11,754 stories by "Trav S.d."
Jennie Quigley (1851-1936) was billed as ‘The Scottish Queen” by her boss P.T. Barnum when she began working for him at age 13. Standing less than two feet tall at the beginning …
Filed under: Dime Museum and Side Show, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: NYC Tattoo Convention
Just passed this on my lunch break. Evidence of vaudeville? What? Where? It just so happens that this little pocket of Brooklyn used to be known as Albee Square, because it was built up arou…
Today is the birthday of Louis “Studs” Terkel (1912-2008). Though born in NYC, he moved to Chicago when he was 8 – - and it’s hard to think of anyone more closely ass…
How do we explain Liberace to our children? Do we try? Or should they be left to grapple with life’s enigmas on their own? Won’t that make them stronger? Born on this day in 1919…
Reposted from 2010. Julius Tannen was the premier vaudeville monologist — what we today call a stand up comedian. He started out in 1901, and by the 20s was one of the top headliner…
Today is the birthday of actor Taylor Holmes (1878-1959). He started out by acting in one-act playlets in vaudeville. He started out in 1899 at Keith’s Theatre in Boston, and then spen…
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 James Mason (1909-1984). With hisÂ�…
I risked the fate of Myrtle Wilson this morning as I walked down the street re-reading The Great Gatsby on the way to work. At 182 pages the paperback edition is an easy thing to re-re…
100 years ago today Keystone released the memorable early comedy Their First Execution. Special thanks to Ben Model and Steve Massa who introduced me to this film through their Crue…
Originally posted in 2011. For a time during my childhood, at an age far too old to have been healthy, I believed that Oz was a real place. This may be credited both to an unhappy childh…
Today is the birthday of Marion Sunshine (Mary James, 1894-1963). She got her start at age five acting in the melodrama Two Little Waifs and later went into vaudeville. For a time she was in…
Oh, this isn’t really a competition (42 vs. The Jackie Robinson Story). It’s like trying to suss out the outcome of an exhibition game between the 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers and…
Today is the birthday of show biz wunderkind Bobby Darin (Walden Robert Cassotto, 1936-1973). The subject of Darin (and some others like him) is a fascinating one for someone of my age to pr…
Today is the birthday of jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Sidney Bechet (1897-1959). Bechet is considered one of the first important jazz soloists, and possibly the first im…
Today is the birthday of Yvonne and Yvette McCarther (1949-1992). Born joined at the top of the head, it was predicted that they would be unable to walk and that they would both be me…
Today is the birthday of Jenks “Tex” Carman, the Dixie Cowboy (1903-1968). Born into a large Kentucky farming family, he picked up guitar as a kid and started playing at church a…
Originally posted in 2009. The most famous female impersonator of the vaudeville era, Julian Eltinge was a point of cultural reference as late as the early 1960s when Lenny Bruce dropped…
Today is the birthday of Maude Fulton (1881-1950). Together with her partner William “Billy” Rock (1867-1920) she formed a popular act in big time vaudeville from around the turn…
Today is the birthday of magician Carl Hertz (Lieb Morgensten, 1859-1924). A San Francisco native , he first gained notice in London in 1884 performing tricks purloined from Buatier de Kolta…
Today is the birthday of Tin Pan Alley songwriter Grant Clarke (1891-1931). Originally from Akron, in vaudeville, he performed himself and wrote songs and special material for Bert Williams,…
Born in India in 1888, Piramel Sami possessed a parasitic twin brother growing out of his chest. For the sake of showmanship, the poor half-creature was represented as Piramel’s sister…
On March 24 of this year the Palace Theatre turned one hundred years old. In celebration of the event, me and my American Vaudeville Theatre are presenting a Special One-Time Only Tribute Sh…
Just wanted to expend a few words on a terrific play I saw yesterday at LaMama. Jill Campbell’s Chemistry of Love would make a highly compatible companion piece to Robert Honeywe…
Today is the birthday of the sadly short-lived Richie Valens (1941-1959), stolen from the world in the same plane crash that took Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Since Valens was on…
