Talk:J. S. Grimaldi

Teenager

What struck me, as I thought about JS Grimaldi, was that his peak years were as a teenager. He began his decline by age 20. So I made a few edits to try to make this point come across clearly. Happy editing! -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:42, 30 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, sorry that wasn't very clear. Thanks for elaborating! -- Cassianto^Talk 18:50, 30 September 2012 (UTC)

problem with the mobile article subtitle

The mobile article https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._Grimaldi has a subtitle which states "American stage actor" which is obviously incorrect and confusing. I've no idea where that information is taken from and no idea how to fix it or even what resource I can look up to tell me where that subtitle comes from???? suggestions ? 31.54.33.203 (talk) 19:34, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Contested deletion

This page should not be speedily deleted because... It is a well-written, well-researched article about a notable person. --Ssilvers (talk) 19:23, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

What? Are you serious? Can you give me a link, Ssilvers? Cassianto^Talk 19:25, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Cassianto, look at the edit history of the article. I removed a speedy deletion tag placed by a newbie/vandal. -- Ssilvers (talk) 19:29, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

It's a troll who I've reported to Oshwah. Cassianto^Talk 19:47, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Improvements to Death section & reverted edit

Ssilvers: starting a talk thread per WP:BRD. I think I may have also accidentally included some modifications in my latest edit that technically overlap with your revert, I'm happy to revert those if desired.

I think largely your reversion was the right call. However, I would love to find phrasing we can agree on for the Death section. I found the phrasing mentioning the absolute year of his mother's death ("His mother died in 1834") but only the relative offset of his father's death ("and his father survived him by five years") quite confusing. My reverted edit may not have been the best way to rephrase it but I still would like to improve that — any suggestions?

(Also, I attempted to follow British grammar as much as possible but as a poor American I do not always know what the conventions are. My apologies if I messed something up.) Kognise (talk) 06:21, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. I added the father's date of death and carefully considered your newer changes, keeping the helpful ones and rejecting the ones that were MOS violations or not helpful. You should review our WP:Manual of Style, including MOS:VAR. -- Ssilvers (talk) 16:52, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm much happier with the state of the article now — you kept the edits I cared about, and I think your selective reversions in Decline were improvements.

I had switched to Oxford commas in some places because there seemed to not yet be a common style in the article, and I think they're clearer here. But I don't feel strongly.

If you have extra time, I would greatly appreciate if you could explain to me how I messed up the MoS! I did actually read through it before editing but it can be quite hard to remember everything. I think if you could explain more specifically why you made some of the edits I could do better in the future. Obviously completely optional, but I would be grateful. Kognise (talk) 17:28, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

I already pointed to MOS:VAR, and if it was not entirely consistent before, I apologize. If you point to a specific revert, I'm happy to explain why I reverted it. In most cases, I tried to accept your changes, or at least compromise with you, even if I did not think the change was an improvement. -- Ssilvers (talk) 17:37, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

I'm specifically curious about:

1. Comma added: "was born in Clerkenwell, London, to the actor"
2. Comma added: "saw their son only occasionally over the next four years, as Grimaldi went out of his way to avoid them"
3. Removal of "again": "while his father again played the title role"
4. Also, in Joseph Grimaldi, removing the comma "In 1800, thieves" for engvar, but there are commas in similar places all throughout that and this article

Kognise (talk) 17:45, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

• London is set off with commas. I believe this is the preferred style in Wikipedia, and I have seen it insisted upon at WP:FAC discussions.
• Now added a comma before "over", to create a parenthetical clause. Though this is optional, I think it is helpful here for the reader.
• Don't need "again". He often performed with his father. It is not important here that his father played the role more than once, as this is not his father's article.
• It is not preferred in British English to use the introductory comma, and some British editors here who I respect greatly (I am American but have edited mostly British subjects over my 20+ years on Wikipedia) insist most strongly about it. See, e.g., Fowler. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:00, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

  Thank you very much! The London change makes sense, and TIL about introductory comma in British English. I had added "again" to try to emphasize the story of his relationship with his father, but it's definitely good without it.

  Grimaldi became estranged from his parents in 1823, who saw their son only occasionally, over the next four years, as Grimaldi went out of his way to avoid them.

  However, this new copy feels really stilted to me. My feeling is that "[His parents] saw their son only occasionally over the next four years as Grimaldi went out of his way to avoid them." is a full thought, and only the comma after "in 1823" is necessary to separate that clause. The comma before "over" feels strange, in my opinion.

  Either way, I am definitely new to Wikipedia and it strikes me as silly to be spending so much time debating minute phrasing over an obscure alcoholic clown. I appreciate your effort spent helping me out here, and also on getting these two articles to a great state in the first place. Kognise (talk) 18:33, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

I see your point, and looking closely at it, I think the sentence is a bit redundant. I've suggested a more concise alternative. -- Ssilvers (talk) 19:25, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Nice! Kognise (talk) 20:10, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

By the way, I see that, though you are not new here, you have only recently become more active, and I greatly appreciate your thoughtful approach and willingness to discuss. I hope you enjoy editing here and find satisfaction in contributing to the world's biggest encyclopedia. With nearly 200,000 edits under my belt, including some FA articles, please let me know if you have any questions. I am good on content but would not be very helpful on coding or other technical questions. For those, you can always ask at WP:Teahouse or the Wikipedia:Help desk. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:10, 29 June 2026 (UTC)