The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Keep. Cbrown1023 talk 16:41, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter[edit]

Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)

A person isn't notable just because they appear in Harry Potter. This listing is redundant compared to the exhaustive one at List of Harry Potter films cast members. None of the people on the page are otherwise notable and would need splitting to another article, though if there is one that I've overlooked a separate article just for them can be made. Basically, if you only need a section to say that X person played Y role in Z Harry Potter film, it's already been said at the list. Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 22:29, 23 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete and merge all relevant info into List of Harry Potter films cast members (which may need a name change). The title of the article is reason enough for deletion. Minor=not notable. What's next, List of extras in movies? Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 22:51, 23 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • FYI, List of Harry Potter films cast members underwent a name change from Harry Potter cast, and I think it's the shortest way of saying what we're trying to say… but if you have any suggestions, it would be great to hear. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 03:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep — this seems to me a better alternative than having dozens of articles on otherwise non-notable performers. It's similar to the recommendations for minor fictional characters at WP:FICTION — rather than create a dozen non-notable stubs, create a list which merges the content into a useful and comprehensive format. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 23:59, 23 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Josiah, the point was not to go create individual stubs, but rather that these people were not notable enough to merit even a comprehensive article of all of them. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 03:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • I understand that creating individual stubs wasn't the proposed alternative, but I think that it's what the actual consequence of deleting this page will be. I disagree with the judgment that these young actors en masse are non-notable, and practically speaking, it will be easier to maintain a "compendium" list like this than to continually hunt-and-destroy the stubs that will be created otherwise. As it is, pages like Eleanor Columbus can (and do) redirect to Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter. If this page is deleted, it will be all the more difficult to prevent future stubs for Eleanor Columbus and the like from sprouting like something out of Herbology class. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 04:48, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
      • Josiah, I have watchlisted all the stubs that redirect to Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter. Hopefully, you have enough faith in our watchlisting skills and reversion of inappropriate page creation so as to change your mind? I don't agree either that these are all non-notable, because they have the good fortune of appearing in a Harry Potter film. But that information is already covered at List of Harry Potter films cast members. Surely, at least a redirect to the latter, featured, list, is more appropriate, and a vote of confidence to continually monitor all the stubs that might be created? --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 23:52, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
        • It's not a question of faith in watchlisting, it's a question of additional information. List of Harry Potter films cast members is lovely, but there is information at Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter that isn't contained in the larger list: birthdays, yes, and also other roles and school information. For example, it's of mild interest that the actor who played Charlie Weasley is now studying Law at Cambridge (although, of course, a citation confirming this would be good). (By the way, is William Melling, who's on that list, any relation to Harry Melling, who plays Dudley and is Patrick Troughton's grandson? That's the sort of info that this list could contain that the larger one can't.) —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 09:59, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
          • I imagine that the page could be very informative if all of the information weren't taken from IMDb, though. William Melling we have no idea about, since he plays on one of the smallest roles in the series (just a few short scenes in GF and apparently a few in OP; looks like his character is a "replacement" for Colin Creevey). If he is related to Harry, though, that may prove how he got the part. Anyway, it just seems all of the birthdays came from IMDb, which has very little editorial oversight and thus is not a reliable source for actors' personal information or upcoming films. I suppose if we really want Alex Crockford's school information, he could go back to a stub, or we could greatly reduce the page so that it only has information on minor actors who also have some other interesting information about them. For the record, Crockford appeared in a two-second cameo in a photograph of all the Weasleys. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 20:27, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep per Josiah Rowe, there will be a lot of child actors who may or may not go on to appear in any other production. Listing them is a good idea, and in future splitting off any that go onto to become famous in their own right. Tim! 08:18, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • But if they don't go on to become more famous, we'll be stuck with this page, and we'll continue to go through this cycle again and again until they eventually die. Why not wait to see if any of them become famous, and then write an article on them, rather than keeping them in this essential duplicate to List of Harry Potter films cast members but with words? --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 23:52, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep. Josiah Rowe's reasoning is convincing, the Harry Potter series is huge, but we don't have much information on these actors so maintaining a comprehensive list for them is a reasonable way of handling the situation. Sjakkalle (Check!) 10:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete the complete cast can be found at List of Harry Potter films cast members, the editors there can decide who's minor and dump them toward the end. I also agree with those voting keep that you don't need to be notable to be on the list -- not every name need be a link -- and with the converse: that being on this list doesn't make one notable. Carlossuarez46 07:00, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep, big franchise, generally speaking not all actors/actresses will be article worthy, perfect example of a good list. thanks/Fenton, Matthew Lexic Dark 52278 Alpha 771 14:44, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Would you say an example of a good list has one-sentence sections such as "Jennifer Smith played Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," with no other information? --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 19:34, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete There's hardly any worthy information, except who played which character. And for that we already have a list. Neville Longbottom 20:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep per reasons given already. Mermaid from the Baltic Sea 05:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep per Josiah. Also, one of the most notable media franchises in history. - Peregrine Fisher 07:02, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Please don't think me anti-Harry Potter! I'm one of the most active members of the WP:Harry and am a frequent poster (when not editing Wikipedia) of a number of fan forums around the web. But that does not mean I approve this article. Basically, this is just a listing of about 28 actors or so who appeared in the HP films, and essentially nothing else that's notable. They were originally all stubs, so we merged them into this one giant article. I was originally part of the creation of this page. However, I have since learned the ways of Wikipedia better to realize that you don't need to write something, even if it be one or two sentences, about somebody who's done something famous, just because they've done that. They don't need an article or even a section of an article, if the've been mentioned at List of Harry Potter films cast members, where the information there (name, role in which film) is the only information in this article we're discussing here. Look, I'm happy for Jason Boyd and all, but would you say a section that reads: "Jason Boyd (born September 29, 1989) will play Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend, in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is that necessary? Boyd is listed under the "Muggles" section of List of Harry Potter films cast members. His birthday was taken from IMDb. Not that hard to find. Now, instead of Jason Boyd (actor) redirecting to Minor actors and actresses in Harry Potter, which is a list made out of prose, it will redirect to List of Harry Potter films cast members, which is a featured list made out of tables, which is really the information you'd be searching for if you're looking for Jason Boyd. When you see that his name is not wikilinked, you will discover that there's nothing else about him which Wikipedia deems notable, so you'll be satisfied to learn Jason Boyd has played Piers Polkiss in one HP film, and that's it. You want his birthday, which may not even be true, go search IMDb. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 23:44, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

* NOTE: This debate has been included at Wikipedia:WikiProject Harry Potter/AfD. John Reaves (talk) 09:36, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.