Talk:Richard Dean Anderson

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[edit] Quotes

What on earth does the Carter quote have to do with this page?195.33.121.133 11:58, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

He WAS the main character in the series "McGuyver"...81.145.241.116 17:12, 23 September 2007 (UTC)Lance Tyrell

[edit] Image

Regarding the image... I ain't seein' it. -- EmperorBMA / ブリイアン 12:57, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It's one of the victims of the Great Image Glitch of January '04. I notice that the notice on the Village Pump has stopped saying they expect the images to come back sooner or later, and started suggesting people re-upload the images; maybe someone'd better take the link off the article for now, either way. --Paul A 15:33, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Norwegian?

I hear a lot about his norwegian origins... Is it true?

Considering the name Anderson and that he comes from Minnesota, it seems likely that he has Scandinavian heritage, anyway.

[edit] McGyver

There should be more than a passing reference to his part in this show, since he starred in it for quite a few seasons. --69.210.64.18 03:25, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

7 seasons. StargateX1 18:12, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
To say that he starred in it for quite a few seasons is kind of redundant. He played the titular character. Your wording seems to imply that he ever wasn't the star... Just a little harmless nitpicking... Anyway, I'm leaving this article and discussions behind now. 24.254.163.150 (talk) 02:17, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Roseville

The roseville, mn wiki page claims he's from Roseville, not Minneapolis.

[edit] Father???

Isn't his father Richard Anderson, The boss on "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman"?

No. His father's name is Stuart Anderson. -Nunh-huh 06:40, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hockey?

Seems like he tried a career in hockey prior to acting? Thought I recalled he was on a minor league team or something? JME66.72.215.225

He wanted to be a professional hockey player when growing up, but he broke both of his arms within 3 weeks of each other while playing high school hockey, and re-thought his professional ambitions. He still kept playing though and has also been the honorary captain of the US Olympic hockey team (in 1988 and in 1992). See also http://rdanderson.com. -TvL


[edit] Removed deleted image(s)

Just a note to say that I have removed some [or an] image[s] from the page beacuse they were speediable under either:

  • Category:Images with no fair use rationale
  • Category:Images with no copyright tag
  • Category:Images with no source

Or similar category. Iolakana|(talk) 15:54, 24 June 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Air Force award?

He was presented with an award at the Air Force Association's 57th Annual Air Force Anniversary Dinner in Washington, D.C. on 14 September 2004 because of his role as star and executive producer of Stargate SG-1, a series which has portrayed the Air Force in a positive light since it first premiered. It was presented by the then-Air Force Chief-of-Staff, General John P. Jumper. The last recipient of the award was James Stewart in 1987. At the same dinner, Anderson was made an honorary Brigadier General. So what award is this referring to? I couldn't find a mention of it in the James Stewart article to include the actual name of the award in this one. --user.lain 07:39, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Also, shouldn't RDA now be referred to as "Brigadier General (Hon.) Richard Dean Anderson" at the beginning of the article?

I agree, Anderson is a Brig. General, and should be titled as such. - MSTCrow 01:11, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
I don't think an Honorary title is the same as being given a real title. As such I don't think this should be reflected in the lead in and should only be discussed in the body of the article. Furthermore, I always thought honorary titles could not be used in an official capacity, and had only been given to the person for decorative purporses.--NeilEvans 14:41, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
I believe that you may be correct, although I don't know enough about the military to be sure, and I'm hesitant to remove info unless 100% necessary (especially if the prior consensus is to leave it be). If you can find a verifiable source for proper usage of honorary military titles, we can re-visit this topic. Spazure 00:56, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
I've been doing some research and found these three style guides.[1], [2] and [3]. While they don't deal with honorary military titles, they do deal with honorary degrees, so I would think the same rules would apply. It appears the consensus is that if a person holds an honorary doctorate, the title of Dr. should not be placed before the person's name. They also state that if it is necessary for the title to be included then it should be stated that the title is honorary. At present the article page does state that the title is honorary, but I don't feel that the title is necessary in the lead in paragraph.--NeilEvans 14:05, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
You lead a very compelling counterpoint. I urge others watching this article to add their opinion as well. I was not able to locate any info one way or another considering military usage of honorary titles, but as we're wiki and not military, the wiki rules for honorary titles (which I didn't even think to search on, thanks!) should probably take priority here. Spazure 02:58, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
WP:NCNT says this about honorary titles. "Honorary titles should not be used at all, but the appropriate post-nominal letters or explanation should be in the article." So I think that's pretty conclusive that the title should not be used and only the letters after his name and then expanded on in the body of the text.--NeilEvans 17:33, 11 July 2007 (UTC)


Brevet (military)

In the U.K. and U.S. military, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being brevetted. For example, "He was brevetted major general." The promotion would be noted in the officer's title, for example, "Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain".

Ok so, since we are talking about the United States Armed Forces, May I point out that every serving President of the United States is referred as the Commander-In-Chief after they leave public Office.

General of the Army George Washington, never once held that rank while he was alive, but in fact he was Brigadier General Washington. This title is and was honorary and today continues to be used. The same case can be made for President Dwight D. Eisenhower who resigned his Army commission on May 31, 1952 to run for president. After he served two terms, his successor, John F. Kennedy, signed Pub.L. 87-3 on March 23, 1961 which returned Eisenhower to Active Duty of Regular Army in grade of General of the Army dated back to December 1944. Thusly making him an honorary General of the Army while he was President of the United States.


(David Faith (talk) 00:00, 5 May 2008 (UTC))(David Faith) Sunday May 4th 2008 23:59 41 Zulu

Ok, find an example involving someone who never officially served in the military.Thinkbui (talk) 05:25, 5 May 2008 (UTC)


You mean like Brevet Colonel David Stern Crockett? In the Alamo battle in Texas?


Ok besides 42nd President of the United States William J. Clinton? A man that never served one day in uniform, No President is officially a member of the military the President is a civilian in spite of prior service. Although I am looking up other examples,

However even in this case a senior General in this case John P. Jumper. Recommend to the President of the United States (George W. Bush) that R.D. Anderson be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and then that nomination is sent to the United States Senate. And then it has to pass in the lower house, this is the case for all United States flag officers, brevet or no.

The Civil War encouraged the granting of hundreds of Brevet commissions to regular and volunteer army officers. In the United States Navy of old it was the Captains prerogative to promote who ever to which ever rank was needed in this instance a civilian can be promoted to the rank of acting ensign, “with all the rights and privileges there to.”

A brevet rank was an honorary promotion given to an officer (or occasionally, an enlisted man) in recognition of gallant conduct or other meritorious service. They served much the same purpose that medals play today (our modern system of medals did not exist at the time of the Civil War).

A brevet rank was almost meaningless in terms of real authority. For example, a major who was a brevet colonel collected the pay of a major, wore the uniform of a major, could not give orders to lieutenant colonels, and was only eligible for commands that normally fell to majors. But he was allowed to use the title of colonel in his correspondence.

In addition, there were some unusual circumstances where brevet rank carried authority. For instance, when a force consisted partly of Regular troops and partly of state militia, command would go to the officer with the highest brevet rank (who might neither the highest ranking regular officer nor the highest ranking volunteer!). This came up during the Mexican War on some occasions, and seems to have been designed to allow Regular officers with brevets (implying experience) to assume command over higher-ranking militia officers who had neither experience nor brevets.

An officer could also claim his brevet rank when serving on court-martial duty. Since an officer cannot be tried by officers ranking lower than himself, using brevet ranks allowed more people to qualify as possible court members.

During the war itself, brevets were very difficult to get and were a sign of valor, but on March 13, 1865, the War Department gave one brevet and sometimes two to nearly every officer on duty with the army. This angered many officers and men, who saw it as trivializing the efforts of men who won brevets in combat. (J.L. Chamberlain mentions this in his memoirs, for instance.)

Like regular ranks, brevets were kept separately for the U.S. Volunteers and the U.S. Army. Thus one man could have four ranks: an actual Volunteer rank, a brevet Volunteer rank, an actual Regular rank, and a brevet Regular rank. Brevets in the Regular army were sometimes used to honor men who had already been brevetted Major General in the Volunteers and could not be brevetted again (in the Volunteers), as no brevet Lieutenant Generals were created during the war (Winfield Scott had been made Brevet Lieutenant General [of Regulars] during the Mexican War).

Brevet ranks were authorized for the Regular Army in the Articles of War of 1806; they were authorized for the US Volunteers on March 3, 1863. Partly as a result of dissatisfaction with the end-of-war brevet giveaway, brevet promotions were discontinued in 1869; although officers who had been given brevets before that date continued to use them. They were reinstated for the Spanish-American war and continued in use until after World War I.

The Confederate army did not award brevet promotions.

(David Faith (talk) 21:38, 5 May 2008 (UTC))

When searching through Wikipedia manual of style for naming conventions, it seems fairly clear what the convention is.

  • Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) does not discuss military honorable titles, probably because there in light of the other convensions wouldn't be much room for including the honorary title. For government officials, it states
Styles and honorifics which are derived from political activities, including but not limited to The Right Honourable for being a Member of the Privy Council, should not be included in the text inline but may be legitimately discussed in the article proper. ...
Further for academical titles it states:
Academic and professional titles (such as "Doctor" or "Professor") should not be used before the name in the initial sentence or in other uses of the person's name. ...
6. Courtesy titles (also referred to as an honorific prefix) such as Lord or Lady differ from full titles because unlike full titles they are included as part of the personal name, often from birth. As such, they should be included in the article title if a person if universally recognised with it and their name is unrecognisable without it. ... (my emphasising)
Since an honorific title is less commonly used thana coutesy title, and Richard Dean Anderson absolutely is recongnized without his honorific title, this should make matters fairly clear.
7. In general, use the most commonly recognized English-language form of the name. ...
In conclusion I find no support for including an honorary title in the opening. To conclude my remarks, take a look at an actual brigader general, Ebenezer Learned. There is no mention of his title in the opening. To include this honorary title in the Richard Dean Anderson article at the opening is thus a breach of the convensions of Wikipedia:Manual of Style. Arsenikk (talk) 23:11, 5 May 2008 (UTC)


Ok then, and in the second place you’re trying to use civilian "Styles" for the military and that just isn't going to work! Other wise you could try a military case in a civilian court, but that never happens, military and civilian are different entities at all times, if they weren’t things would be very different! (David Faith (talk) 20:35, 13 May 2008 (UTC))


This discussion is essentially dead since Arsenikk found something in Wikpedia's "Bible", but it's been a good one, so I'll bit at least once more.

To answer your question, David, Crockett's rank came from his election to lead the TN Militia and as you know, like military ranks, those tend to stick afterwards and besides we just now call him Davy Crockett, no rank or title. I'm not sure where you were going with Bill Clinton since, as you note, the job as president is a civilian post that comes with the responsibilities as commander in chief. Unless I'm missing something, I don't believe he's widely referred to as Brevet or Former Commander-in-Chief Bill Clinton nor is there any expectation that he would serve in that capacity again since it came with the job and left with the job as president.

You are correct in stating that trials concerning military matters belong in military courts and civilian matters in civilian courts, but if we were to continue with that example, if RDA committed a crime -- let's say he raped a USAF officer -- would that go into a civilian or military court? Maybe that's not he greatest example as it only says he's not an active GI, but honestly if he hasn't chosen to go by "General" and not part of the real USAF past or present even with the honorary title brevet or otherwise and there are no forces at play, not even from the USAF and its regulations nor general consensus of the public, imposing that this civilian be widely addressed as a military officer and acting is by far the only thing he's famous for, is there any reason identify him in the summary blurb of this article as anything other than his stage name?Thinkbui (talk) 08:53, 16 May 2008 (UTC)


It wasn’t a question; the fact that Colonel Crockett’s rank was elected office didn’t come up in my research, the press certain members of the military and a few civilians still call him “Former Commander-in-Chief Bill Clinton” there are a few perks that come with being a retired President of the United States. That’s not a brevet, and it could possibly come again to any ex-president, he could still serve another two years but that’s not important here as you pointed out!

Your Example

Should RDA commit a crime, it would depend on where he is! Is he on a base or off? Should General Jumper steal a car off a base he be charged under civilian law, should he steal that same car down at Andrews A.F.B. he’ll be charged under military law, it wouldn’t matter if he had his uniform on much, when the U.S.A.F. gets a hold of him. it’ll be one more charge to answer for I.e., Conduct unbecoming an officer, However in this example General Anderson’s Rank will be noted for the civilian courts and would influence the military court, how he’s handled!

(David Faith (talk) 19:26, 20 May 2008 (UTC))

[edit] Latino heritage?

IN the simpsons episode he mentioned having latino heritage.

Yeah, but that's the Simpsons. The show where Bill Clinton stated that he was "a pretty lousy president". Maybe that's not the best example (it's true and all!), but the point still stands. Anything said on the Simpsons has to be taken with a pretty big grain of salt. SpudHawg948 (talk) 00:15, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Serial daters

Why is it, I wonder, that male celebrities are invariably accompanied by a list of beautiful and famous women they have dated, as if this was some kind of accomplishment rather than representing a string of failures? 82.110.248.146 (talk) 13:43, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

  • To be fair, sometimes dating is entirely for social purposes rather than seeking a mate, or someone to mate with. It is possible for two people to date without any kind of carnal motivations. I'm not saying that's what he was doing, just playing devil's advocate. 24.254.163.150 (talk) 02:10, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Actor Infobox

Much of the info is not displaying. I can't seem to fix it ATM, but perhaps someone who's better at wiki editing than I can do so...

Jedikaiti (talk) 05:20, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sea Shepherd

I'd write an article about Richard Dean Anderson's association with Sea Shepherd, but I'm not exactly good at such things.

We have something mentioning it on his own webpage: http://rdanderson.com/signseal.htm

As well as Sea Shepherd's webpage: http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_050310_1.html

http://www.activistcash.com claims that RD Anderson is a board member of Sea Shepherd... I'm not sure if that's true or not. I'd post a direct link, but unfortunately they use a script so that you can't link directly to someone's profile on there.

Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of this myself... In some ways, I respect what SSCS does, but in other ways I don't. The goal is noble, the methodology is questionable at best. And RD Anderson's involvement with them puts him in a different light from how I originally saw him. :( 24.254.163.150 (talk) 21:33, 25 April 2008 (UTC)