Talk:James Dean

• Archive: Talk:James Dean /archive1

Removal of "Rumors" section

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. It has numerous policies to ensure essential credibility. At Wikipedia:The perfect article it states that all articles must reflect expert knowledge, be fact-based and rooted in sound scholarly and logical principles. Editors must ensure an article

• ...is precise and explicit; free of vague generalities and half-truths that may stem from an imperfect grasp of the subject.
• ...is well-documented; reputable sources are cited, especially those which are the most accessible and up-to-date.
• ...is very clear; written to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding. Begins with a definition, and follows a logical structure; uses clearly-worded sentences, grammar, and syntax.

One of the instruments Wikipedia has created to ensure the factual accuracy of an article is this:

The notice says the "article," it does not say "except for rumors." However, any Wikipedia contributor who wants to change current Official Policy can do so via several established vehicles such as announcing a survey should on Wikipedia:Current surveys or if it is a major survey, then they may also list it on Wikipedia:Announcements. Ted Wilkes 15:55, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

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Note too, that Wikipedians established proper procedure for section headings at Talk:Abraham Lincoln. Be it the article or its Talk page, they appear on Internet search engines such as Google and those who come here can promote their agenda on the Talk page even if it is not in the article. Wikipedia:Wikiquette states that contributors are to " Use the Talk pages to discuss the accuracy/inaccuracy, POV bias, or other problems in the article, not as a soapbox for advocacy." Further, such abuses may be corrected in accordance with Wikipedia:Refactoring. As such, I have amended some of the improper headings that were on this page so that they meet Wikipedia standards. - Ted Wilkes 15:50, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

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Removal of hyperlinks

Why was this link to a well researched Internet biography repeatedly deleted by users Ted Wilkes and Wyss? [1] See [2] and [3]. Onefortyone 18:18, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Homosexual leanings

There is a new source which says that Dean had homosexual leanings. Live Fast, Die Young – The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, a recent book by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel, says that Rebel director Nicholas Ray knew Dean to be bisexual. I have therefore reinstated the "Rumors" section, but Wyss and Ted Wilkes have completely deleted this paragraph. See [4] and [5]. It is a historical fact that Dean's homosexual social life and gay patrons like Rogers Brackett played an important role in Dean's rise to stardom. See also Talk:James_Dean_/archive1. Onefortyone 18:13, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

WP is not a tabloid. Wyss 15:54, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Therefore I made references to several published books which all prove that Dean was bisexual. What should be wrong with the following paragraph:

===Rumors about homosexual leanings===

Decades after Dean's death, author Boze Hadleigh, an expert on Hollywood gays, published a 1972 interview with Sal Mineo in which the actor said, "Nick (Adams) told me they had a big affair-" [6] However, Adams was well-known in Hollywood for sometimes embellishing or making up stories about his show business experiences (and had long tried to attach himself to the James Dean legend). Further sources support the view that Dean had homosexual leanings. Bit actor and writer John Gilmore, a member of Dean's "Night Watch" motorcyle riders, wrote a book on James Dean claiming they had a homosexual encounter. In his Natalie Wood biography, the reputed Hollywood expert Gavin Lambert describes Dean as being bisexual. In her memoir of her brief affair with Dean, actress Dizzy Sheridan claimed Dean had an affair with Rogers Brackett, a radio director for an advertising agency whom Dean met in the summer of 1951 while working as a parking attendant at CBS. In Val Holley's James Dean: the Biography (1997) gay studies scholars will also find rich factual evidence of Dean's homosexual social life, and of the crucial role gay patrons like Rogers Brackett played in Dean's rise to stardom. Last not least, Live Fast, Die Young – The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, a recent book by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel, says that Rebel director Nicholas Ray knew Dean to be bisexual. Onefortyone 10:56, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

Tabloid gossip accounts like this are not encyclopedic. Wyss 16:36, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

• It is not tabloid gossip to report published, sourced accounts. There are 446,000 Google hits for "James Dean" gay, which supports the idea that this is a subject of debate, contention and discussion. At the very least, it does our readers a disservice to pretend that somehow there is no discussion of the matter. At worst, it is a homophobic whitewash. In this particular instance, I believe onefortyone's passage to be proper. I note that the arbcom ruling focuses solely on the Elvis Presley article - about which I agree there is not sufficient sourced evidence to discuss the Memphis Mafia. Here, however, I note several cited discussions. Particularly compelling is the Holley biography, which seems to be considered a definitive work on the man, and was read and signed at the James Dean Gallery - along with Live Fast, Die Young. This is a subject that deserves mention. FCYTravis 06:46, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Yes it is tabloid gossip and tabloid gossip about James Dean attracts attention which is why there are so many hits about it. Please use some scholarship. All sources are not equal and Google is a wonderful search engine, not an edited bibliography. James Dean may have been bisexual but there is no documented evidence (other than dubious hearsay most of which began after he died) to support it. Wyss 06:59, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Memorial

Some info taken from book - James Dean, by Sandford Roth and Beulah Roth 1983 ISBN 3822800643, other info abridged from [7]