Saturday, April 18, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 18, 2026 are about nightclub comedian Jack White and Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians. Also, it’s World Circus Day. Earlier Travalanche posts f…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:54PMNo, not GARY Owens. HARRY Owens (1902-86). Owens was not a native Hawaiian, in fact he was about the farthest thing from it, a product of America’s Great Plains. He was born on O’Neil, N…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMBy way of explanation, there are at least four show biz Jack Whites to concern ourselves with (or not): 1) the contemporary one, i.e., the guy from The White Stripes; 2) the one classic come…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:32AMFriday, April 17, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 17, 2026 are about silent screen actor Otto Lederer and a new TV show about Scott Joplin. Also, some good news: the live episode of the Marx Brother…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMI don’t usually plug old-fashioned live TV airings anymore apart from particularly exiting showings of old movies on TCM, Criterion, and such like, but I wanted to let you know about this …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:48AMToday we celebrate the career of character actor Otto Lederer (1886-1965), whom I know intrepid viewers have seen in prominent parts in some major films even if the name doesn’t immediatel…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMThursday, April 16, 2026
I’ve had occasion to mention Dusty Springfield (1939-1999) perhaps ten times on Travalanche, she’s at least that significant in 20th century pop culture. But prior to doing my homework, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for April 16, 2026 are about Dusty Springfield, Johnny Silver, and Christy Cabanne. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 16 (in no particular order) include on…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18PMEarly photos of movie director Christy Cabanne (1888-1950) resemble the famous electro-charlatan Dr. Walford Bodie. It happens that Charlie Chaplin had once done a music hall act that lampoo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:03AMI think we’re learning that classic comedy loves #47 on the Period Table of the Elements. Back in the day, there was Phil Silvers, Sid Silvers, Joe Silver, Monroe Silver (from “Cohen on …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:03AMWednesday, April 15, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 15, 2026 is about prototypical hippie songwriter and naturalist eden ahbez, writer of “Nature Boy”. April 15 was the day Abraham Lincoln was shot…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:32PMThe serpentine path that led me to the fascinating story of eden ahbez (George Aberle, 1908-1995) came by way of Gypsy Boots, I think, and I’m pretty sure I was led to Gypsy Boots by Fathe…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PMTuesday, April 14, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 14, 2026 are ones celebrating the 100th birthday of Liz Renay and the 200th birthday of Burdette Johnson, founder of Palmolive (they sponsored radio…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PMToday marks the 200th birthday of Burdette Jay “B.J. Johnson (1826-1902), founder in 1864 of the B.J. Johnson Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Who are they, when at home? Why, only the cre…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMBorn 100, years ago today, exotic dancer, actress, and actress Liz Renay (Pearl Dobbins, 1926-2007). Most of us in the modern world know Renay as one of the stars of John Waters’ Desperate…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AMMonday, April 13, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 13, 2026 are about two events that happened in NYC this past weekend 1) The Marx Brothers Council Podcast weekend, and 2) the Tartan Day Parade. Als…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:18PMI got very lucky on Saturday! I’m sure Noah Diamond didn’t plan it that way, but his Marx Brothers walking tour was awfully convenient for yours truly as it was just a block from the Tar…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:18PMAs we reported back in March, this past weekend wrought a rare opportunity for fans of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast to meet, greet, and sit at the feet of the triumvirate that has been …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PMSunday, April 12, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 12, 2026 is about actress and tap dancer Eleanore Whitney. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 12 (in no particular order) include ones on: The Tramp…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AMBrief but nonetheless real was the career of tap dancer/ actress Eleanore Whitney (1917-1983). Like that other Eleanor (Powell), Whitney was a tapper from kidhood. The story goes that she me…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AMSaturday, April 11, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 11, 2026 is about Dick Zigun’s Coney Island Crackpots. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 11 (in no particular order) include ones on: On Barber S…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:32AMI love this photo of the young Dick Zigun, for I love the moment it captures, the 1980s, around the time he was co-founding Coney Island USA and not long after he completed that vaunted Yale…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:18AMFriday, April 10, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 10, 2026 is about the Siblings of Vaudeville (it’s National Siblings Day) Earlier Travalanche posts for April 10 (in no particular order) include o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:32PMThursday, April 9, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 9, 2026 are about Frankie Thomas (Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) and a very fun theatre event I am involved in on May 1. Earlier Travalanche posts for Ap…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PMBetween 1988 and 2018 scarcely any year went by when I didn’t have at least one, sometimes several, plays that I wrote on their feet in New York, and sometimes other towns too. Since then …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PMApril 9 was the birthday of actor Frankie Thomas (Frank Thomas, Jr., 1921-2006). I was already planning to write about the star of TV’s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950-55), when I learned t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:32AMWednesday, April 8, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 8, 2026 are about Broadway photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston, character actor Walter Connolly, and the upcoming Clownvergence. Also see my special…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:02PMApril 8 was the birthday of Alfred Cheney Johnston (1885-1971) thus providing us with an opportunity to add another photographer to Travalanche’s slowly expanding group portrait. Admired f…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54PMRun, don’t trip! Tomorrow, April 9 marks opening day of the 2026 edition of Clownvergence, an online convention and series of workshops for professional (and student) clowns and those who …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:42PMWe’ve been long overdue to deliver a post on character actor Walter Connolly (1887-1940), star of Broadway, Hollywood and radio of the 1920s and ’30s. Most articles ignore what I take to…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:32AMTuesday, April 7, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 7, 2026 are about Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now (1966), as well as songwriter Jack Lawrence, actor Gavin Gordon, screenwriter Carl…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:06PM 
