On a related note, the 1975 film The Day of the Locust (based on a 1939 novel of the same name) stars Donald Sutherland as a character named Homer Simpson.
I always assumed the underage porn actress named herself after the movie character, but it seems she just liked the name Traci and the actor Jack Lord. I guess it would have been unlikely that a 15 year old would know a movie from 1940.
One of the criminals in “Goldfinger” is named Napoleon Solo which later became the name for Robert Vaughn’s character in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” tv series (Ian Fleming allowed them to use the name if it wasn’t in the title). But I saw the tv series several times when it was first broadcast and didn’t see “Goldfinger” until the 1970s.
My contribution is a comic strip talking about a character in a book that one of the strip characters is writing:
That book made a big impression on me as a kid. I think it is responsible for my terror of firecrackers that persists to this day.
David Vincent is a friend of mine. He’s not actually an architect – he’s a mild-mannered civil servant with a business degree and some court experience.
It was just “Mr. Solo” – they never gave a first name. When they came up with “THe Man from U.N.C.L.E.” they admittedly used the name on purpose, but they added the “Napoleon”.
William Boyd’s 2013 James Bond novel was entitled Solo, but has no connection, aside from the name.
In Lolita, one of the title character’s classmates is named Lull Wayne.
I knew that movie when I was 13. It’s how I knew the words to “Lydia the Tattooed Lady” when my cousin Lydia was born when I was 16.
'Course, not a porn actress…
I once read a romance novel where the guy’s name was Stryker and the woman’s name was Jade. Seriously, it’s like the author was too lazy to come up with realistic sounding names.
It occurred to me a few years back that the name of the main character in Married With Children, Al Bundy could easily be confused with Ted Bundy.
This isn’t distracting but it is noticeable if you’re familiar with LA or have even just read a map of the city. A lot of characters in old cartoons, sitcoms, and movies are named after streets around Hollywood. For example, the name “Willoughby” comes up surprisingly often as does “Melrose” (even before Melrose Place aired).
In the 1967 Dragnet series, Joe Friday would sometimes use the name Joe Frasier on undercover operations. This was apparently before the boxer had became a household name
Speaking of which, I know a real life Frank Grimes. He has accepted the fact that people will call him “Grimy” for the rest of his life.
From the Archie comics, Archie’s friend Betty’s last name is Cooper.
Betty’s mom’s name is Alice.
mmm
I knew a real live Stephen Peacock. I only called him “Captain” once, right after I heard him make a pop culture connection with someone else’s name.
On Mad Men, Bert Cooper’s sister is named Alice, but I assume that’s intentional.
I was listening to a news report this morning which had a short interview with the mayor of Pinedale, WY, Matt Murdock.
The Secretary of Labor of Florida was named Charles Bronson. Since the Dept. Of Labor is in charge of licensing his name used to be on every gas pump in Florida.
Australian Buffy fans enjoyed the end-game of the series with the demonic mayor Richard Wilkins. Another less demonic, but probably scarier and certainly insufferable Richard Wilkins was a celebrity gossip columnist / pop culture droid on local TV.
The animated spy comedy Archer used to have all the characters working for a spy agency named “ISIS.” Had to change that pretty suddenly mid-series in 2014.