Raymond Burr’s character in the American adaptation Godzilla is named Steve Martin.
Okay, in 1956 they couldn’t have predicted the rise of a banjo-playing, play-writing comedian of the same name. But it’s notable that when Burr reprised the role in the US edit of Godzilla 1985 he STILL was called “Steve Martin”.
In The Philadelphia Story there was Tracy Lord (and C.K. Dexter Haven). This is similar to Traci Lords.
E. B. White’s The Trumpet of the Swan briefly features a little boy named Alfred Gore.
A book rather than TV.
Follow My Leader.
A young boy named Jimmy Carter is blinded in an accident.
Written by James (B.) Garfield.
Recent series Mindhunter, which is generally excellent, has a lead character called Holden Ford. The two main rival Australian car companies over the past half century have been Holden (taken over by GM) and Ford. Its like having a character called Dr V.H.S. Betamax.
It doesn’t seem likely, for a couple of reasons (though, I agree, it’s now distracting).
The Cardassians were introduced in ST:TNG in 1991, four years before Simpson’s trial.
While Robert Kardashian got his JD in the late '60s or early '70s, he had stopped practicing law by sometime in the '70s, to pursue a business career, and while he was involved in several companies connected to the entertainment industry, it doesn’t look like he was a particularly big name in entertainment (source: Wikipedia).
Kardashian reactivated his law license (which he had allowed to lapse) in '94, to serve on Simpson’s defense team. Up until then, I don’t get the sense that he was particularly well-known.
Also, there’s this note on the origin of the Cardassian name on Memory Alpha (the Star Trek wiki):
My god. This was my absolute favorite book when I was in 3rd grade. I can’t believe that anyone else remembers it.
P.S. I can’t quite define mid 20th century, but when I read it, it was around 1979…
It was written in 1957, by an author who became blind in his 50s. I read it about 1976.
That’s about when I read it, too – I remember ordering it from the Scholastic book club when I was in 5th or 6th grade.
My 3rd grade teacher knew how much I loved it and gave the book to me as a gift. I still have it 40+ years later…
That’s a great name. I’m writing that down.
The first time I watched that movie, I instantly thought of CK Dexter Haven from here.
I actually just watched again last week.
IIRC they acknowledged that at one point in season two. Agent Ford introduces himself to someone, and says his name sounds like a “bad joke in Australia.”
One of Anne McCaffrey’s early books had a villain named “Fax”
The hard hitting District Attorney in the first ten seasons of Law And Order was named Adam Schiff. I find that one really distracting, especially when I have the TV on for noise and I’m not really watching.
I hear the name and think I must’ve bumped the remote and changed to a news channel.
Once, I read a detective novel where the star detective had the same name, first and last, as my father. And it’s not a common name.
There was a fictional book here in Australia, where due to carelessness, they forgot to change the names of all the ‘fictional’ characters before publication. They had to pulp the production run and pay damages.
Can’t remember if I got it from Scholastic or the school library, but I think it was around 1965 when I read it.
My brother was a villian in a Law and Order episode. At least, his name was.
IMDB shows they spelled our last name the more common “alternate” way, but they pronounced it the same.
I knew a guy in high school (in the early 80s) who has the same name as a Simpsons’ character (well, exactly the same last name, and the nickname the guy used all through school is the same as the real first name of the Simpsons’ character).
His last name was Shabadoo, right?