I was reading a review of the new X Men movie, and it occurred to me that it might be the first movie in which the actor playing a role has a name that is more comic-booky than the character (January Jones playing Emma Frost). Which led me to think about other people with comic book names in real life, such as
Wolf Blitzer (no explanation needed)
Lucy Liu (Silver Age Superman’s mysterious Oriental girlfriend?)
Howard Hughes (see also: Tony Stark)
Sean O’Sullivan (KC Royals pitcher) sounds like a name that comics would give to a character who’s supposed to be identifiably Irish (not too far off Sean Cassidy, AKA Banshee).
Michael Ironside (also in First Class)
Tod Slaughter (old actor, his film roles being primarily villains, so the name was appropriate)
Max Schreck (also an old actor, best known for playing Count Orlok in Nosferatu, so again…way appropriate name…also the namesake of the main villain of Batman Returns)
There are a number of people with the surname Death, or variants, such as footballer Jason Death or actor Charles De’ath.
My real name often elicits jokes and comments at comic shops and among comic fans, because I happen to share it–after a fashion–with a certain superhero. It’s also been used as an alias by another hero, among other comics contexts. I suppose that could qualify it as a comic book name.
what about people who actually share names with marvel characters? Such as the actor Sebastian Shaw (Darth Vader without his helmet in Return of the Jedi), or Kurt Wagner, lead singer of the band Lambchop?
Not actors, but from the “funny names list” I’ve compiled at work:
Elvis Slaughter, captain of the sheriff’s police (yes, Captain Slaughter)
Dr. Scott Denton
Detective Kill (don’t have a first name)
Tequila Patton (but for one letter…)
Jack Genius
William Sherlock, forensic scientist specializing in shoeprints (“Footfalls, Watson!”)
I don’t remember where I read it but I have read that one of the reasons Neil Armstrong was picked to be the first guy to step on the moon was that NASA knew whoever it was would go down in history and he had a name that sounded like a hero.