Talk:William Atherton

Career
Can someone be 'almost injured' as it says in the 2nd paragraph? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.178.147.100 (talk) 11:03, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

"Wally Wick" in Leominster, Massachusetts
The article currently ends with a line:
 * In particular, in Leominster, Massachusetts, home to many zealous fans, the term "Wally Wick" is an accepted part of the local parlance.

Does that sound unencyclopedic to anyone else? Or, at least in need of citation or something? I suspect it was added by a person whose close group of friends has adopted this meme, and believes it is more important than it really is. I'll remove it soon unless there is some objection. --Amoore 23:16, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Biography assessment rating comment
The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article.-- Jreferee 23:09, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Almost injured?
Either you're injured or your not. 71.169.8.7 (talk) 19:32, 5 November 2010 (UTC)
 * If I threw a snowball at you and hit the ground in front of your feet, weren't you almost hit? Markvs88 (talk) 19:39, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Career
William Atherton portrayed Lee Baum in the premiere of Arthur Miller's "The American Clock" at the Biltmore Theatre on November 11, 1980. Haynesta (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 12:45, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Personal Life
Is that alright the respected chapter is dedicated to W.A.'s musical and social activities instead of real personal stuff? Tockman (talk) 23:25, 13 October 2019 (UTC)

Former homosexual
There seems to be an effort to scrub Atherton's claims of being a "former homosexual" from this Wikipedia page. He was on the David Susskind show in the 1980s and admitted as much, with the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5qT8PkToro. Now, since I linked to YouTube a few months ago, the video has gone "private." However, there are many contemporary sources that reference the video and Atherton's being an ex-gay. At what point does everyone think we can include it? I think it's noteworthy because very few Hollywood celebrities claim to be formerly gay.

I'm not trying to libel the guy. It's the 21st century; being gay in Hollywood isn't like it used to be. And the man admitted it on camera, in the 1980s, for God's sake. What do others think?PBP (talk) 18:49, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

The claim is a problem because the purported video is not available and the other two "sources" are merely advertisements. Is there a reputable source from any time in the last forty years? If not, the section should be removed as gossip. Wherewithall (talk) 15:50, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

Former homosexual (again, 2021)
A number of editors are appearing to register for the sole purpose of deleting the info that Mr. Atherton is a former homosexual. See | here and here for instance. Today, a third editor (here), once again registered for the sole purpose of deleting this claim, went so far as to leave a rather long and vaguely threatening message on my talk page (see here).

The facts are: William Atherton said, using words from his own mouth, that he was a former homosexual. 1) He said so on the Dave Susskind show, the video of which was set to "private" on YouTube after I posted it here. 2) Mr. Atherton said the same thing on another national television show, a clip of which I watched mere minutes ago, but don't want to provide the link just yet in case it gets taken down again. 3) He took out a newspaper ad in the New York Daily News saying as much, which I have linked to here. 4) And there seems to be general knowledge that William Atherton is ex-gay, as shown in this 2011 book about Vito Russo (the book is here, the information is on page 142.

It seems to me that if I have four separate sources that show William Atherton is ex-gay, including video of the man himself saying so on national TV, shouldn't those count as credible sources? I don't want to malign the guy, there is nothing wrong with being gay. I myself am a member of the LGBT community. I just want the article to reflect the truth. Claiming to be formerly gay is very notable for a Wikipeida biography, don't you think? Especially a Hollywood actor from many blockbuster films?

Now, if I were more conspiratorial-minded I might say these edits were coming from Mr. Atherton himself, but I don't want to presume myself to be so lucky :) Any more warring like this and we risk activating the Streisand Effect! Can we get a third party in here to look at what I'm saying, or do I need to take this higher up the chain? Thoughts from users with many years of experience and not just-registered users? PBP (talk) 00:54, 24 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Since I have received no objections to this, I'm including the information in this article and a link to the Phil Donahue episode. Please watch the video everyone before Atherton and co attempt to get it taken down.PBP (talk) 16:34, 29 September 2021 (UTC)