Many famous people have had another name at an earlier point in their life. For example:
Sting-----Gordon Sumner
Ringo Starr-------Ringo Starki
Vanilla Ice-----Robert Van Winkle
Puff Daddy------Sean Combs
Do any of the dopers know other A.K.A.'s of the rich an famous?
read the sig 
omniscientnot, in a previous incarnation.
The hyphen says it all…
Cecil Adams-Jesus H. Christ. 
MC Hammer - Stanly Kirk Burrell
Rodney Dangerfield - Jack Cohen
Tom Cruise - Thomas G. Maphother IV
Marilyn Monroe - Norma Jean Baker
Woody Allen - Allen Ginsburg (IIRC)
Ringo Starr — Richard Starkey
Albert Brooks was born Albert Einstein!
rastahomie: Tom Cruise - Thomas G. Maphother IV
Actually, it’s Thomas C. Maphother IV. The C is for Cruise.
[ul][li]Julia Roberts - Julie Roberts (had to change 'cause there was already an actress Julie Roberts)[/li][li]Redd Foxx - John Elroy Sanford[/li][li]George Burns - Nathan Birnbaum[/li][li]Peter Graves - Peter Aurness, brother of James Arness[/li][li]Gerald Ford - Leslie Lynch King, Jr.[/li][li]Majel Barrett - Majel Lee Hudec[/li][li]Jack Benny - Benjamin Kubelsky[/li][li]Mary Pickford - Gladys Louise Smith[/li][li]Douglas Fairbanks - Douglas Elton Ulman[/li]<[/ul]
mickey mouse–mortimore mouse
bob dylan-robert zimmerman
slash–saul hudson
axl rose–bill bailey
The only way to rid yourself of temptation is to yield to it–Oscar Wilde
Orson Bean–Dallas Frederick Burroughs
Milton Berle–Milton Berlinger
George Burns–Nathan Birnbaum
Jack Benny–Benjamin Kubelsky
Dean Martin–Dino Crocetti
Charles Atlas–Angelo Siciliano
Anne Bancroft–Anne Marie Italiano
Moe, Curly, Shemp Howard–Moses, Jerome, Shemuel Horowitz
William Jefferson Clinton–William Jefferson Blythe
Danny Kaye–David Daniel Kaminsky
Kirk Douglas–Issur Danielovitch Demsky
Joseph Stalin–Joseph (Iosif) Dzhugashvili
Wolfman Jack–Wolfman Irving (actually Robert Smith)
David Bowie–David Jones
Mandy–Brandy (The Barry Manilow song. A different “Brandy” song had already been a major hit by another group.)
Peter Tork–Peter Torkelson
Diana Dors–Diana Fluck (Britain’s Marilyn Monroe)
BTW, Wolfman Jack one time said that his name wasn’t always “Wolfman Jack,” it used to be “Wolfman Irving.”
IIRC, Stefanie Powers had a Polish surname with about 15 letters in it.
Woody Allen was born Allen Konigsberg; Allen Ginsberg is a poet.
Don’t forget the classics:
Judy Garland - Frances Gumm
Tony Curtis - Bernie Schwartz
Joan Crawford - Lucille Le Sueur
Cary Grant - Archibald Leach
Official Poster of the Millenium
And the biggest mysteries of them all:
E. G. Marshall
Stubby Kaye
Col. Rudolph Abel
E. G. Marshall was very secretive about his name. When he died, his own son said that he took that secret to the grave. Since then, I’ve seen his name was supposedly “Edda Gunnar Marshall.” Dunno. . .
Stubby Kaye’s original name is still a mystery, AFAIK.
I’ve read stories on “Abel.” Not sure about that, either.
Oh, “Abel” reminded me of another one:
“Chief Designer”–Sergei Pavlovich Korolev
He was the Soviets’ “von Braun.” Even his name was classified for many years. He was known only as “Chief Designer.”
Let’s not forget our friends who converted to Islam:
Lew Alcindor = Kareen Abdul Jabbar
Cassius Clay = Muhammad Ali
Yer pal,
Satan
Elton John-----Reginald Kenneth Dwight
*divemaster: IIRC, Stefanie Powers had a Polish surname with about 15 letters in it. *
YDRC! Stefania Zofia Federkiewcz was her given name.
Ginger Spice: Geri Halliwell
Posh Spice: Victoria Adams
Scary Spice: Melanie Brown
Sporty Spice: Melanie Chisholm
Baby Spice: Emma Bunton
What can I say, everyone else was taken.
I think Nicholas Cage is actually Nicholas Coppola.
“Excrement. That is what I think of J. Evans Pritchard, PhD.” --Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society
Chris’ Homepage: Domestic Bliss
What? Nobody has mentioned The Duke yet?
Marion Morrison - John Wayne!
Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Roy Rogers–Leonard Slye
David Hedison–Ara Heditsian (“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”)
David (“The Chipmunks”) Seville–Ross Bagdassarian
And some old-time boxers:
Joe Louis–Joseph Barrows
Jersey Joe Walcott–Arnold Cream
Sugar Ray Robinson–Walker Smith
Rocky Marciano–Rocco Marchegiano (big change, huh?)