Uh-oh!

Now you know why I use screen captures of Wikipedia rather than quoting it. One diligent individual using the handle Geni has edited the Wallace Beery entry to remove the story about him beating Ted Healy to death in the parking lot of the Trocadero – but the picture remains. So far.

The claim was removed by Geni yesterday.

Here is the now-missing version, saved in a screen capture:

My goodness! Geni has been busy! The Healy story is gone from the Thelma Todd entry.

It’s gone from the Albert Broccoli entry.
It’s gone from the Eddie Mannix entry.
It’s gone from the Howard Strickling entry.
It’s gone from the “Good Old Soak” entry.”

It’s even gone from the Trocadero entry, removed by user 2.103.219.187:

This is exactly how Wikipedia is supposed to operate. Which is good. But I am still troubled by the fact that claims can vanish so quickly. Now I’ll be watching for Wikipedia’s infamous “revert wars,” in which the material is restored.

That would be the Ted Healy entry:

In which Geni and DoctorJoeE slug it out in true Wikipedia fashion:

Note to DoctorJoeE: Adding the page numbers (Pages 175-178) is not going to make “The Fixers” any more accurate. The nonsense will just be easier to find.

This will be fun to watch!