# Coolest name in the Movie industry (Rip Torn)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112 "2020-08-14T18:03:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/61 "2020-08-16T02:46:01Z")
I always thought Werner Herzog has a good rhythm to it. And I should know, because I swear I could hear him narrating my life for a couple decades. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/62 "2020-08-16T06:10:35Z")
Akim Tamiroff Zero Mostel Zsa Zsa Gabor Yma Sumac (mostly a singer, but she made a few movies) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/63 "2020-08-16T06:35:59Z")
I submit Al Smutko, a production staffer on two Star Trek series (TNG and Voyager). I was in grad school when TNG premiered, and my roommates and I discovered his name in the end credits. Thinking that this guy had an awesome (and funny) name, we would cheer for him every week when we saw his name. Being weird and nerdy fans, we made up a fan club for him. I eventually got in touch with Mr. Smutko, and he and I became friends; he even took my wife and me on a tour of the _Voyager_ set. [Al has an entry on the Memory Alpha Star Trek Wiki](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Al_Smutko), which makes mention of how our “fan club” started. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/64 "2020-08-16T07:57:39Z")
Leonardo DiCaprio. Brings to mind the Renaissance and paradise. Whoopi Goldberg. Just sounds fun. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/65 "2020-08-16T17:14:15Z")
Max Martini Slaine ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/66 "2020-08-16T17:48:37Z")
Are you worthy of . . . _the Malachi Throne?_ ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/67 "2020-08-16T18:56:04Z")
Kitten Natividad – Voluptuous actress Wah Chang – Visual Efx designer and artist Stanislaus Zybysko – Wrestler turned actor in _Night and the City_ (1950) Kola Kwariani - Wrestler/chess player turned actor in _The Killing_ (1956) Ricou Browning – The man in the creature suit in Black Lagoon. Janos Prohaska – Distinguished suit actor Googie Withers – Indian-born British actress Vladek Sheybal – Iconic ‘60s-'70s spy movie actor (e.g., Kronsteen) Elton Chong - Dreary Hong Kong actor ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/68 "2020-08-16T20:08:32Z")
How odd, that on a message board full of MST3K fans, nobody has asked: “How much Keefe?” _Miles O’Keefe!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/69 "2020-08-16T22:16:41Z")
One of my favorite names: Parley Baer. mmm ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/70 "2020-08-17T12:18:57Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Banksiaman](#): > > > > Edward Woodward [esp in English pronunciation which is Ed Wood Wood Wood] > > He’s like a real-life version of Bob Loblaw. Or a make believe version of Baba Wawa. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/71 "2020-08-17T23:01:44Z")
Dirk Benedict. JM J. Bullock (who later went by “Jim”) Awkwafina ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/72 "2020-08-17T23:12:23Z")
Michael Ironside. That name sounds as badass as the characters he plays (or used to play—I saw him in some true-crime TV show recently, and he’s really let himself go). ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/73 "2020-08-18T00:26:21Z")
Mako . ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/74 "2020-08-18T01:10:09Z")
Dirk Blocker ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/75 "2020-08-18T01:35:22Z")
We used to watch a TV series that had some awesome names in it. Then the network went digital and we could no longer get it on the dish. Tantoo Cardinal Dakota House Gordon Tootoosis Lubomir Mykytiuk Melvin Good Eagle ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/76 "2020-08-18T01:49:20Z")
Jay Silverheels (Tonto) Q’orianka Kilcher (The New World) [Nǃxau ǂToma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C7%83xau_%C7%82Toma) (The Gods Must Be Crazy) David Gulpilil (Walkabout) Taika Waititi (JoJo Rabbit) Temuera Morrison (Star Wars) Sabu (The Jungle Book) ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/77 "2020-08-18T21:21:05Z")
[Tor Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_Johnson) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/78 "2020-08-19T19:56:19Z")
**Yma Sumac** was supposed to be a name of Incan origin, but a lot of people couldn’t help noticing that it’s “Amy Camus” backwards. > [@](#): > > Sumac was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo on September 10, 1923,[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yma_Sumac#cite_note-petitionfornaturalization-1)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yma_Sumac#cite_note-Ancestry_Library_Edition-4) in [Ichocán](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichoc%C3%A1n_District), a historically indigenous village in [Cajamarca, Peru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajamarca,_Peru). > … > > She adopted the stage name of Imma Sumack (also spelled Yma Sumack and Ima Sumack) before leaving South America for the United States. Her stage name was based on her mother’s name, which was derived from “ima shumaq”, [Quechua](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechua_languages) for “how beautiful!”, although in interviews at the beginning of her career she claimed it meant “beautiful flower” or “beautiful girl”.[ > **[Yma Sumac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yma_Sumac)** > > Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo (born Zoila Emperatriz Chávarri Castillo; September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008), known as Yma Sumac (or Imma Sumack), was a Peruvian-born vocalist, composer, producer, actress and model. She won a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Range of Musical Value in 1956. "Ima sumaq" means "how beautiful" in Quechua. She has also been called Queen of Exotica and is considered a pioneer of world music. Her debut album, Voice of the In 1951, Sumac became... I’ve remarked several times that actor **Khigh Dhiegh** , who played Chinese agent Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-Oh, and Judge Dee in the TV movie Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders, as well as a host of other Chinese and Japanese characters in TV and movies, actually was Anglo-Egyptian-Sudanese, and was really named Kenneth Dickerson. His stage name was a fanciful phonetic spelling of his initials. (And he used other spelling variants, as well, sometimes using the middle name “Aix”, which I’d interpret as “K.X.D.”) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/79 "2020-08-19T21:47:14Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Are you worthy of . . . _the Malachi Throne?_ This one. I remember seeing his name popping up onscreen in an episode of TNG, and thinking, “Wait, what?” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112/80 "2020-08-19T21:51:29Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Are you worthy of . . . _the Malachi Throne?_ I have no doubt at all that Gary Gygax named “[The Malachite Throne](http://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-malachite-throne.html)” in his Greyhawk setting for Dungeons & Dragons after Mr. Throne. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-name-in-the-movie-industry-rip-torn/918112.md?page=5)