Talk:A. H. Woods

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Something is off. I'm not an expert on Albert Woods, but The Bowery After Dark is 1899. Internet Broadway Data Base does not affiliate him with the show, and it is 5 years earlier that his "first" show. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alisar (talk • contribs) 21:15, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Woods started his career working with touring companies. He would only be associated with those in IBDB if a tour he was managing included a stint at a Broadway theatre. --RL0919 (talk) 20:57, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

Was he ever really called Albert?

I did a lot of research on Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz and The Miracle (1912 film), in both of with he was heavily involved (see also The Miracle (1959 film)), and I have never come across Woods being called Albert. The article has had this name since it was created a a stub in 2004 by a now-retired editor. I feel it may have been a confusion of 'Al.' as an abbreviation of Albert. As far am I am aware he was almost always referred to as A. H. Woods, or Al. Woods (with full stop), in the early days at least. I'm not sure that he ever legally changed his name. Are there a number of reliable printed sources that specifically name him as Albert H. Woods? Even the cited NYT obit and the Ayn Rand bio call him A. H. Woods, his usual appellation. Otherwise I propose an article name change to A. H. Woods, currently a redirect. I'm happy to try to fix all the WLs (around 75). MinorProphet (talk) 18:44, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 25 January 2021

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 (non-admin closure) (t · c) buidhe 04:20, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

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Albert H. Woods → A. H. Woods – uncontested, as per talk page MinorProphet (talk) 02:59, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

• Support per nomination. Nearly all sources confirm that subject's WP:COMMONNAME has been historically indicated as "A. H.", rather than as "Albert H." —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 04:01, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
• Support. From the history, it appears that both "Albert H. Woods" and "A. H. Woods" were created separately as articles, then merged in 2005, but IMO the wrong title was selected for the merged article. Sources normally call him "A. H. Woods" or sometimes "Al Woods"; all other variations are rare. --RL0919 (talk) 04:43, 25 January 2021 (UTC)
• Support per nom.--Ortizesp (talk) 06:33, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Name

Hi, @RL0919:, I'm wondering about your recent edit. As I said above, I did a lot of research on Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz and The Miracle (1912 film), in both of with he was heavily involved (see also The Miracle (1959 film)). I have almost never come across Woods being called anything other than A. H. Woods. His birth name was Alador Herman, in the US he changed his appellation to the professional name A. H. Woods. Pretty much every contemporary news article referring to him calls him A. H. Woods, and very seldom anything else. Perhaps Al Woods occasionally. The above discussion about the name change backs this up. I suggest that he was never known as Aladar Herman Woods, but only either of the foregoing. What, then, to do? Perhaps display both? Cheers, MinorProphet (talk) 19:31, 5 October 2021 (UTC)

Alador Herman A. H. Woods
A. H. Woods in 1909

Aladár Herman Albert Herman Woods A. H. Woods
A. H. Woods in 1909

To be clear, his adopted name was Albert Herman Woods, and it is not hard to find both contemporaneous sources – the caption of this 1926 photo in Theatre Magazine, for example – and more recent ones that give this as his full name. Sources that give the name are already cited in the article, such as the article about him in Art, Glitter, and Glitz. "Al Woods" was used more frequently, to the point that I would question the characterization of "very seldom" above, although "A. H. Woods" is definitely the most common form. --RL0919 (talk) 21:58, 5 October 2021 (UTC)

@RL0919: Thanks for your enlightening reply. Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty By Bernard F. Dick says that he was born Aladár Herman. Variety magazine tends to refers to him as A. H. Woods or Al Woods or Al. H. Woods and perhaps never as Albert Herman Woods. (eg Google "archive.org variety "Albert Herman Woods") A New Zealand paper "Decline of Theatre: Two Big Failures in USA". The Evening Post, Wellington, October 23 1931 p. 9d has details of a bankruptcy of $1,026,000 in 1931 and also calls him Albert Herman Woods.

So, putting it all together and hopefully eliminating all the accumulated errors, how about this: "Born Aladár Herman,[ref. Dick] he assumed the name Albert Herman Woods in the USA,[ref. Theatre Mag, Evening Post] but he didn't often use it in full. Although he was sometimes referred to as Al Woods or Al H. Woods, he was most often known simply as A. H. Woods." MinorProphet (talk) 01:11, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

The article about Woods in Art, Glitter, and Glitz gives his birth name as Aladore, not Aladár. The article about him in The Oxford Companion to American Theatre also says Aladore. Both of these sources are specifically about Woods, while Dick's book is about Colbert, so I would be inclined to take them over him. There are also many others that say Aladore – Dick's book seems to be an outlier on this. Sourcing aside, I think you are making this more complicated than it needs to be. The full name and birth name are covered in the lead following the WP:FIRSTBIO pattern, which is what is already in the article now. A commonly-used diminutive (Al for Albert) or initials instead of forenames (A. H. instead of Albert Herman) typically shouldn't require explanation. --RL0919 (talk) 14:18, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

Well, at least we have settled on his real and assumed names. Thank you for your diligence. The lede and infobox seem fine now. Cheers, MinorProphet (talk) 14:34, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

Nevertheless, what an extraordinary man! I don't think the article does him justice. MinorProphet (talk) 17:00, 6 October 2021 (UTC)