Burt, Babs, and Adolf: Three Questions

Factual Questions
1

I’ve been reading a trivia book and there were three things mentioned that coincidentally all had to do with names. Exposure to this board has left my cynical, but all three sounded suspiciously like urban legends to me. However I’ve checked Snopes and Brunvald and found none mentioned. So can anyone tell me if these are true, semi-true or false?

One was that when Burt Reynolds was writing his name in the cement on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he misspelled it. I don’t have any particular respect for Reynolds’ intellect but I find it hard to believe anyone doesn’t know how to spell their own name.

Another was that Adolf Hitler issued a decree during his reign forbidding anyone from naming their child Adolf. It seems unlikely to me that a meglomaniac like Hitler would discourage a thing like that.

The last was about the movie Animal House. At the time it was released Universal put a line in the end credits of all their films suggesting people take the Universal Studio tour. In the movie there was a character, Babs, who was said to have later become a studio guide. In the end credits, the usual “Visit Universal Studio” credit was amended with the addition “Ask for Babs”. The book I read claimed that for several years if you actually asked for Babs at the gate of Universl Studios you got a free admission. Again this sounds like an urban legend.

2

Well, I can’t give a definitive answer for any of them, but in the case of Burt’s name, you must remember that writing one’s name in pen, on, say, a check, is quite a bit different than using, say, a stick to “draw” one’s name, in concrete, while kneeling, in front of 1,000 onlookers, two dozen photographers and six TV cameras.

I’ve heard many similar stories involving tattooists, airbrush artists, sign painters and other “graphic” artists.
I’ve done it myself- airbrushed “Bod” instead of “Bob”, called it a Chevy “Camero”. The person in question is concentrating more on forming the letter in a graphic manner, rather than trying to “spell” in a more normal reading/writing mindset.

As for whether or not Burt actually did it, I have no idea.

3

Re: Babs.

The trivia page for Animal House on the Internet Movie Database has this tidbit:

“As of 1989, Universal Studios no longer honors the “Ask for Babs” promotion, which was either a discount or a free entry.”

Which could imply that at one point there was some special offer, but it also sounds like the writer is just repeating something he heard from a friend of a friend. In any case, asking for Babs doesn’t get you anything now.

–sublight.