11,754 stories by "Trav S.d."
I think when someone finally does an accurate, TRUE accounting, it will be found that most of the best musicals of the 2nd half of the 20th century came not from Broadway but from children&#…
Today is the birthday of Jerry Lewis (b. Joseph Levitch in 1926). Though he came into the world just a hair too late for vaudeville, his parents (former vaudevillians) let him onstage with t…
Today is the birthday of Sydney Chaplin (1885-1965). As the elder half-brother of Charlie Chaplin, the world owes him much. Not only was he the person responsible for introducing Charlie to …
Today is the birthday of Marion Byron (1911-1985). Born Miriam Bilenkin in Dayton, Ohio, she sang and danced briefly in vaudeville before being cast by Buster Keaton as his co-star in Steamb…
Today is the birthday of T. Nelson Downs, a.k.a. The King of Koins (1867-1938). An Iowa native, he taught himself to manipulate coins and cards as a boy. At age 28, after years of working fo…
Today is the birthday of George Walsh (1889-1981). The younger brother of film director Raoul Walsh, he was a serious high school and college athlete, he put those skills to good use as an a…
Today is the birthday of Henry B. Walthall (1878-1936). Walthall was the son of a wealthy Alabama cotton planter, raised in a plantation manor house and raised by tutors — excellent tr…
Good news! My new book  Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, is now available to order in a Kindle edition via Amazon.com. It doesn’t sit han…
Tonight at the Box, the Gotham Chamber Opera is opening its run of Eliogabalo, which the Dutchess and I are planning to catch next week. Both of us are huge fans of Austin McCormack of Compa…
Today is also the birthday of slide guitarist Ry Cooder (b. 1947). Just a quick post here for a shout out for one of my favorite soundtracks, to a movie that’s always been a guilty fav…
Today is the birthday of Sam John “Lightnin’” Hopkins (1912-1982). A Texas native, he was mentored in the blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson, whom he first heard playing at a c…
Today is the birthday of Joe E. Ross (1914-1982). Ross had gotten his start as a singing waiter as a teenager. By that time vaudeville was already a thing of the past. he spent the bulk of h…
Today is the birthday of Chang Yu Sing (a.k.a Chang Woo Gow, 1847-1893). Born in Fuzhou, Fuijan China, he began to grow with startling speed at age 7; by age 18 he was nearly 8 feet tall and…
A post in celebration of Women’s History Month. Today is the birthday of Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair (1857-1939). In 1918, this Scottish aristocrat, phil…
At least the first half hour is, and that’s all the New Improved Duchess and I could stomach, before grabbing our coats and stomping out of the cinema muttering dark promises of reveng…
Today is the birthday of big band leader Les Brown (1912-2001). Now I like swing music well enough, though it’s not my all-consuming passion. But comedy fans will know why he is on my …
 Today is the birthday of Chuck Reisner (1887-1962). Originally a boxer, he performed in vaudeville for ten years and was a Broadway lyricist before going out to Hollywood in 1915 to act…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #461: Clarice Vance (Clara Etta Black, 1870-1961). See my earlier post here for a full biography. Here she singing her 1909 hit “Love Me Lik…
Today is the birthday of the magician Arnold de Biere (1876-1934). Originally from Poland (it is believed) he made his first major success at Tony Pastor’s in 1901. He went on to conqu…
This is a post in honor of Women’s History Month. Today is Kitty Watson’s birthday. Kitty (1886-1967) and Fanny (1885-1970) Watson were both a sister act and a comedy duo, maybe …
Today is the birthday of Jack LeClair (1890-1971). He started out in vaudeville in 1912 with a comedy acrobatic act called the LeClair Trio with Al Stern and Tad Tosky. Most of his career wa…
Aloha! Here we are with this week’s Vaudephone! And a worthy one it is, containing as it does the great Lady Aye (for more info on this interesting performer go here). Please note the …
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Slipper Room
Today is the birthday of Lightning Slim (1913-1974). While cited by many critics as one of the top bluesmen of all time, he has not fared well in the public’s memory, possibly due to t…
Today is the birthday of the late Igor Kio (1944-2006), an internationally famous magician with the Russian circus association. A second generation illusionist ( his father was the famous Em…
