Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dick Sheppard (stuntman)

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. No opinion on whether we should try again with new text and sources but there is clear consensus that this isn’t it and heck we don’t even know if this is a fraud or not. Spartaz Humbug! 13:52, 14 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Dick Sheppard (stuntman)[edit]

Dick Sheppard (stuntman) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)
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I cannot locate this man on IMDB as a stuntman at all, so to me he fails GNG. Rusted AutoParts 01:26, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Actors and filmmakers-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 02:02, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 02:02, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete per nom. He's not in IMDb as himself, and isn't credited in either version of The Italian Job (which each list a large number of stuntpeople) or Diamonds Are Forever, as claimed in the two obituaries (the only sources; I couldn't find anything else). This is very, very hard to do/suspicious. Heck, this Richard Shepperd got into IMDb just for being thanked in a video short. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:52, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Undecided, leaning toward keep, with major cleanup. He may have been a fraud, but a notable one with many obituaries. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:41, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep At Wikipedia IMDB is seen as not a reliable source, so on basis of that website an article can’t be deleted. It’s about meeting WP:GNG; coverage in independent reliable sources. The death of the stuntman is in main news sources all over the world. Yes, that’s only shortly about his death, but it says a lot that it is worldwide in the news. Besides of that, there can be found coverage about him; also before his death, for example the BBC made a long interview with him, see here. So meeting GNG. Also an autobiography has been written see here. SportsOlympic (talk) 09:32, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
My point with DB is that in all the 500 films he’s purported to have done, he’s not credited in any of them and not even marked as uncredited on their pages. Rusted AutoParts 10:02, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
At least he can be found here. But still, he is in many secondary sources for being a stuntman, so meeting GNG. If there is any ambiguity, the text can always be adjusted.
Okay but that’s one credit. The sources are claiming he participated in two Bond films and the original Italian Job yet he only has one official credit. The stuntman aspect of his career doesn’t seem to be notable at all. Rusted AutoParts 12:16, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
One credit at IMDB; an unreliable source. And note the sources state he “worked on” the stunts in those films. Not “performing” the stunts. (Might be the reason he is not at IMDB). SportsOlympic (talk) 16:07, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
My point about IMDB is not squashed though. If there’s gonna be a claim he did all these movies and he wasn’t notable enough for credit, then how exactly do we claim he was a stuntman for the movies? Being in articles from regional press prior to death and then some outlets after his death does not immediately equate notability. His stuntman career isn’t that notable, not every stuntman is notable anyway. Not every Guinness record holder has a page. So I do not see the notability. Rusted AutoParts 20:32, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
IMDb gives him four whole "uncredits", three as a stunt driver. That's a far cry from the claimed 500 films (what as, a caterer or delivery boy?). Clarityfiend (talk) 23:37, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
He had several times an multiple hours BBC interview example 1, example 2. Was in an ITV television show see here. Was also in foreign television shows example here. Was named as an important person in many sources, example 3, example 4, example 5. If that is not enough for meeting WP:GNG... SportsOlympic (talk) 14:15, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Please don't WP:Bludgeon. Rusted AutoParts 14:19, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I've never heard of him, but I've found some some sources that imply notabilty and suggest he was a notable/well known person in the UK. For example, The Sun calls him "stunt legend" 1, The Gloucester Citizen called him a "well-known daredevil" 2 and The Daily Western Press did this article on him in 2015. 3 I think it is fair to argue he meets the GNG. GoldenAgeFan1 (talk) 15:54, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. He may be a fake, which ironically would make him notable. He's supposedly been in The Guinness Book of World Records for a long time, but he's definitely not in the latest one,[1] and Vic Armstrong claims, also in Guinness, to be the world's most prolific stunt double. Armstrong's credits in IMDb, as both stunt double and coordinator, number only 121, far less than Sheppard's claimed 500. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:30, 5 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • keep The recent obituaries suggest notability. According to reports in the British Newspaper Archive in the 1960s he was a member of a Gloucester stunt motorcyclist group the Motocyclons. There are appearances in multiple editions of the Guinness Book of Records, eg 1998 "In a career lasting 40 years until his retirement in 1993, stuntman Dick Sheppard of Gloucester, England wrecked 2,003 cars." Piecesofuk (talk) 18:36, 6 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Draftify - He may well be notable, but the article as it stands is dreadful and not fit for article space. Deb (talk) 09:28, 7 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

*Keep per BBC coverage and reasons given by Piecesofuk and SportsOlympic. -- HistoricalAccountings (talk) 13:28, 9 March 2021 (UTC)strike !vote of sock, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/FlyboyExeter. Onel5969 TT me 12:40, 11 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.