Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american-israeli actor and director”. Today it says “american-israeli actor”.
Found by software in Wikipedia's own edit history. Not yet read by hand. The quoted words are Wikipedia's.
Compared with the live article on 2026-08-04.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Smith is a Hollywood actor, born 5 Feb , 1939 .1Burly, bearded, and imposing, has appeared in films and occasionally on TV since the 1970s , generally playing "heavies" and bad guys.2He is sometimes credited as Paul Smith or Paul Lawrence Smith.3Noted roles: Hamidou in Midnight Express (1978) Bluto in Popeye " (1980) Rabban in Dune (1984) Surbus in Gor (1988) Head guard in Caged Fury (1989) The Archduke in Maverick (1994). v t e4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16501398.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Smith (born February 5, 1939) is an American character actor. Burly, bearded, and imposing, he has appeared in films and occasionally on TV since the 1970s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys. His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison warden in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Robert Altman 's Popeye (1980) and the Beast Rabban in David Lynch 's Dune (1984). He is sometimes credited as Paul Smith or Paul Lawrence Smith.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 361868586.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Smith , was an American stand-up comedian, actor, singer, and comedian, best known for generally portraying villains and "heavies".His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison warden in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Popeye (1980), Gideon in Masada (1981), and Glossu Rabban in Dune (1984).Smith was sometimes credited as Paul Smith .Currently, his cause of death is unconfirmed.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662823193.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Smith , was an American actor.Burly, bearded and imposing, he appeared in feature films and occasionally on television since the 1970s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys.His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison guard in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Robert Altman 's Popeye (1980), Gideon in the ABC miniseries Masada (1981) and Glossu Rabban in David Lynch 's Dune (1984).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 954385759.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Burly, bearded and imposing, he appeared in feature films and occasionally on television since the 1960s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys. His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison guard in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Robert Altman 's Popeye (1980), Gideon in the ABC miniseries Masada (1981), Glossu "Beast" Rabban in David Lynch 's Dune (1984) and Falkon in Red Sonja (1985).He was most frequently credited as Paul Smith or Paul L.Smith, but was also billed as P.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171430890.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Burly, bearded and imposing, he appeared in feature films and occasionally on television since the 1960s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys. His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison guard in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Robert Altman 's Popeye (1980), Gideon in the ABC miniseries Masada (1981), Glossu "Beast" Rabban in David Lynch 's Dune (1984) and Falkon in Red Sonja (1985). He was most frequently credited as Paul Smith or Paul L. Smith, but was also billed as P.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1287806468. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american-israeli actor and director”. Today it says “american-israeli actor”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american-israeli actor and director
Now
american-israeli actor
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.