# Real names of televison characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064 "2005-07-04T22:20:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/1 "2005-07-04T22:20:29Z")
I’ve been watching my DVDs of Season 1 and 2 of “NewsRadio” this weekend. There was an episode where Bill MacNeil announced Catherine Duke’s age on the air on her birthday. She spent the rest of the episode trying to get back at him. She eventually gets ahold of a copy of his birth certifcate and learns not only his birth date, but that his real first name is “Evelyn”. This prompted me to remember a similar situation with a couple of characters on “Night Court”. In one episode we learn that Dan Fielding’s real name is “Reinhold”, and in another episode Bull Shannon’s real name was revealed to be “Nostradamus” (after the famous hunchback 😉 ). And of course there is “Cosmo” Kramer from “Seinfeld”, who only went by his last name for several seasons. So, any other TV characters you can think of where during the course of the series we find out their “real name”? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/2 "2005-07-04T22:22:41Z")
During this last season on **The Simpsons** , we learned the Comic Book Guy’s real name is Jeff Albertson. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/3 "2005-07-04T22:38:47Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > This prompted me to remember a similar situation with a couple of characters on “Night Court”. In one episode we learn that Dan Fielding’s real name is “Reinhold”, and in another episode Bull Shannon’s real name was revealed to be “Nostradamus” (after the famous hunchback 😉 ). In an earlier Night Court, Dan Fielding’s real last name was revealed to be “Elmore,” and he changed that to distance himself from his simple, “Ma and Pa Kettle”-like parents and humble, rural beginnings. The “Reinhold” revelation came later, and everyone reacted by laughing at him – probably as a joke at the expense of series creator Reinhold Weege. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/4 "2005-07-04T22:41:42Z")
I’m not sure if it’s even mentioned in the TV shows, but Reggie Perrin’s boss C. J. is “Charles Jefferson” … (_The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_, and sequels) ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/5 "2005-07-04T22:47:47Z")
On Arrested Development, GOB’s name is actually an acronym for “George Oscar Bluth,” and younger brother Buster Bluth’s real name is Byron. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/6 "2005-07-04T23:11:15Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > During this last season on The Simpsons, we learned the Comic Book Guy’s real name is Jeff Albertson. We did?! Which episode was this in, cause I must’ve missed it… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/7 "2005-07-04T23:15:34Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > We did?! Which episode was this in, cause I must’ve missed it… It was the most recent Super Bowl episode, where Flanders directed bloody religious epic movies like _Passion of the Christ_. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/8 "2005-07-04T23:25:14Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > During this last season on **The Simpsons** , we learned the Comic Book Guy’s real name is Jeff Albertson. I could be wrong, but I thought is was Jeff Anderson. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/9 "2005-07-04T23:31:16Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > I could be wrong, but I thought is was Jeff Anderson. [Albertson](http://www.tv.com/simpsons/homer-and-neds-hail-mary-pass/episode/346864/summary.html) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/10 "2005-07-04T23:32:52Z")
The Smoking Man in _The X-Files_ was eventually named as CGB Spender. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/11 "2005-07-05T00:54:11Z")
I don’t know if they made a big deal of it like with Kramer, but I remember an episode of Futurama where they reveal that Leela’s full name is Turanga Leela. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/12 "2005-07-05T01:27:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > In one episode we learn that Dan Fielding’s real name is “Reinhold”, and in another episode Bull Shannon’s real name was revealed to be “Nostradamus” (after the famous hunchback 😉 ). \ Nostradamus was the seer, Quasimodo was the hunchback. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/13 "2005-07-05T01:40:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > \ Nostradamus was the seer, Quasimodo was the hunchback. That’s the joke. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/14 "2005-07-05T02:09:17Z")
Though it’s listed in the IMDB, most people don’t know that in \*\*Gilligan’s Island{/b], the Skipper’s real name is Jonas Grumby and the Professor was Roy Hinkley. Their names were mentioned in the first couple of episodes, but never again. Bob Denver is on record as saying Gilligan’s first name was “Willy,” though it was never used in the show, and some dispute that. Though we don’t know his first or last name, the middle name of the Chief from **Get Smart** is “Thaddeus.” The IMDB does mention this, but does not indicate it’s his middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/15 "2005-07-05T02:14:53Z")
In one of the later episodes of Columbo, someone asks what his first name is, and he replied : Lieutenant ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/16 "2005-07-05T02:26:16Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > I don’t know if they made a big deal of it like with Kramer, but I remember an episode of Futurama where they reveal that Leela’s full name is Turanga Leela. This has got to be one of the most obscure references in pop-culture history. The name is taken from the great (IMO) French 20th century composer Olivier Messiaen’s [Turangalila Symphony](http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Jan05/Turangalila.htm). It actually is somewhat appropriate, as some parts of it have kind of a science fictiony quality (it features, for example, an Ondes Martinot, an early electronic instrument that sounds quite a bit like the iconic Theremin with its early sci-fi movie associations). (And for those who doubt, [here’s](http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening93.html) an interview with Matt Groening in which he specifically mentions Messiaen.) ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/17 "2005-07-05T02:26:39Z")
**ALF**'s real name is Gordon Shumway.And the real name of “Speed” (Felix & Oscar’s poker buddy on “The Odd Couple”) is Homer Deegan. [ul] [li]“Whaddya think, my mother named me “Speed”?”[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/18 "2005-07-05T03:04:07Z")
[Columbo’s first name has been revealed to have been ‘‘Frank’,’’ sorta](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6271305&postcount=14) “Sarge’s” real name from “Cleopatra 2525” was “Rose.” “Lamont” from “Sanford and Son” didn’t have a first name. Fred and Elizabeth had decided on “Lamont” for a middle name, but never got around to picking a first name. “The Soup Nazi’s” real name was “Yev Kaseem.” “Thurgood Stubbs’s” middle name from “The PJs” was “Orenthal.” ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/19 "2005-07-05T03:06:32Z")
> [@](#): > > It was the most recent Super Bowl episode, where Flanders directed bloody religious epic movies like Passion of the Christ. Has this episode not been rerun yet, because I did miss it! More than CBG’s name, I definitely would have remembered Ned saying, “I’m like Michael Moore, except I’m skinny, my jeans are washed, and God loves me.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064/20 "2005-07-05T04:17:14Z")
On _The Rockford Files_, Angel Martin’s real first name was **Evelyn**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-names-of-televison-characters/311064.md?page=2)