Monday, March 9, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 9, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for March 9, 2026 is about Paul Revere and the Raiders. Also Joe Franklin was born 100 years ago today! My 2015 post on the show business legend is here. Earli…

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

Paul Revere and the Raiders by Trav S.D.

We have been circling AROUND this topic for ages. We have posted about their greatest hit  “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)”, and about their producer…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AM
Sunday, March 8, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 8, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 8, 2026 are about my recent appearance on the Flash Back internet radio show (topic: the Marx Brothers), and a couple of new record releases by old …

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

New Noises from Old Friends (Sad Dogs and Hott Phlash) by Trav S.D.

Geordie Austen released this new album Moments That Shine with his band The Sad Dogs about a week ago, and I’m just now catching up with it. Geordie was a key member of my vaudeville show …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:36PM

Hear Me Talk Marx Brothers on “Flashback” with Dr. Wesley Britton by Trav S.D.

Last week, I was delighted to chat for an hour about the Marx Brothers with Dr. Wesley Britton on his internet radio show Flash Back, in connection with my recent book The Marx Brothers Misc…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AM
Saturday, March 7, 2026

R.I.P. Lainie Miller by Trav S.D.

Lainie Miller (Sheila Elaine Halpern, 1941-2025) passed away back in May; today would be her 85th birthday. Miller battled polio as a young kid in Toronto, then took dance lessons for years,…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM

150 Years of MOXIE by Trav S.D.

Yes, I know they say it’s 1884 on the signs, but 1876 was the year that year that Civil War hero and homeopath Dr. Augustin Thompson (1835-1903) first concocted his patent medicine and “…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 7, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 7, 2026 are about Moxie, National Cereal Day, Barbara Heller (The Jackie Gleason Show), Virginia Pearson (Larry Semon’s Wizard of Oz), Beatrice Ro…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM

Beatrice Roberts: Believe It or Not by Trav S.D.

Beatrice Roberts (1905-1970) had over 70 screen credits, all between the years 1932 and 1949, and yet her screen career manages not to be the most interesting thing about her somehow; it’s…

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

The Vitals on Virginia Pearson by Trav S.D.

A few fragments on silent screen star Virginia Pearson (1886-1958). Travalanche readers may consider her especially notable for a trio important supporting parts she played in 1925: as the c…

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

A Post for National Cereal Day by Trav S.D.

March 7 has been designated by somebody as National Cereal Day — but isn’t EVERY day National Cereal Day for most of us? After all, the King of the Quotidian, Jerry Seinfeld is surely th…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AM

The Barbara Heller Centennial by Trav S.D.

Singer, impressionist, comedienne, and “pantomimist” Barbara Heller (Barbara Jean Thompson, 1926-1995) Vintage show biz fans may know her as a regular on Jackie Gleason’s variety show …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AM
Friday, March 6, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 6, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 6, 2026 are about an important upcoming Marx Brothers event, the recent panel about The Comics vs. The Fascists, the many incarnations of Star Searc…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31PM

The Marx Brothers Council Podcast is Coming to Queens! by Trav S.D.

Here’s a timely bit of info — the Marx Brothers Council Podcast, the show I was on most recently just a week ago, and co-hosted by Noah Diamond of Pintele, has announced their first ever…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM

Watch The Comics vs. the Fascists by Trav S.D.

Some synchronicity afoot — I’ve posted a half dozen comics related posts over the past week (sometimes weeks pass between posts on that topic); purely by coincidence it is also Will Eisn…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PM

The Waxing and Waning of “Star Search” by Trav S.D.

March 6 was the birthday of the late great Ed McMahon but we’ve already done a dedicated post on his life and career, so I thought I would do one that focuses on the best known project of …

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

Bob Wills is Still the King by Trav S.D.

Here’s an illustration of how vaudeville entertainment evolved into contemporary show business in some quarters without a break. James Robert “Bob” Wills (1905-1975) is generally conce…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AM

The Many Movies of Monty O’Grady by Trav S.D.

We honor Monty O’Grady (1916-2000) here today more for quantity than his quality. Not that he’s bad — it’s just that most of his nearly 500 screen credits were as a crowd extra. O’…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AM
Thursday, March 5, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 5, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for March 5, 2026 is about Noah Diamond’s Pintele Earlier Travalanche posts for March 5 (in no particular order) include ones on: The Much Mourned Catherine …

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

Pintele at Mid-pint: You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet by Trav S.D.

Noah Diamond’s long awaited podcast series Pintele launched three weeks ago. I’ve listened to all four of the projected seven episodes that have been released so far within minutes after…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM
Wednesday, March 4, 2026

The Damnedest Post You Will Ever Read about “Knute Rockne, All American” by Trav S.D.

I’ve hated sports all my life, but that’s not true of 95% of the other straight males, so there have been times when I have had to grin and bear it. That was especially true in childhood…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31PM

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 4, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 3, 2026 are about Disney animator Ward Kimball, cartoonist Milt Gross, character actor Wallace Howe; Singing Cowgirl Dorothy Page, stage and screen …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31PM

Why Wacky Ward Kimball is Now My Favorite Golden Age Animator by Trav S.D.

Unlike so many friends, colleagues, peers, etc, your correspondent never could whip himself into a dither about any particular Golden Age animator. I obviously love old cartoons — anyone w…

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

Milt Gross and His Gross Exaggerations by Trav S.D.

This post is about the cartoonist Milt Gross (1895-1953), not the sportswriter Milton Gross (1912-1973). How that must have confused people back in the day, since they both worked for newspa…

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

Dorothy Page: The Singing Cowgirl by Trav S.D.

Dorothy Page (Dorothy Lillian Stofflett, 1904-1961) enjoyed but a brief minute in the spotlight, but it’s more than many get to experience! Page’s career came about as a result of her wi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:42AM

The Stalwart Stuart Walker by Trav S.D.

Stuart Walker (1888-1941) was an estimable figure: a director, producer, and writer of both stage and screen. Today he is perhaps best known for having directed the horror classic Werewolf o…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:42AM

How Now, Wallace Howe? by Trav S.D.

According to IMDB today would the 150th birthday of character actor Wallace Howe (Orlando Wallace Howe); although some other sources give 1878 as the birth year. Howe’s nearly 150 screen c…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31AM
Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for March 3, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 3, 2026 are about Diana Barrymore, Lee Radziwill, Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon, and Josh Alan Friedman’s new novel All Roads Lead to Great Neck.…

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

Josh Alan Friedman: All Roads Lead to Great Neck by Trav S.D.

Yesterday I got word that a new novel by Josh Alan Friedman called All Roads Lead to Great Neck has just dropped. As a citizen of that well-heeled and neurotic metropolis, and a booster of i…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AM

A Look at the Late Lee Radziwill by Trav S.D.

“Style” is not my style, so you’ll find what you may consider an appalling absence of references to fashion or decor in this brief post about the late Lee Radziwill (Caroline Lee Bouvi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AM

Diana Barrymore: Too Much, Too Soon by Trav S.D.

March 3 was the birthday of the doomed Diana Barrymore (1921-1960). Barrymore was the daughter of John Barrymore and Michael Strange (Blanche Oelrichs), who split up when the child was four…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:01AM

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off