11,837 stories from Trav S.D.
Oh, fiddlesticks, the most important movie ever made is The Wizard of Oz. Anyway, thanks, Kevin Maher, for reminding me that today marks the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast of the…
Today, we shine a light on Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008), not to be confused with Evelyn Kaye, who played the violin, or Jerry's Piano Girls, who played the keys. Keyes was a Hollywood chorus gir…
This is the farthest thing from a timely post: it contains some old news and some even older news, and is (seemingly) irrelevant with regard to the crisis news of the day, although I believe…
A shout-today to actor Steve Railsback (b.1945). As Bela Lugosi is to Dracula, so is Steve Railsback to Charles Manson, for better or worse. Having played the sixties cult maniac in the defi…
Released to cinemas 40 years ago this very day, the unlikely holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983). I've never met anyone who doesn't love this movie, ranging from people old enough to no…
Loring Smith (1890-1981) was a veteran of vaudeville, Broadway, film and television, with a career spanning around 50 years. A native of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Smith first took the s…
The Rolling Stones are very much alive in our house at the moment. Not just because the remaining members of the band released their first new album of original music in 18 years only a mont…
Learned about this just in the nick of time! Tomorrow, Nov 18 at 3pm EST, Cleveland burlesque artist Bella Sin is offering this free and timely talk which invites you to challenge the way yo…
This one goes out to friend Edward Einhorn, longtime champion of the work of Vaclav Havel, both through his own Havel Festival and now as the newly appointed artistic director of the Rehears…
How appropriate that the birthday of voice-over actress Joan Gardner (1926-1992) was in the lead up to the holidays? Her best known credits were in holiday specials. She was Tiny Tim in Mist…
Irish-American comedian Paddy McGuire (born ca. 1884) died this day in 1923 " a century ago today. McGuire's career was short but prolific: nearly 80 films in a little over five years. But i…
November 15 was the birthday of humorist, columnist, radio personality and Algonquin wit Franklin P. Adams (Franklin Pierce Adams, 1881-1960). In his day, Adams was best known as a regular o…
While I have long known the most famous work of regionalist painter John Steuart Curry (1897-1946), I'm quite sure I never knew the name of the artist, because if I had I would have taken no…
I know not whether Gertrude Olmstead (1897-1975) was related to the famous designer of city parks, but I do know that, astoundingly, she is far from the only bygone star named Gertrude, what…
Everything goes in threes, so they say, so this is our third big post in honor of the late Mari Lyn Henry. The first was in the aftermath of our very fortunate meeting last year, wherein she…
A tribute today to the memory of of Brother Theodore (Theodore Gottlieb, 1906-2001). For years and years, long after he passed away in fact, there was a sign advertising Brother Theodore's l…
It is characteristic of this specialized age that appreciation for Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) seems to have declined over the past century. And yet it is the very eclecticism of his undert…
Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023) died on May Day of this year. Sometimes I'm ready and able to do a rapid response tribute to somebody when they suddenly pass away (much as Lightfoot did for a c…
For the great Ed Wynn's birthday this year, I have spruced up my previous post on The Perfect Fool, and add this spotlight on his ground breaking TV variety show. That he was brave enough to…
I swear I haven't gone car crazy (today's earlier post was about TV shows sponsored by Chevrolet). It's just that this seemed the best angle for me to take on my post about singer Patti Page…
I don't give two hoots in hell about cars or car companies, but it just so happens that Chevrolet did sponsor some great radio and television variety shows and that IS our bailiwick, so we t…
Please join me Saturday, November 18, 6:00pm (EST) for a special live-stream event celebrating the 60th anniversary of one of my favorite movies, Stanley Kramer's beloved all-star comedy …
When Dan W. Quinn passed away on November 7, 1938 he'd been out of the limelight for 20 years. With the Big Band Era in full swing (!) he was little remembered by the record buying public de…
The tale of stage star May De Sousa (1884-1948) is one of great unexpected success, followed by tragedy great enough to sap whatever savor there was of her triumphs. This is a common enough …
When people want to kid around about the British Invasion of the 1960s, it's usually Herman's Hermits or The Dave Clark Five they'll mention, presumably on the grounds that they were among t…
