Discuss Wilmuth Merkyl
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Reported Problem for Wilmuth Merkyl
posted by genplant29STAFFMOD on November 9, 2018 at 6:45 AM
Item: Wilmuth Merkyl
Language: en-US
Type of Problem: Incorrect_content
Extra Details: I'm submitting this report to request that this actor's Wilmuth Merkyl display name field be locked.
IMDb identifies this actor primarily as John Merkyl. However upon examining his IMDb credits for films he had credited roles in, it's clear that most frequently he was credited as Wilmuth Merkyl, yet only six times as John Merkyl. Here on TMDb we had him presented as John Merkyl until I a short time ago changed the display name to Wilmuth Merkyl.
For your reference, here's this actor's IMDb page, so you can see how his name appears in credits (see 1925 and earlier [his performances always went uncredited after 1925]): https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580961/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t7
Here's his Wikipedia article, that presents his public name as Wilmuth Merkyl, which also a vintage article there makes evident that that's how he was publicly known back in 1916: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmuth_Merkyl
Having written all of the above, there's one particular thing I'm a little conflicted about: Examining Mr. Merkyl's IMDb credits, I notice that he was routinely credited as Wilmuth Merkyl into 1918, but during that year gradually switched over to going instead by the name John Merkyl. Taking that into consideration, did I make the correct decision to change his TMDb display name, since it appears he in 1918 chose to thereafter be professionally known (credited) as John Merkyl? That having been said, the majority of his credits do identify him as Wilmuth Merkyl, and of course the TMDb rule is to present, as the primary display name, the name a person most frequently is credited by. Should we go by what he was credited as the most, or what he was credited as last?
Reply by ticao2 š§š· pt-BR
on November 9, 2018 at 6:42 PM
Thank you very much.
The rule says "best known".
What do you think?
Perhaps, to reduce the amount of confusion, it is better to adopt the same name as IMDB.
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Reply by genplant29
on November 9, 2018 at 8:15 PM
I'm thinking that probably Wilmuth Merkyl is the best presentation name to stick with for him as that's the professional name he was known as the longest and the most widely, since he had the international opera career under that name even before entering films and then continuing through most of his credited screen roles as Wilmuth Merkyl. He didn't make much of a splash in his credited roles using the John Merkyl name; his screen career fizzled to uncredited status after only six such roles.
So I think best to stick with the Wilmuth Merkyl name on TMDb, since that's the name he was better known by for the most years by the most people. Since "John Merkyl" is included as an Also Known As name for him, he'll be readily findable either way.
By the way, thanks, ticao, for all the excellent work you do here on TMDb as a terrific, dedicated moderator! It's very much appreciated!