Talk:Patrick McGilligan (biographer)

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Another promotional piece

Yet another Wikipedia page that is poorly-referenced and reads like a PR junket, particularly the quote about Eastwood's biography. If the original author doesn't step forward to cite that reference or balance the piece, I'm going to remove that sentence. Alanrobts (talk) 18:54, 24 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

McGilligan's biography of Clint Eastwood has been shown to be incorrect

It shaves three years off the late Sondra Locke's (1944–2018) birthdate and operates under that false premise. Locke was born in 1944, a fact which invalidates the bedrock of the stories told in Clint: The Life and Legend. On page 229, McGilligan reports her birth year as 1947, and the lie is used as a reference point for more subterfuge on pages 260, 289, 312, 347, 388 and 409. McGilligan repeats this disinformation in the 2015 revised edition, even though Locke's true age had been nationally acknowledged for several years by that point.^[1]^[2]

A 1989 Sylvia Slaughter article in The Tennessean exposed Locke's true age to some three million readers, with People magazine following suit.^[3]^[4] McGilligan had to have come across this authoritative piece during preliminary research and willfully ignored its revelations. Seeing how Locke was the principal interviewee for his book, McGilligan lying on the late star's behalf by pegging her age to a more preferred birthdate should not come as too great a surprise.

McGilligan needs to issue a retraction and own up to his lack of journalistic integrity. There is no way an author of his research ability could have been oblivious to the fact Locke was lying through her teeth. 222.152.86.41 (talk) 04:15, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is not the place to push your agenda, nor is there any reason to believe Patrick McGilligan has ever seen this article. -- Pemilligan (talk) 05:09, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Raymond, Kitty (May 28, 2010). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY for May 28". San Francisco Examiner. "Actress Sondra Locke is 66."
^ Brekus, Pete (May 28, 2011). "Almanac". The Express-Times. "Actress-director Sondra Locke is 67."
^ Slaughter, Sylvia (May 28, 1989). "Sondra vs. Clint in palimony suit". The Tennessean. "Don Locke loves his sister. He misses her, and he regrets the fact that his three daughters don't have any knowledge of Sondra other than what they see on TV or in print or hear from gossipmongers. 'Sondra's not this kind of bad character,' he says. 'Maybe she's changed, but she was my big sister who used to play baseball with me. Sondra's gonna be 45 May 28 ...' Locke's publicist claims Sondra will be 42 today."
^ Waggoner, Diana (August 7, 1989). "When Harry Left Sondra". People. "Locke, 45, was directing the thriller Impulse last April when she received a letter from Eastwood’s attorney informing her that the locks on their Bel Air home had been changed."

[1] Raymond, Kitty (May 28, 2010). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY for May 28". San Francisco Examiner. "Actress Sondra Locke is 66."

[2] Brekus, Pete (May 28, 2011). "Almanac". The Express-Times. "Actress-director Sondra Locke is 67."

[3] Slaughter, Sylvia (May 28, 1989). "Sondra vs. Clint in palimony suit". The Tennessean. "Don Locke loves his sister. He misses her, and he regrets the fact that his three daughters don't have any knowledge of Sondra other than what they see on TV or in print or hear from gossipmongers. 'Sondra's not this kind of bad character,' he says. 'Maybe she's changed, but she was my big sister who used to play baseball with me. Sondra's gonna be 45 May 28 ...' Locke's publicist claims Sondra will be 42 today."

[4] Waggoner, Diana (August 7, 1989). "When Harry Left Sondra". People. "Locke, 45, was directing the thriller Impulse last April when she received a letter from Eastwood’s attorney informing her that the locks on their Bel Air home had been changed."

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