Monday, August 25, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 25, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 25, 2025 are about Don DeFore, black vaudeville star Gertrude Saunders, and the new book Mr. Moser’s Neighborhood: The Intersection of Cleveland …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:12PM

A Date With Don DeFore by Trav S.D.

I think of him as more of a straight man, but Don DeFore (1913-1993) definitely had a foot in classic comedy, by appearing in such films as It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), My Friend Irma…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PM

Mr. Moser’s Neighborhood: The Intersection of Cleveland and Vaudeville by Trav S.D.

This book was released several days ago, and I’ve had a copy in hand nearly as long, but I did want to give the once over before posting my unconditional plug! The title of Christopher Roy…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:03PM

Getting Gertrude Saunders by Trav S.D.

Those who saw the 2015 HBO bio-pic Bessie, may recall the scene where Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith confronts her husband and manager Jack Gee (Michael K. Williams) about the attention he is…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AM
Sunday, August 24, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 24, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 24, 2025 are about early game show pioneer Dennis James, actor Steve Guttenberg, and the recently departed Jerry Adler. Previous August 24 posts in…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PM

R.I.P. Jerry Adler by Trav S.D.

Thanks, Eve Golden, for the sad intel that Jerry Adler (1929-2025) breathes no more. 96 years old! He must have had the same doctor as Fyvush Finkel! Strange…I had cause to mention him her…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:03PM

The Steve Guttenberg Bible by Trav S.D.

All things remaining the same, it might have been quite some time (if ever) that I would have devoted a post here to actor Steve Guttenberg (b. 1958). But a couple of recent developments hav…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM

The Many Games and Claims of Dennis James by Trav S.D.

Over 9,000 posts on Travalanche and I have not yet had any occasion to mention broadcasting announcer, emcee, commercial pitch man, and game show host Dennis James (Demetrio “Demie” Spos…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AM
Saturday, August 23, 2025

R.I.P. Tom Ladshaw by Trav S.D.

I only just got the memo (via Dan Christopher’s TikTok) that magician and ventriloquist Tom Ladshaw passed away suddenly back on August 7. A sure sign the social media isn’t working for …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:32PM

R.I.P. Ed Gale by Trav S.D.

Today would have been the 62nd birthday of Little Person actor Ed Gale (1963-2025), if he hadn’t passed away back in May. The Michigan native was 23 years old when cast as the body of the …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 23, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 23, 2025 are about Warhol Superstar Viva, and the late Little Person actor Ed Gale. Previous August 23 posts include ones on: Gene Kelly (and his fa…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:12PM

Viva Viva! by Trav S.D.

August 23 is the birthday of Viva (Janet Susan Mary Hoffman, 1938). Viva was one of the few Warhol Superstars to have a modicum of a screen career after departing the Factory. The daughter o…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AM
Friday, August 22, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 22, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 22, 2025 is about David Chase and The Sopranos. Previous August 22 posts include ones on: Dorothy Parker Valerie Harper and Rhoda George Herriman an…

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

On David Chase, and Why the Sopranos is the Best TV Show in History by Trav S.D.

David Chase (b. 1945) turns 80 today. Which sounds young, if anything; the guy has been working in television for over 50 years. My apologies in advance for the sheer conventionality of this…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AM
Thursday, August 21, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 21, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 21, 2025 include ones on film and television creator Hugh Wilson (WKRP), Dreamlander David Lochary, and the recently passed Michael Antunes, saxoph…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:32PM

The Highs and Lows of Hugh Wilson by Trav S.D.

Few people have created so many well-known and well-loved projects and yet remained so anonymous as writer/ director/ producer Hugh Wilson (1943-2018). Wilson started out as an ad-man; by 19…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM

R.I.P. Tunes by Trav S.D.

I experienced a strange collision of worlds yesterday when I opened one of Eve Golden’s show biz obits (she turns out several daily) and recognized the name of a guy who used to play in ba…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:18PM

The Death of David Lochary by Trav S.D.

The name David Lochary (1944-1977) will surely never be better known, and it’s scarcely known now, but few who have appeared in films have given me more pleasure. Lochary is best known as …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM
Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 20, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 20, 2025, concerns boxing promoter and public character Don King. Previous August 20 posts include ones on: Alan Reed (Fred Flintstone) Jacqueline S…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PM

Contextualizing Don King by Trav S.D.

Apologies for the pointy-headed title of this post. It came as the result of a little dance I did. Upon learning that Don King (b. 1931) was still alive I considered something purely celebra…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:32PM
Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 19, 2025 by Trav S.D.

How do, strangers! Here’s our wrap-up of new Travalanche posts for August 19, 2025, in recommended order of reading, ranked on the basis of excellence: On the history of the back-to-nature…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:54PM

Who Is The Worst Bill Clinton? by Trav S.D.

That’s a trick question, readers. The worst Bill Clinton is of course…Bill Clinton. I got no use for that dude, never did. If he’s the best this country could do for a liberal Presiden…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PM

Nuts and Fruits with Gypsy Boots by Trav S.D.

August 19th was the birthday of Robert Bootzin, a.k.a. Boots Bootzin, a.k.a. Gypsy Boots, a.k.a. Nature Boy (1915-2004) (Some sources give 2014, but the birth certificate says 2015). Boots w…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PM

A Proper Post on Ogden Nash by Trav S.D.

The title of the present post is because my previous one on Ogden Nash (1902-1971) focused on but a single poem. Was Ogden Nash the greatest writer of light verse who ever lived? That’s a …

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

The Art of George Bellows by Trav S.D.

America lost the great American realist painter George Bellows (1882-1925) a century ago, and today (August 19) is one of two possible birthdays for him (August 12 is sometimes also given). …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM

For World Photography Day: The Photographers of Travalanche by Trav S.D.

Happy World Photography Day! This is not a photography blog by any means, but there have been a few occasions when our worlds have collided, so we link you to some notable photographers we h…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM
Monday, August 18, 2025

Tomorrow: Frank Capra, Ben Model, and Harry Langdon Converge at the Cinema Arts Center by Trav S.D.

This one is just for New Yorkers and Long Islanders. Tomorrow (August 19, 2025) the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, L.I. will be showing the first feature film directed by Frank Capra, sta…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:48PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 18, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for August 18, 2025 is on The Great Waldo Pepper. Previous August 18 posts have included ones on: Criswell Shelley Winters Jack Pickford Alan Mowbray Walter O�…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM

Robert Redford IS “The Great Waldo Pepper” by Trav S.D.

August 18 is Robert Redford’s birthday; August 19 is National Aviation Day; and it just so happens that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a motion picture that combines those two ele…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:03AM
Sunday, August 17, 2025

National Massachusetts Day by Trav S.D.

Today we inaugurate a new pocket of Travalanche dedicated to U.S. States. When I began the series I doubted I would do one on every State in the Union. Now that I have done nearly 20% of the…

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

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for August 17, 2025 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for August 17, 2025 are on: National Massachusetts Day National Black Cat Day The Writing of Julian Fellowes Barbara Stanwyck’s Uncle Buck Previous August 1…

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

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