11,839 stories from Trav S.D.
I cannot tell a lie, all the good intel on Alice Washburn (1860-1929) comes from Steve Massa's indispensable tome Slapstick Divas. I'll give you broad strokes; there are lots more specifics …
The writer known as O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910) covered a lot of ground in his relatively short life: small town druggist, bank clerk, Texas ranch hand, hotel cigar vendor, p…
I am pleasantly surprised this morning to learn how much is now concretely known about the famous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (1801-1881), and her daughter Marie Laveau II (1827-ca. 1890s). I …
National Suicide Prevention Week, an annual public awareness campaign organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, launches today. It's not a pleasant topic, but it's an impo…
Today's post concerns not the esteemed President, but the son of the famous actor Joseph Jefferson, who went on to distinction in his own right, even if he did have a confusing name. This Th…
Had we not lost him earlier this year, today would have been the 64th birthday of The Amazing Johnathan (John Szeles, 1958-2023). Early as his passing was, it might have been much earlier. H…
Born 100 years ago today: actor Cliff Robertson (Cliff Parker Robertson III, 1923-2011). In preparing this post I came across a quote about Robertson to the effect that he "never became a ma…
Okay, I freely admit that this is not the most momentous day in show business history, although it may be somewhat of note to people precisely my age: today marks the 50th anniversary of the…
Few voice-over actors had the range of Don Messick (1926-1997), who could go from straight parts to character roles to non-humans (a specialty) often in the same cartoon, without the audienc…
Most sources are telling the life and death of Gary Wright (1943-2023) wrong, so I feel compelled to step in and attempt a better job of it. The headlines are reading like Wright was a one h…
Born this day Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III, 1949-1982), founder of The Cockettes, The Angels of Light, et al. The Cockettes were a kind of anarchist, avant-garde, hippie, gay, San …
Only our ignorance has prevented us from doing a dedicated post on Daryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979) hitherto " but it's not the ignorance you think. I mean, I know all the classic Hollywood pictu…
"Sardoodledom" is that coinage of George Bernard Shaw's to describe what he took to be one of the diseases of his age, an undue reverence on the part of the public and theatre professionals …
Even the most arcane esoteric abstract aesthetic theorist of the 20th century turns out to have a pop culture angle. A few in fact. The first is that long before his theatrical scribblings r…
Happy Labor Day, for those who celebrate. Does anyone? Labor Day is one of our most peculiar non-holiday holidays. Ostensibly it's the official day to celebrate the workers, but everyone kno…
Today is World Beard Day! Many, I suppose, will be celebrating beards in general, which is all well and good. I think right away of ancient Greeks, men of the 19th century, men of the 1960s …
September 2, 1953 is a day of special significance to some of us. It's the day Little Fugitive premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The title of this wonderful movie could apply to itself …
Above you see presented my small collection of some of the works of journalist, historian and pioneer of the True Crime genre Herbert Asbury (1891-1963). I'm quite sure I discovered Asbury t…
August 31 was the birthday of stage actress Florence Walton (1883-1981), whom I previously profiled here. As I mentioned in that earlier post, friend Mari Lyn Henry had the rare opportunity …
August 31 was the natal day of Robert Emmet Odlum (1851-1885), the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. You thought it was Steve Brodie, didn't you? Well, Brodie was the first man to j…
A few words today in celebration of Dick Vosburgh (1929-2007). New Jersey born and RADA educated, Vosburgh began writing for BBC radio in the 1950s. He then moved up to British television, w…
The briefest of squibs today on one of my favorite visual artists since boyhood, Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). David's period of activity stretched from the end of the Ancien Régime, thr…
William Friedkin (1935-2023) was born August 29; we choose this year to add him to our annals as he passed away a couple of weeks ago; his final film is being released next month; and this y…
The title of this post is to indicate that we do NOT refer to the learned jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes JUNIOR (1841-1935) who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932, and was the …
For whatever reason, I don't find Hal Thompson (1899-1966) half as objectionable as most of the ciphers and cigar store Indians who played the male love interests in Marx Brothers' comedies.…
