IMDB not always reliable

Ozzymandias · April 12, 2006, 12:17:01 AM

I may have brought this up before but in looking at IMDB I found a mistake. These are not biggies and are understandable. The first one is a man I've met and know his family. His name is Richard Nichols. According to IMDB, Nichols died 2003 and was known as Robert Gunther. Probably Robert Gunther at one point used the name Richard Nichols or that was his real name and the two became confused. The Richard Nichols I know is still alive (although he has had health problems recently). He has been a minister for many years. I know that of the credits listed he was in both All This and Heaven Too and Little Men.

Next up on the "People IMDB says are dead but are still living" is Hope Stansbury, who worked with Andy Milligan. According to IMDB, she died in Germany in 1973. However if you Google her name you will find not only stage credits dating from the late 70's but a real estate agent in Santa Fe, who not only looks like Hope Stansbury but on her website mentions she was an actress in New York in the 60's and 70s. I think that the same thing happened to Ms. Stansbury as with Mr. Nichols, two people with the same name.

I think at one time the actors guild allowed two or three people to have the same name (This played into the career of William "Hoppalong Cassidy" Boyd and bad guy actor known as William "Stage" Boyd). This is the reason there is Bill Macy (Maude's husband) and William H. Macy (of Pleasantville).

Scott · April 12, 2006, 07:45:35 AM

I know imdb.com has a lot of trouble with Kung Fu actor/actress names and the producers of these DVD's are just making up titles for their DVD covers which makes it even harder to research.

Still imdb.com is awesome and a very impressive database.

AndyC · April 12, 2006, 08:04:42 AM

Biggest mistake I ever found in IMDB was a few years back. It had Samuel L. Jackson as a private in No Time For Sergeants. A few of you will recognize that as the film debut of Don Knotts, when he first met Andy Griffith. Jackson was about 9 years old when it was made. The mistake was corrected shortly after I saw it.

Vermin Boy · April 12, 2006, 09:00:51 AM

I remember, for a while, the IMDb listed Jeffrey Combs (of Re-Animator fame) as having died on September 11th; it later turned out that there was someone similiarly named on one of the flights, and that Mr. Combs is alive and well.

The Burgomaster · April 12, 2006, 10:40:21 AM

IMDB was created by, and is maintained by, human beings and therefore is subject to human error.

Herodotus · April 12, 2006, 03:19:27 PM

Jim Morrison being listed as an actor in Machine Gun McCain, an Italian movie from 1968 with Peter Falk. I think he was a little too busy to be doing gangster movies in Italy then.

Ozzymandias · April 13, 2006, 12:45:17 AM

AndyC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Biggest mistake I ever found in IMDB was a few
> years back. It had Samuel L. Jackson as a private
> in No Time For Sergeants. A few of you will
> recognize that as the film debut of Don Knotts,
> when he first met Andy Griffith. Jackson was about
> 9 years old when it was made. The mistake was
> corrected shortly after I saw it.
>
Okay, that one I can explain. There was a short lived TV show in the 60s based on the movie. The character of Will was played by a actor named Sammy Jackson, who could best be discribed as a poor man's Andy Griffith.

LH-C · April 15, 2006, 09:29:49 PM

Yeah, I know what you mean. I run a list-serv for Scottish actor Robert Cavanah. But there is also another Robert Cavanaugh (an American I think), and for years their filmographies were intertwined. Until the girl that runs his official fan site was able to talk to him and find out what he had and hadn't been in.

Mofo Rising · April 15, 2006, 10:25:28 PM

Isn't IMDb and open encyclopedia, much like the Wikipedia?

I've noticed the trend of people rushing to be the first to announce movie news, even if it is completely false, like the time I was tricked into thinking Sam Neil was cast as Dr. Octopus.

Still a great site and an astounding resource.

plan9superfan · April 17, 2006, 08:47:35 AM

I'm STILL not sure wether Venom is in the next Spider-Man movie, and if Topher Grace is playing him....

LH-C · April 17, 2006, 12:12:44 PM

plan9superfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm STILL not sure wether Venom is in the next
> Spider-Man movie, and if Topher Grace is playing
> him....

Really? I thought that was absolutely the truth...