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Happy Birthday, Janey Godley, and May You Rest in Peace
Through some miracle of Divine Providence, Scottish comedian Janey Godley (Jane Godley Currie Storrie, 1961-2024), most famous for greeting the 45th President of the United States to her country with...
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The Tex and Jinx Show
More examples of the ephemerality of fame in the broadcast media: the largely forgotten pair of John Reagan “Tex” McCrary Jr. (1910-2003) and Eugenia Lincoln “Jinx” Falkenburg (1919-2003). Tex and...
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R.I.P. Jules Feiffer
And so one black day succeeds another, and so it shall be for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t surprise me that Jules Feiffer (b. 1929) endured but one day of the restored Trump monarchy, and said...
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On the Coming of Conan, and the Leaving of Robert E. Howard
When the screen version of Conan the Barbarian starring Arnold Schwarzenegger hit screens in 1982, most people who thought about it all, I’ll wager, made the understandable assumption that its origin...
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On “Medicine Man”: That Time Ernie Kovacs and Buster Keaton Formed a Comedy Team
This morning finds me in an ever-worsening funk of several days standing. Though there are about a half dozen notable show biz professionals born on January 23 I might conceivably add to our annals...
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The Maria Tallchief Centennial
Once in a blue moon, the subject of one of our centennial posts is being celebrated elsewhere. Maria Tallchief (1925-2013) is being remembered in a program of dances associated with her this season at...
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Happy Robert Burns Day
January 25 is Robert Burns Day, a.k.a Robbie Burns Day a.k.a. Rabbie Burns Day, obviously in celebration of the birth of the Scottish National Poet (1759-1796). Apparently Burns Day has edged out St....
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The Paul Newman Centennial
That’s right, ladies and other lovers of Paul Newman — he was born on this day in 1925. Another Newmanian benchmark recently passed a few weeks ago: 70 years since his first movie The Silver Chalice...
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Of George Randolph Chester and Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
January 27 was the birthday of writer George Randolph Chester (1869-1924). We’ve had many occasions to mention his principal works on this blog, for they were adapted for stage and screen many times...
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The History of James Cromwell
I am proud to realize that I have been a fan of James Cromwell (b. 1940) for over 50 years now. The 6’7″ actor played practical joker Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family starting in 1974. He then...
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A Post for Holocaust Remembrance Day
The sentiment “Never Forget” seems to be in deep jeopardy these days, both home and abroad, on countless fronts. People’s hearts have grown hard. Is it possible that they’ve forgotten those images...
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Happy 75th Birthday, Barbi Benton!
Barbi Benton (b.1950) has been retired for nearly 40 years, so I will forgive spring chickens for not recognizing this omnipresent 1970s television celebrity. But I assure you, there was a time when...
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The Color of Kansas
Not to worry, this is not a post about the lame ’70s rock group — you can sleep soundly in your beds knowing I’ll never waste time writing about that. Rather, this is the latest in my catch-as-catch...
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FDR and the Media
January 30 was the birthday of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). This is far from the best photo of FDR. It depicts his last address to Congress, in March, 1945, and he looks as old and frail as...
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Eddie Cantor’s Silent Comedies
This may shock even the few living people who remember stage and screen star Eddie Cantor at all, but he was a briefly in silent movies! We associate Cantor with musical comedies, of course, and that...
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An Eddie Cantor Finding Aid
Clap hands, it’s Eddie Cantor’s birthday! In celebration we have spent all day sprucing up the Eddie Cantor section of Travalanche, and present you now with this handy finding aid to help you navigate...
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For Black History Month: The Hyers Sisters
For Black History Month, a brief introduction to the Hyers Sisters, pathbreaking black singers and actors, whom I only just learned about while putting together my recent post on bandmaster Patrick...
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On Purv Pullen, a.k.a. Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath
Purv Pullen (Almy Purves Pullen, 1909-1992) was a voice-over artist for animated films, radio and records, a comedian, ventriloquist, and puppeteer. His specialty was bird calls, which had been an...
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Emmett Miller: Missing Link
I chose the photo above to head this post on Emmett Miller (1900-1962) because it’s the one I could find that will be least offensive to modern sensibilities. Notwithstanding, Miller was an...
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On Betsy Gay and the Whole Gay Family
Well, what do you know about that? A theme of sort emerges today. February 2 is the birthday of Betsy Gay (b. 1929), a cornfed child performer who sang, danced and yodeled, and it’s also the birthday...
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