Saturday, February 14, 2026
A post now on Lena Horne’s Valentine, born of a Valentine’s Day, Leonard “Lennie” Hayton (1908-1971). Hayton was was Jewish kid, raised in New York in a family of classical music l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PMWell, this is TECHNICALLY a Valentine’s Day post, but as the title should tip you off, it’s more about violence than about sex. But it DOES have a Jazz Age/ Prohibition Era theme that ma…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PMHappy Valentine’s Day! Seemed a good time for a post on a long-forgotten one-season sitcom created by Hal Kanter, best known for his long-time association with Bob Hope. Valentine’s Day …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AMBorn too of a Valentine’s Day was actress Frances Dade (1907-1968), notable for playing the screen’s first Lucy in Dracula (1931) and for being named a WAMPAS Baby Star — and for havin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AMHow wonderful that Fanne Foxe (Annabel Edith Villagra, 1936-2021) was born not just on Valentine’s Day, but on the very same day that the subject of our last post, Joan O’Brien. It was j…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:01AMToday we sing the praises of radio singer Jessica Dragonette (Jessica Valentina Dragonetti, 1900-1980). As her given name indicates, Dragonette was born on Valentine’s Day to Italian-Ameri…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:54AMSinger and actress Joan O’Brien (1936-2025) passed away back in May, but we decided to save a tribute for her natal day, Valentine’s Day. O’Brien was still in high school when she bega…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:54AMBorn 100 years ago today: television producer Albert “Al” Brodax (1926-2016). Brodax grew up in Washington Heights and Brooklyn, the son of a coat manufacturer. He served bravely in comb…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:02AMFriday, February 13, 2026
When Jerry Springer (1944-2023) passed away three years ago, I posted some nasty online comments, which I can’t seem to find now. I may have deleted them . delete half the things I post on…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for February 13, 2026 are about Jerry Springer and Sidney Smith, creator of The Gumps. Earlier Travalanche posts for February 13 (in no particular order) incl…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PMKnowest Thou of The Gumps? I’m pretty sure I’m unaware of any other pop culture franchise that was as major as this that has vanished so completely. Its last gasp was in 1959 and it was …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AMThursday, February 12, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for February 12, 2026 are about Joseph Kearns (Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace); French ventriloquist Robert Lamouret; little person actor Nabil Shaban; the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AMWell, the day has finally arrived! I’ve been waiting for friend and frequent collaborator Noah Diamond’s podcast series Pintele for months, literally, now and here it is, episode one. I …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AMToday would have been the 73rd birthday of Nabil Shaban (1953-2025); the actor passed away back in October. Shaban was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. The Jordani…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AMFebruary 12, 1844 marked the premiere of the temperance melodrama The Drunkard, or The Fallen Saved. We’ve previously written about this play in our review of The Metropolitan Playhouse’…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:32AMTribute today to radio, tv, film, and cartoon voice-over actor Joseph Kearns (1907-1962). Kearns was of Salt Lake City Mormon stock. He first went into show business in a vaudeville kiddie a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:32AMFebruary 12 was the birthday of French singer, comedian, and ventriloquist Robert Lamouret (1912-1959). Lamouret’s “partner” was a talking duck in a sailor suit named “Dudule”. Jus…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:24AMWednesday, February 11, 2026
Saddened to learn from Eve Golden that Bud Cort passed away today. Harold and Maude are reunited. Fly and be free, Brewster McCloud! My 2023 tribute to the actor is here.
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:36PMFor multiple legit reasons, I held my nose the last couple of nights and endured the new 3 part “documentary series”, Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV (2026). (For reasons I …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:36PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for February 11, 2026 are about the late French clown guru Philippe Gaulier and a new docu-seeries about Trash TV. Also, we lost Bud Cort today. My 2023 tribu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:36PMI am a little late with this tribute to the late clown teacher and theorist Philippe Gaulier (1943-2026) for the best possible reason. When all the obits began to hit yesterday, I was at the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMTuesday, February 10, 2026
February 10 was the birthday of Roberta Flack (1937-2025). She passed away nearly a year ago. I found the recent tribute to her at the Grammys unexpectedly moving, so this seemed to be the y…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:01AMToday’s new Travalanche posts for February 10, 2026 are about the late Roberta Flack, vaudeville singer Sid Gary, and pin-up/ starlet Valerie Allen. Earlier Travalanche posts for February …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:01AMValerie Allen (1936-2013) would have been 90 years old today. Allen was second generation show business, and came awfully close to stardom, but she shifted gears after a dozen years before t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:54AMA few fragments on vaudeville vet Sid Gary (Sidney Garfunkel, 1901-1973). Was he related to Art Garfunkel? I dunno, but I mean, come on, how many Garfunkels could there be? What I do know is…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:54AMMonday, February 9, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for February 9, 2026 is about the political revolutionary Thomas Paine. Earlier Travalanche posts for February 9 (in no particular order) include ones on: The …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PMThis year we celebrate the birthday of Thomas Paine (1737-1809) at a time when his ideas are once again in dire need of dissemination, absorption, and implementation. The cultural forces he …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AMSunday, February 8, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for February 8, 2026 are about music producer (and Doris Day son) Terry Melcher; and early movie actors Hallam Cooley and Doris McMahon. It’s also National …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PMFebruary 8 was the birthday of early screen star Hallam “Hal” Cooley (Hallam Burr, 1895-1971). Cooley claimed to have been a relative of Aaron Burr’s, hence, I surmise, the name change…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36PMToday we treat of show business legend Terry Melcher (Terrence Paul Jorden, 1942-2004). Melcher’s legacy has had the misfortune of being overshadowed by two larger personalities who intere…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMToday we celebrate the birth of New Vaudeville comedian Emo Philips (Philip Soltanec, b. 1956). To those too young to process the designation — we do not mean that Philips sports a hat and…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AM 
