Bill Evans - jazz pianist
Bill Evans - jazz saxophonist
Bill Evans - jazz flautist, far better known as Yusef Abdul Lateef.
Charles Bronson, Actor.
Charles Bronson, current Florida Commissioner of Agriculture.
wiki sez he is also an infamous British criminal (a guy with that name, that is. Wouldn’t want to run afoul of British libel laws :))
One I feel the need to specify in the Death Pool every year–William Perry, the former Bears football player, versus William Perry, the former Secretary of Defense.
George Michael-singer from Wham!
George Michael-Sports themed tv show
James Bond, real ornithologist
James Bond, fictional spy
(although I think Fleming might have named the latter with the former in mind)
Based on how ill the former has been in the past year, I fear he might be a bigger factor in the Dead Pool, despite being much younger.
John Madden – Football coach and commentator or film director
Bill Russell – basketball legend or baseball player
George Burns – adopted name of comedian or given name of baseball player
Scott Thompson – Kid in the Hall or red-haired prop comic
Tom Watson – golfer, recipient of first phone call, or IBM president
William Cosby – royal governor of New York or comedian and Doctor of Education
Clarence Brown – film director of the 30s and 40s
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – blues musician
Bobby Jones – NY Mets pitcher
Bobby Jones – NY Mets pitcher
Bob Miller – NY Mets pitcher
Bob Miller – NY Mets pitcher
Both the Joneses and the Millers were teammates on the Mets for a season.
There was an actor by the name of Henry Morgan, and a comedian/actor named Henry Morgan. One of them changed his name to Harry Morgan (later of Dragnet and MAS*H) and the other went on to game show glory with shows like I’ve Got a Secret.
Even more well known is the pirate/privateer.
Back in Texas, there used to be a state treasurer named Jesse James, and he always won reelection. Who wouldn’t vote for Jesse James for treasurer? But then, as I recall, it was discovered at one point that he had changed his name to that to make it stand out for voters.
William H. Macy says he began using his name like that so as not to be confused with Bill Macy.
Most of my favorites have been mentioned already
What’s interesting is that stateman Churchill wrote to novelist Churchill before the former became famous, simply because they shared the same name. But now hardlay anyone remembers the novelist. Many that do (like me) only know of him vecause of the name.
I was surprisede, the first time I visited Hollywood, to se a star for Harrison Ford. This was before he made Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I didn’t think he’d been famous long enough to rate a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It turns out that there was another Harrison Ford, who was also an action star in the movies, back in the silent days. What are the odds? It’s a pretty weird name.
Now they both have stars on the Walk.
I personally have known an American public-health researcher working in Thailand named Stephen King. He may not be famous, but he has been published.
Bah, beaten to the punch.
Of course, there is always Michael Douglas and Michael Douglas (Keaton)
I was just reminded of another one. David Bowie’s real name is David Hayward-Jones. He performed for a time as Davie Jones (and briefly, as Davy Jones). He changed it so as not to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Pssst, post #10.
By post #10, I assume.
Speaking of film directors, I guess Chris Columbus does not go by “Christopher” becasue he got tired of explaining that he didn’t discover America.
D’oh! :smack: No, actually I didn’t see that. Or I wouldn’t have mentioned it.
The Titanic captain was Edward John Smith.
Anne Hathaway, actress
Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare
Jane Seymour, actress
Jane Seymour, wife of King Henry VIII