Talk:Otis Williams

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Birthdate

Can anyone else confirm that his birth year is, as I believe it, 1939 ?

Derek R Bullamore 18:52, 5 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Check Otis's autobiography, Temptations. He certainly didn't make that up. Rollosmokes 05:00, 6 October 2006 (UTC) He was born on October 30 1941. Chech out the Temptations web site[reply]

question

are u gonna put up any info on Otis' son Lamont

What was it like being with the temptations DarlenesMom24 (talk) 04:30, 19 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Two issues of contention

I'm surrounded by Temptations-related books and Google Chrome tabs, and sort of at my wit's end trying to verify all of the personal information here to ensure accuracy.

Otis Williams or Otis Miles Jr? - According to the lawsuit she filed in 1999 over the Temptations miniseries, Josephine Rogers' married name was Josephine Miles and Otis Williams is referred to as, well, Otis Williams with no "p/k/a" or "a/k/a" distinction. This would seem to mean Williams was still using his birth name, or some variation thereof, as his legal name at the time they married in 1961. In fact, an April 1971 Ebony magazine piece on the Temptations (which ironically was written just before Eddie Kendricks left the troupe, but published after - I digress) says flat out that "his real name is Otis Williams Miles", and he is referred to as such in other contemporaneous coverages of Temptations miscellany. As far as I can tell, Arleata Carter's married name was Williams, so I assume Otis Williams changed his legal name from "Miles" to "Williams" at some point after he'd become famous (not before as originally thought), but I have no verifiable info as to when. I tended to avoid the issue in the latest edit.
Elan Carter - she is definitely Arleata Carter's daughter, but I have no verifiable evidence that Otis Williams is her birth father and not her stepfather, as the Ribowsky book seems to imply. Williams was married to Ann Cain in 1969, when Elan Carter was born. On his official website bio, Otis mentions Otis Lamont Williams (Miles?) as his only child. Elan Carter is not mentioned, though she would have been school-aged when her mother dated and married Williams. As of current, I removed the mention of Williams being her father and simply stated she was Arleata Carter's daughter.

It's a - pardon the pun - "ball of confusion". Can anyone help? --FuriousFreddy (talk) 06:42, 18 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Confusion

This article reads rather awkwardly. I am especially confused by the third sentence; were The Temptations first known as The Elgins? And how is it that Otis continues to perform with the group when he is the only surviving member? I hesitate to edit this article as I'm not very familiar with Williams life. Maybe you would know, FuriousFreddy? Thanks! PennyLane415 (talk) 19:57, 7 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The tense is a bit off - I made some edits to make the article more clear. The Temptations were first known as the Elgins before signing their contract with Motown, which is covered in more detail at The Temptations/ --FuriousFreddy (talk) 18:56, 9 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

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Picture

Surely a better image for the infobox than some awkwardly cropped one can be found? 70.15.81.62 (talk) 03:24, 27 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]