Talk:Peter Boyle

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1 Lasallian
2 Military service
3 Birth Year
4 RIP
5 Birth date
6 Emmy Award Winning?
7 References vs. Ext. links
8 Young Frankenstein images
9 Monk life...
10 Tense

[edit] Lasallian

Peter Boyle was a member of the De La Salle Brothers, not the Irish Christian Brothers. Also, I'm not sure if he ever taught with them. I believe he was a novice for a few years and then left. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.59.82.175 (talk • contribs)

I'm following up on this post. Please also see the postings for Monk life below.

Peter Boyle graduated from West Catholic High School in Philadelphia and then became a novice for the Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. He was a novice for three years, and during this time he earned a BA degree at LaSalle University. At the end of these three years he left.

The article currently reads this way:

Boyle attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School. He graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 1957. After graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1959, he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, but his military career was shortened by a nervous breakdown.[6] Boyle was also a member of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order, and taught drama at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh before turning to acting.

I've revised this several ways. First, he was a member of the Christian Brothers and went to LaSalle University at the same time. Boyle did this after the time that he was in high school and before he was in the navy. He did not teach at any of the Christian Brother schools, including Central Catholic, but if you can find a citation, please revise.

Please see http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/16238763.htm

http://www.nysun.com/article/45138

So I revised this section to read:

Boyle attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School. After high school Boyle spent three years as a novice of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. He lived in a house of studies with other novices and earned a BA from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 1957, but left the order because he did not feel called to relgious life. [6] [7] After spending time in the navy and graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1959, he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, but his military career was shortened by a nervous breakdown.[8]

I have no research on his time in the navy. Someone below claims that Boyle did not have a nervous breakdown; the New York Times reported that he did.

Craig.borchardt 11 January 2007

[edit] Military service

Peter Boyle graduated from US Navy Officer Candidate School in 1959. Franciscocabrerra 17:19, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm Peter's cousin - he was NOT forced to leave the military due to a "nervous breakdown" as someone stated. Where do people get these ideas? 209.247.22.166 15:35, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Birth Year

He was 71 so his birth year would be 1935. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.77.220 (talk • contribs)

[edit] RIP

the rest in peace thing really shouldn't be there....this is an encyclopedia, not a blog...while I understand fully why its wanted, it shouldnt be there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Purplepurplepurple (talk • contribs)

I'll take care of it.Ikani87 03:48, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

CAN SOMEBODY CONFIRM ABOUT HIS BIRTHYEAR FROM ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA?? I AM NOT IF HE WAS 71 THOUGH

[edit] Birth date

Please don't remove properly footnoted citations of repuatable sources, such as Baseline, Inc.,'s Hollywood.com and The New York Times database!

The fact that the Times database (which says 1933) and the Times obit (with information from the AP, which says 1935) have two different birthdates is a clear indication that absent Smoking Gun or someone putting his birth certificate online, that even a highly credible authority like the Times can't say for sure what year he was born.

If even the Times and other sources (InfoPlease, IMDb, etc.) can't say for sure, how are we to say with absolute certaintly? --69.22.254.111 15:02, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

What you're talking about isn't actually the New York Times, though. The New York Times just carries a version of www.allmovie.com's biographies for actors (i.e. the 1933 date). You can even see the AllMovie writer credited at the bottom. AllMovie in itself isn't a reliable source much. Mad Jack 17:32, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I know we all understand that IMDb has info submitted by fans and volunteers and its entries should only be used for leads and not for confirmation. I'm wondering about AllMovie.com, however; why do you say it's unreliable? I'm not saying one way or another, but the fact The New York Times considers it credible enough to use with its branding is an important point to consider.

Hollywood.com, though, is part of Baseline, Inc., which is a longtime database with editors.

All these databases offering two different dates, though, need to be addressed because this way, people seeing the wrong date (whichever one it is) can go to Wikipedia and see that the date their source states may not be right. It's important that people know this, and it's very accurate to state that "sources differ" and here are examples.--69.22.254.111 18:16, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually Infoplease.com isn't a mirror site. It's part of Information Please, a longtime reference company. I used their works back in grade school. (I typed in entries I know are on Wiki, and they don't show up in Infoplease.com.) The company even provides reference information to Time magazine. (See here).

I'll certainly keep the IMDb footnote out, but there really needs to be some evidence against AllMovie.com. Information Please, as I've cited, is an authoritative source. --69.22.254.111 18:25, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I would suggest waiting until his Social Security death file is posted online two months from now before deciding on a date of birth. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wendox34 (talk • contribs) 03:05, 15 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Emmy Award Winning?

The article calls Boyle an "Emmy Award-winning American actor," but I keep hearing in the news that he was nominated 7 times but never won. His IMDb page does not list any awards, Emmy or otherwise. Just wondering what the source is that says he has won an Emmy, thanks. Deep treble 15:17, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

IMDb is not a journalistic resource; anybody can put anything in there. I know for a fact someone added "turtle wrangler" to a movie that doesn't have one. It's all volunteer contributions. IMDb is great for leads, but not for confirmation of anything.

I realize that. I was just wondering where this information can be found, since it wasn't on his IMDb page and this fact was not cited in the article. Deep treble 17:31, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Boyle won an Guest-Star Emmy Award in for a 1996 episode of The X-Files.--69.22.254.111 15:21, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] References vs. Ext. links

Per WP:CITE 1)

Maintaining a separate "References" section in addition to "Notes" or "Footnotes

It is helpful when non-citation footnotes are used that a "References" section also be maintained, in which the sources that were used are listed in alphabetical order. With articles that have lots of footnotes, it can become hard to see after a while exactly which sources have been used, particularly when the footnotes also contain explanatory text. A References section, which contains only citations, helps readers to see at a glance the quality of the references used.

[edit] Young Frankenstein images

If someone can add these, there are promotional stills of Mr. Boyle in Young Frankenstein here and here, among other places, and there is a video-box cover here that's based on the original movie poster but with Mr. Boyle more prominently displayed. --69.22.254.111 18:42, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Monk life...

Unless I missed something, why doesn't it was anything about when he was a monk (which he was). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.67.197.103 (talk • contribs) 10:12, 16 December 2006

Yes, He was. Google Peter Boyle monk, and it has articles. Lazylaces-Helping Wikipedians since.. um.. for almost a year! Lazylaces (talk • contribs 15:46, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

I too lazy to update the article, but here's a reference, with relevant content: [1]

"Tall and prematurely bald, Peter Boyle looked like a monk — which is what he once was. Uncomfortable with “living in the Middle Ages”, he gave up the spiritual life to study drama."

and:

"He served briefly in the US Navy and then joined the Christian Brothers. Boyle talked in one interview of experiencing a youthful crisis in the face of which he felt “you either jump into the river or jump into spirituality”. He found the religious life “too intense” and left after three years, but not without regret: “I felt like I had failed God when I quit being a monk.” There was an inner turmoil about Boyle on which he drew to great effect as an actor."

Chovain 05:23, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

The article does say that Boyle was a member of the Christian Brothers, or De LaSalle Brothers. Also see the comment on LaSallian, which is first on this discussion page.

There is actually a small distinction here that few people, including Boyle, didn't make. A monk is usually someone who lives in a monastery and lives a life dedicated to prayer. Boyle, specifically, was a novice for the Christian Brothers. He lived in a house of studies in Philadelphia while he got his BA from LaSalle University. Boyle usually referred to himself as having been a monk. Maybe that was easier than explaining that he was a novice in a Catholic teaching order that some people have not heard of. Perhaps journalists felt the same way in repeating it or it just reads well or sounds sensational in a newspaper article.

I've also heard journalists really get this point wrong. For example, Terry Gross from National Public Radio's Fresh Air once asked Boyle about his time as a Jesuit, and Boyle refused to answer the question.

This obituary from a Philadelphia paper actually interviewed a Christian Brother who was also a novice with Boyle, and they remained lifelong friends:

"Boyle, he said, spent a little more than three years as a member of the Christian Brothers. "We went in directly from West Catholic," he said, and studied together at what is now La Salle University, where Molyneaux, a former chairman of the communications department, is a film professor."

I think the most correct reporting that I've seen on this is at http://www.nysun.com/article/45138

So please don't update the article to say that he was a monk.

Craig.borchardt 11 January 2007

[edit] Tense

In the trivia section it says: "Boyle and his wife have two daughters, Lucy and Amy."

Is it "Have" or "Has"?

-76.167.243.138 04:04, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Technically it's not tense, but "have" is correct. Deep treble 17:34, 20 February 2007 (UTC)