Wednesday, April 15, 2026
The 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 04:06PMIt’s the birthday of Francis Ford Coppola today, and since I’ve already done a biographical appreciation of the film-maker, and one about his first feature, I thought this would be a pro…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:03PMApril 7 was the birthday of Tin Pan Alley songwriter and Broadway producer Jack Lawrence (Jacob Louis Schwartz, 1912-2009). Brooklyn-born Lawrence studied to be a podiatrist at the insistenc…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMSurely you recognize Joanna Lee (1931-2003) from her best known screen role, Tanna in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956). What you may not know — and I was delighted to discover �…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMThe second of my two posts today concerning people connected with Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), the previous one focusing on screenwriter Carl Erickson. This one is about actor Gavin Gor…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMThis marks the first of two posts today concerning people connected with one of my favorite movies Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). A young man named Carl Erickson (1908-1935) co-wrote the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:24AMMonday, April 6, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 6, 2026 is about Vernon Dalhart, debatably the first country singer. Earlier Travalanche posts for April 6 (in no particular order) include ones on:…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMWhat is a country singer? That is a question raised by the career of a man deemed by some to have been the first of them, Vernon Dalhart (Marion Try Slaughter, 1883-1948). First of all, to c…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AMSunday, April 5, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for April 5, 2026 is an appreciation of Gregory Peck. It also happens to be the 100th birthday of the late Roger Corman. And Happy Easter to these who celebra…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PMQ — Why did the chicken cross the road? A — To see his friend Gregory Peck. (A favorite joke of my high school girlfriend) As I pen this, the birthday of Gregory Peck (1916-2003) falls o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AMSaturday, April 4, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for April 4, 2026 are about Richard Coogan (Captain Video) and Laurie Beechman (The Laurie Beechman Theatre). Earlier Travalanche posts for April 4 (in no pa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PMWhile I’ve mentioned the name of Laurie Beechman (1953-1998) a couple of dozen times on this blog, it has invariably been in the context of the theatre that is named for her, a cabaret ven…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM 
