11,837 stories from Trav S.D.
The release date of the motion picture Serpico (1973) was 50 years ago today. We went back and re-watched this classic of my youth a few months ago, prompted by Isaac Butler's excellent book…
Don't get confused! I don't mean Blythe Danner or Tyne Daly, but just what I said, Blythe Daly (1901-1965), although I've seen many spelling permutations of same, including Blyth Daly, Blyth…
This is not a review but just a notice that today is the release date for the new documentary A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps. Full disclosure: I have a dog in this hunt! My so…
In spite of the fact that I have done posts of Max Baer, Sr., as well as The Beverly Hillbillies, Paul Henning, Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, and Nancy Kulp I'm pretty certain I'd never have done…
As promised a few days ago, I traveled out to Park Slope to see the first performance of the 25th Anniversary season of Dzieci Theatre's Fool's Mass last night. This is the second of a proje…
Today would have been the 90th birthday of talk show host and actor Les Crane (Lesley Stein, 1933-2008). There is an Icarus-like quality to Crane's brief fame. He was nationally prominent fo…
Well, I'm still grinning from ear to ear. I was one of the lucky few hundred who were at last night's invited dress for ONEOFUS's latest holiday panto at the Abrons Arts Center, Sleeping Bea…
Yes, it's true, Sarah Silverman (b. 1970) has the same birthday as Woody Allen, Bette Midler, Richard Pryor, and Dick Shawn. Did she just decide to become a combination of all of them? She k…
Our most devoted readers know that the mission of this blog and our books, talks, podcasts, etc has to do with much more than some kind of "salute to vintage pop culture". That may well cons…
For Scotland's National Day we celebrate a Glasgow venue that many claim is the oldest music hall in Great Britain, The Britannia Music Hall (also known in later years as The Panopt…
November 30, 1912 was the date of the first Royal Variety Performance, also known as the Royal Command Performance. Attentive readers know that this writer is no fan of monarchy and pretty h…
Just the briefest of tributes to Australian swimming champ Beatrice Kerr (1887-1971), for she had the briefest of show biz careers. Kerr was only about 17 when she won several contests and b…
Full disclosure: I don't know that I ever would have done a post on Shuggie Otis (b. 1953), all things remaining the same, though indeed I did do a post on his legendary father Johnny Otis. …
Thanks once again (and thanks daily) to Eve Golden, Cup Bearer to Thanatos, for the sad yet timely knowledge that Spanish burlesque legend Sticky Vicky, a.k.a. Vicky Leyton, a.k.a. Victoria …
Exciting news for fans of Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun. His new rock opera Killin' Republicans opens tomorrow night (Thursday, November 30) at Theater for the New City. Though best kn…
Born 90 years ago today, British Blues revivalist John Mayall (b. 1933). This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the formation of his influential band, the Bluesbreakers. Most people va…
Where my Albanians at? Tell me: are there any Albanians in "da house"? Okay. I won't put you through any more of that. November 28 is Albanian Independence Day. It commemorates the date in 1…
Maurice "Muzzy" Marcellino (1912-1997) was a singer, musician, big bandleader, and professional whistler. We'll obviously get to the latter accomplishment, it's the most vaudevillian thing a…
Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock, 1939-2023) passed away back on May 24. This was too momentous for a hasty, ad hoc memoriam, so I opted to wait and do a more thoughtful tribute on her birthday…
Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) was a pioneer of the modern English-speaking theatre, with important contributions to nearly every discipline within that compound art form: acting, direc…
Author Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) was born on this day. For those tracking 18th century English (or Anglo-Irish) comic wits, this makes him a bit younger than Swift, slightly younger than F…
"Thanksgiving" (1935) is the most famous painting of American artist Doris Lee (1905-1983). I thought it worth contemplating today for a couple of reasons. One is that it is from that very s…
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It's the date we tend to think of when honoring this President. No one remembers his birthday (May 29). They remembe…
Mae West passed away on this day in 1980. If she were alive, she would be 143 and couldn't even pull off Sextette. Yet on this particular November 22, Westian mourners may have some new/old …
November 21 was the birthday of James T. Drummond (1834-1897), the founder, 150 years ago, of the Drummond Tobacco Company. And that would probably be of little interest here but for the fac…
