. Hudson Valley …
Today is the birthday of Bill Wolfe (1894-1975) that cadaverous looking scarecrow whom W.C. Fields used to stick in a lot of his movies. In the accepted vaudevillian fashion, Fields loved us…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy Recreation (1914). Though amusing in spots, it’s one of Chaplin’s less distinctive efforts, b…
All day tomorrow, as part of their Summer Under the Stars series, Turner Classic Movies will be screening films starring Groucho Marx, with and without his equally famous brothers. It’…
I came across the names of African American comedy team Moss and Fry (i.e., Arthur G. Moss and Edward Frye), a.k.a. “A Couple of Blackbirds” in the terrific book The PalaceÂ�…
Today is J. Rosamond Johnson’s birthday (1873-1954): read more about the composer at my earlier post here. A few weeks back, the Edward B. Marks Music Company published a new volume of…
Today is the birthday of the mighty thespian Hobart Bosworth (1867-1943). Bosworth ran away from his Ohio home when he was about age ten and became a cabin boy on a clipper ship. After…
As part of TCM’s Summer Under the Stars salute to Joan Crawford, early tomorrow morning they will be showing two camp classics starring the high strung actress, from her late, &#…
As part of my periodic stock taking, I did a little assessment this morning of the popularity of the various comedians I write about on Travalanche. I am particularly interested (floored, re…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin Keystone comedy The Face on the Bar-Room Floor (1914). Inspired by the 1872 John Henry Titus film, Chaplin’s paro…
Today is the birthday of Sam Elliott (b. 1944). I won’t apologize for the adolescent tone for the header of this blogpost. Youthful enthusiasm and hero worship are the seed kernels of …
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy The Bank (1915). Essentially, a much improved revisitation of his earlier The New Janitor, in The Bank …
Most of you have probably heard the news, but I do have some subscribers here who don’t follow social media and it’s quite relevant to our usual beat, so we share the news here o…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1942 comedy A-Haunting We Will Go, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This is one of my favorite films from the team’s worst …
Today is the birthday of Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (1927-1959). Switzer’s Alfalfa was one of the most instantly recognizable (and popular) members of the Hal Roach kiddie star…
