Friday, November 7, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 7, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 7, 2025 is about Joni Mitchell and a can of worms she opened. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: I…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM

The Minstrel Act of Joni Mitchell by Trav S.D.

Joni Mitchell (b. 1943) was born on November 7. Unlike some of my friends (all of them singers, and all of them female) I know very little of Joni Mitchell’s music apart from her hit singl…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:12AM
Thursday, November 6, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 6, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 6, 2025 is about rock musician, movie actor, and murderer Bobby Beausoleil. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 6 (in no particular order) incl…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM

The Dark Cloud of Bobby Beausoleil by Trav S.D.

November 6 is the birthday of murderous Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil (b. 1947). I’m not here to celebrate the man’s life, by any means, but I just wanted to point out some areas…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:18AM
Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 5, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 5, 2025 is about silent movie child star Baby Marie. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 5 (in no particular order) include ones on: Hats Off w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AM

Three Rattles for Baby Marie by Trav S.D.

Thus far we have told you of Baby Peggy, Baby Leroy, and even Baby Rose Marie on this all-encompassing universal Ur blog! Today we tell a tale of yet ANOTHER baby! Can there be more babies? …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:12AM
Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 4, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 4, 2025 is about Ralph Spence (The Gorilla). Earlier Travalanche posts for November 4 (in no particular order) include ones on: Will Rogers Joe Fr…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PM

Ralph Spence: Titled Royalty by Trav S.D.

Little is known about the origins of Ralph Spence (1890-1949), but by the mid ’20s he had earned a reputation as Hollywood’s most highly paid and best known title writer, and was highly …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31AM
Monday, November 3, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 3, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 3, 2025 is about the life and death of Hungarian Jewish silent comedian Charles Puffy. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 3 (in no particular …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PM

How Charles Puffy was Murdered by Three Governments by Trav S.D.

I first learned about plus sized silent comedian Charles Puffy (Károly Hochstein, 1883-ca. 1943) from Ben Model’s excellent book The Silent Film Universe earlier this year. He also wrote …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06AM
Sunday, November 2, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 2, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 2, 2025 is an All Souls’ Day message. For real! Earlier Travalanche posts for November 2 (in no particular order) include ones on: Burt Lancaste…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AM

A Message for All Souls Day by Trav S.D.

November 2 is, for some of us, All Souls’ Day, the day when we remember the Departed, which is to resurrect them, so to speak. Confusingly, it’s the third day of Allhallowtide, with All …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:12AM
Saturday, November 1, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for November 1, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for November 1, 2025 is about about barnstorming Shakespearean Daniel Bandmann. On this day 100 years ago, three significant things happened: 1) Buster Keaton�…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PM

The Travels of Daniel Bandmann by Trav S.D.

We had occasion to mention 19th century actor Daniel Bandmann (1837-1905) the other day. As it happens, November 1 was his birthday. A German Jew from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Bandmann firs…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:31AM
Friday, October 31, 2025

Happy Birthday, Brian Doyle-Murray by Trav S.D.

Brian Doyle-Murray (b. 1945) turns 80 today. I always find it amusing when someone who has seemed old and crusty and cantankerous for many decades reaches such a benchmark, because what’s …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM

50 Years Ago: The Night That Panicked America by Trav S.D.

Ah, Worlds within Within Worlds Within War of the Worlds! As it happens, 50 years ago was the broadcast premier of the TV movie The Night That Panicked America (1975)…whereas the actual �…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 31, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Happy Halloween! Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 31, 2025 are about Brian Doyle-Murray, John Keats, a new documentary about John Candy, the 1975 TV movie The Night That Panicked …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AM

On John Keats by Trav S.D.

John Keats (1795-1821) had a lot of nerve being born on Halloween when it was Byron and Shelley who were were at that Frankenstein party, but on the other hand he was obsessed with death, an…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AM

John Candy: I Like Me by Trav S.D.

How fitting for a man named Candy to have been born on Halloween, eh? My original post on John Candy (1950-1994) was written a dozen years ago, and now it’s over three decades since he lef…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AM

Just a Bit on Jessica James by Trav S.D.

I have very little intel on character actress Jessica James (1929-1990) but man oh man am I intrigued, and only partially because of the attribute so energetically highlighted above. This po…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18AM

Ted Shapiro Was No Zero by Trav S.D.

Ted Shapiro (1899-1980) was a show biz legend, though he was usually mentioned as a sort of footnote to other stars. The son of Jewish immigrants from what is now Lithuania, he came to fame …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18AM
Thursday, October 30, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 30, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for October 30, 2025 is about Bobby Alto. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 30 (in no particular order) include ones on: Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon’s Darker…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PM

On Bobby Alto and His Buddies by Trav S.D.

Bobby Alto (Robert Altomare, 1938-2012) was born on October 30, though this post won’t strictly be about him, because he often worked with partners. I came across Alto’s name when I was …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AM
Wednesday, October 29, 2025

R.I.P. Prunella Scales by Trav S.D.

Thanks to Eve Golden for the sad intel about the passing of Prunella Scales (b. 1932). Natch every obit is foregrounding Fawlty Towers but she’s just supporting John Cleese there. For my m…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 29, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 29, 2025 are include tributes to the late Prunella Scales, as well as Lew Parker (That Girl), and vaudeville and Broadway comic actress Rose Stahl…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PM

On the Original Rose Stahl by Trav S.D.

The title of this post is to clarify that we are not referring to the ex-wife of troubled actor Nick Stahl, who has acted and done other work in the film business, but was born Rose Murphy. …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:31AM

Of Lew Jacobs, Lew Parker, and Lew Marie by Trav S.D.

That Girl with Marlo Thomas was one of the very first TV shows I ever watched when I was a very small child. A few years ago I reconnected with it and it was a very happy experience. It reaw…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM
Tuesday, October 28, 2025

The Last Loop of Ormer Locklear by Trav S.D.

Here’s why you’d better pay attention when the ringmaster or emcee tells you “no flash photography”. Ormer Locklear (1891-1920) was a barnstorming stunt pilot who perished while in t…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM

Dope on Dody Goodman by Trav S.D.

Folks my age recall Dolores “Dody” Goodman (1914-2008) primarily as a comedienne or comic actress. She came off as a kind of dippy, flighty, small town woman, probably Southern, with a s…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 28, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 28, 2025 are about comedienne and dancer Dody Goodman, mind-reader J. Randall Brown, and ill-fated stunt pilot and silent movie star Ormer Lockyea…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AM

J. Randall Brown, Reader of Wrists by Trav S.D.

How fortunate for one’s Halloween mood that the best pic of J. Randall Brown (1851-1926) is this spirit photograph? While the ghost is unidentified, we do have some knowledge of Brown, one…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:18AM

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