Talk:Marjoe Gortner

Untitled
I don't know why the excerpt about Marjoe's docudrama was removed but I've added it back in. This isn't a bullshit story, it actually happened.

Does anybody know, where the guy is located today ? or an email address or something ??

He was a really excellent psycho in Earthquake.

Needs documentation
I edited this heavily for NPOV and added some links but on the whole this article could use a lot more citation -- in particular about Marjoe "running off with thousands of dollars of unused film stock." Unless someone can document that, it's bordering on libel. Ediderotimus 22:16, 15 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Check the results on Google Scholar and Google News Archive. -- Scarpy (talk) 04:12, 21 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes. Some interesting stuff here but we could definately use some citations/sources quoted SolarBreeze 15:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I simply removed the word "rural" from the sentence "traveled the United States." I saw him in Detroit at Bethesda Missionary Temple in the early 1950s: hardly a rural setting. During the sermon he removed his little white suitcoat and threw it out into the congregation, with screams as the masses attempted to touch the sacred mantle. His brother was also part of the act as songleader. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.172.249.33 (talk) 16:33, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Line 1 we get "born January 14, 1944 (age 66) in Long Beach, California." I doubt very much that Gortner was age 66 at birth. Bustter (talk) 03:59, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I know that calling a word a 'portmanteau' is rather popular at wikipedia, but I'm rather sure that 'Marjoe' isn't a portmanteau... 213.148.230.71 (talk) 20:18, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Still needs documentation
Most of this article lacks the sourcing proper for a biography of a living person. Per WP policy I removed the paragraph regarding his self-financed film project since it alleged contentious information that was unsourced. It seems it has been removed, and reverted, before; if any editor intends to add this info back into the article, I urge you to first read (at least) the Biographies of living persons policy and the Verifiability policy. Also, repeating contentious information on a talk page entails the same problems as having it in the article.

Anyone who wants to help improve the references on this article should be wary of feedback loops since this article has been around for a few years. Richigi (talk) 16:29, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Contradiction in Biography section
When Gortner was ***five,*** his father, Vernon, a third-generation[clarification needed] minister, noticed his son's talent for mimicry and his fearlessness of strangers and public settings. His parents claimed he had received a vision from God during a bath, but this was later conceded by Marjoe to be a lie his parents forced him to repeat. He claimed they enforced this by mock-drowning him because they could not beat him which would leave bruises which might be noticed during his many public appearances. They began training him to deliver sermons, complete with dramatic gestures and emphatic lunges. By the time he was ****four****, his parents arranged for him to perform a marriage ceremony for a film crew from Paramount studios and referred to him as "the youngest ordained minister in history". It is not clear, however, who ordained him or if he was even ordained at all.[citation needed]

The intro section also says "four"

I don't know which one is right so I'm not changing anything, and I'm more of a kibbitzer than a Wikipedia editor.

By the way, if somebody knows why I woke up today and decided to look up Marjoe Gortner, please explain. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.243.55.83 (talk) 14:39, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Nice catch. Fixed the discrepancy and sourced info to a Life magazine shoot published January 17, 1947. If his birthdate on this article is correct, he was probably just a few days shy of his 5th birthday when this occurred. I added another source that mentions the Paramount newsreel, and reconfirms his age.  As for why you looked up Marjoe... Sorry, I got nothin'. Richigi (talk) 16:21, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen (7 January 1949, page 17) Marjoe's 5th birthday would be on 14 January 1949. This article also belies the "portmanteau" claim, instead saying Marjoe was named after his mother Marge.  His younger brother is named Vernoe and father is named Vernon, more consistent with named after parent than with portmanteau of two biblical names.  A similar article appears in the Milwaukee Journal (5 January 1949, page 27), some of the same text but from a different syndicate.  The result of a concerted publicity effort on the part of his parents?  Photos with both articles.  The second article also published in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, St. Petersburg Times, Milwaukee Sentinel, Spartanburg Herald.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.58.219.151 (talk) 23:00, 22 December 2014 (UTC)