Talk:Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas

Untitled

"Although the character he played was often the subject of controversy in later years, Thomas always defended his work in the series, pointing out the fact that Buckwheat and the rest of the black Our Gang kids were treated as being equal with the white kids in the series. The 1980s animated series addressed the problem by changing Buckwheat into a clever inventor who is always building ingenious machines for the gang."

I'm not sure just what the controversy was. This really needs to be clarified, because the article just makes a vague reference to some controversy but never tells just what it was. WoodenTaco 00:30, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I clarified the sentence. The controversy was that Buckwheat's character contained aspects of the "pickaninny" stereotype. --FuriousFreddy 02:17, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hal roach gives testimony that, in the early days of the "Our Gang" assembly, while setting the children up for a photo-op, several white studio assistants and the photographer wanted to separaate Bill from Darla, as they were standing next to each other. To subject a child to intended racial violence\hostile intent at the time of official US-sanctioned Segregation was apalling to Mr. Roach-a Jew, to say the least. That was one of the magical things about "Rascals". It showcased how children can be themselves, mischievous, yes indeed, but also delightfully inventive and adventurous. The bastards who tried to harrass the black kids on set wanted to destroy what is a precious right of all children: The ability to be, and to playfully grow with facination, joy and wonder at the world.

--24.46.103.28 (talk) 02:54, 24 May 2011 (UTC)Veryverser

Buckwheat was one of John Crichtons nicknames for Rygel in the TV programme Farscape. --Hellahulla 12:22, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I got that. The character John Chricton's put-upon personality was based partly on colliuilisms and slang used by African-American street ppl. --24.46.103.28 (talk) 02:54, 24 May 2011 (UTC)Veryverser

Can someone source the allegation that Carla Dartez called a volunteer 'Buckwheat'? Her name was removed with the rest of the sentence remaining. The same allegation on her wiki page Carla Blanchard Dartez has no sources. ScrotalKombat (talk) 07:43, 23 October 2008 (UTC) HAHA DISREGARD THAT, I SUCK lollypops. The source is right there, *facepalm*. ScrotalKombat (talk) 07:47, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

The Saturday Night Live section is quite inaccurate -- it implies that the first Buckwheat sketch was the assassination, when in fact, the first Buckwheat sketch ("Buh-Weet Sings") appeared on the FIRST anniversary of Thomas' death in 1981. Jarretc (talk) 21:55, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm glad that the issue is addressed here, but shouldn't the article itself include mention of the fact that the creators of the shorts set out from the start to portray the kids as equals, one no more exaggerated than another?PurpleChez (talk) 19:47, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Move request

This article has been renamed from Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas to Billie Thomas as the result of a move request.

For move discussion see Talk:Allen Hoskins—Preceding unsigned comment added by Keith D (talk • contribs) 23:41, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Death

"Thomas died of a Plane crash in his Los Angeles apartment on October 10, 1980." Really? Died of a plane crash in his apartment? I mean, that's possible, but if it's true it really merits a bit more explanation. Bunnyhugger (talk) 05:51, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

I have reverted what looks like vandalism. Keith D (talk) 12:32, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Man that's how I wanna go. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.186.125 (talk) 02:39, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians, I have just modified one external link on Billie Thomas. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100212202308/http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com:80/id436.html to http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id436.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}). This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 14:42, 2 November 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 26 January 2020

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved (closed by non-admin page mover) Kostas20142 (talk) 01:07, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

---

Billie Thomas → Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas – Per WP:COMMONNAME. Subject was never known to the public as simply Billie Thomas nor was he ever billed under that specific name. His stage name was Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas or "Buckwheat" Thomas / Buckwheat Thomas or simply "Buckwheat". He was never credited as Billie Thomas and film sources reference him as Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas. Although the use of quote "nickname" unquote in Wikipedia's main title headers is usually discouraged, it is permitted per WP:NICKNAME: Avoid adding a nickname, or a contracted version of the original given name(s), in quotes, or parentheses, between first and last name (for example: Bill Clinton, not William "Bill" Clinton), unless it is the form most frequently used in independent reliable sources (see § Middle names and initials). Here is Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas in IMDb, American Film Institute Catalog, Turner Classic Movies, AllMovie and TVGuide. His on-screen billing can be seen in the opening film credits. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 23:53, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• Support per nom. --Netoholic @ 06:31, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
• Support per nom. Also this LA Times Less Unless (talk) 11:43, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

---

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.