11,829 stories from Trav S.D.
The world is horrible so as an antidote, I proffer these two Rhode Island cultural tidbits, as fluffy as a clamcake: 1) The streaming series Sirens is set in a very Block Island-esque locati…
Cole Porter, Jackie Mason, S.N. Behrman, Bob Cummings, Michael J. Fox, Fred Waring, Skip James, Harry Gribbon, George Axelrod, John Howard Payne, and Leslie Banks were all born on June 9; so…
The title of this piece in not to imply that my previous post on Joan Rivers (Joan Molinsky, 1933-2014) was in any way improper. It was however, incomplete. I wrote it in 2013, when she was …
Vaudeville lovers owe much to the enterprise of Hans August (H.A.) Spanuth (1884-1976). Spanuth was a second generation cultural figure. His father, August Spanuth (1857-1920) was a German p…
Tribute today to burlesque legend Kitty West (Abbie Jewel Slawson, 1930-2019), whose ingenious stage name plants the idea in your head that you've heard of her before, no doubt because it so…
Broadway composer Charles Strouse (1928-2025) would have been 97 years old today; we lost him three weeks ago. Strouse left behind a staggering body of accomplishment at the time of his pass…
Having had temperatures in the high 80s in New York the past couple of days put me in an odd frame of mind to contemplate the life (and death) of British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott (…
This may shock you, maybe it won't, most likely you won't care, but I was a huge fan of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (2002-2004) back in the day, and I'm still a fan of Quinn's. If you wonde…
Before Mitzi Green and Mitzi Gaynor, show biz had Mitzi Mayfair (Juanita Emylyn Pique, 1914-1976). This Mitzi started out as a kid act in vaudeville at age 11 in her hometown of St. Louis, e…
Okay, no one remembers Peter Donald (1918-1979) but the handful who do know him as the Irishman Ajax Cassidy from Allen's Alley on The Fred Allen Show. In that and such-like capacities he wa…
Tribute now to stage and screen actor Tyler Brooke (Victor Hugo de Bierre, 1886-1943), known especially for his association with classic comedy. Brooke had been a bank clerk and a lawyer pri…
June 5 is National Hot Air Balloon Day, so we thought we would expend a little hot air celebrating their history and presence in pop culture, as we have done previously with blimps and Zeppe…
Of all the major comic strips of the early 20th century, it seems to me none have been quite as forgotten as Toonerville Folks. I'm trying to think why. In its own time (1908-1955) there wer…
I've only caught the first episode of The Mortician, HBO's three-part documentary series, airing over three consecutive Mondays through June 15, but I hasten to recommend it for a couple of …
June 3, 2025 marks the centennial anniversary of the maiden voyage of the Goodyear Type AD airship Pilgrim, the first commercial non-rigid airship to use helium. Though the company had be…
June 2 is the birthday of Charlie Watts, Johnny Weissmuller, Jerry Mathers, Marvin Hamlisch, Max Showalter, Kevin Brownlow, Cagliostro, June MacCloy, Leopoldo Fregoli, and Valaida Snow, et a…
I've come across the occasional mention of this chap, who appears to have been well-regarded by contemporaries, so we include him now in our annals. Jack Goode a.k.a. Jack Good (Irwin Thomas…
I was so bummed to miss the premiere and launch party for The Big Johnson, Lola Rocknrolla's documentary on the life of queer icon Dean Johnson (1961-2007) a couple of weeks ago, but fortuna…
Tomorrow is the release date of Aaron Smith's new book Natural Born: Circus, Sideshow, and The Art of Being Human (Outside Talker Press). But before I sing its praises, I only just realized …
Today, a show biz father and son, each legendary in completely different spheres. The father was character actor Douglas Fowley (Daniel Fowley, 1911-1998). Fowley amassed over 300 credits in…
Well, I couldn't let National Alligator Day pass without adding pop culture representations of this ancient reptile to our store of animal posts. Just click on links below to learn more abou…
We seem to to be all about the headlines today, although I think you'll agree we are keeping it on mission. Dramatic events concerning the Texas Renaissance Festival, generally touted as the…
A few items of timely clown and silent comedy news have accrued, so I've bundled them into this handy bulletin: It's that time again! Since last year's was such a resounding success, applica…
May 28 was the birthday of Edith Massey (1918-1984) the dentally challenged oddball at the heart of most of John Waters' early movies, best known for her egg-sucking scene in Pink Flamingos …
This will be my third substantial post on the late Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman (1952-2023). I was among the many for whom Reubens was a professional hero. That guy had a LOT of vaudev…
