# So... did the actress Tamara Feldman change her name or something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328 "2017-12-26T19:18:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/1 "2017-12-26T19:18:16Z")
This is just bizarre. > **[Tamara Feldman - IMDb](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1299293/?ref_=m_ttfcd_cl2)** > > Tamara Feldman. Actress: Gossip Girl. Amara Zaragoza is an actress/writer/director who loves playing music, traveling and riding horses. She is a native of Kansas who moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting after being cast off the street for her first... > **[Tamara Feldman](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Feldman)** > > Amara Zaragoza (born December 5, 1980), known by her stage name Tamara Feldman,\[citation needed\] is an American actress. > Feldman is known for playing Marybeth Dunston in the horror film Hatchet (2006) and for her roles in the television series Smallville (2002), Supernatural (2006), Dirty Sexy Money (2007–2009), Gossip Girl (2008–2012) and The Mob Doctor (2012–2013). > She was replaced by Danielle Harris as Marybeth Dunston in Hatchet II, Hatchet III and Victor Crowley. > She was featured in the mu... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/2 "2017-12-26T19:42:32Z")
Maybe John Travolta had to introduce her. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/3 "2017-12-26T20:18:43Z")
I’m not sure I’ve fund the bizarre part yet. [This page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1299293/) shows 31 acting credits, all of them credited to Tamara Feldman (which is how IMDb lists someone credited under a different name), or uncredited. The odd part is that the page is headlined Amara Zaragoza at all, since she appears not to have used that name professionally at all. Karl Malden’s page is headlined “Karl Malden”, not " Mladen Sekulovich", for example. IMDb does have a [page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2329077/) for Tamara Feldman with just one role, but I suspect it’s the same actress and no one has submitted that to them yet. Maybe that’s how the confusion got started; there already was a Tamara Feldman and new roles got submitted under a new identity rather than added to the one that as already there. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/4 "2017-12-26T21:02:04Z")
Bear in mind that the info in IMDB, like Wikipedia, can be fan-provided. Some settling of contents may occur. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/5 "2017-12-26T21:15:04Z")
Also, in Amara’s IMDB listing, it says… > [@](#): > > \*\*Hatchet \*\* > Marybeth Dunstan (as Tamara Feldman) So, Mr. Occam says, name change. ---
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/6 "2017-12-26T22:10:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not sure I’ve fund the bizarre part yet. [This page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1299293/) shows 31 acting credits, all of them credited to Tamara Feldman (which is how IMDb lists someone credited under a different name), or uncredited. The odd part is that the page is headlined Amara Zaragoza at all, since she appears not to have used that name professionally at all. Karl Malden’s page is headlined “Karl Malden”, not " Mladen Sekulovich", for example. > > IMDb does have a [page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2329077/) for Tamara Feldman with just one role, but I suspect it’s the same actress and no one has submitted that to them yet. Maybe that’s how the confusion got started; there already was a Tamara Feldman and new roles got submitted under a new identity rather than added to the one that as already there. I guess that is possible, I am just confused because it was entitled “Tamara Feldman” a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/7 "2017-12-27T02:40:15Z")
My guess is it’s her birth name, and perhaps her mother’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/8 "2017-12-30T01:23:49Z")
Who? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/9 "2017-12-30T09:35:04Z")
> [@Mislav](#): > > I guess that is possible, I am just confused because it was entitled “Tamara Feldman” a few months ago. …probably something to do with SAG membership: as Robot Arm points out another Tamara Feldman exists and probably had membership before Amara, so she changed her name accordingly, similar to what happened to [Michael J Fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Fox#Early_life). So if you have to change your name: why not Amara Zaragoza? ---
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/10 "2017-12-30T22:03:22Z")
The whole thing is a mess though, since literally every movie and TV show she has appeared in so far has her credited as Tamara Feldman. Plus, wouldn’t there be some news or social media posts about a name change? Isn’t that sort of a big thing? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/11 "2017-12-30T22:16:11Z")
> [@Mislav](#): > > The whole thing is a mess though, since literally every movie and TV show she has appeared in so far has her credited as Tamara Feldman. …no it isn’t a “mess”. Why do you think its a mess? She’s using a different name now. How do you think it should have been handled? > [@](#): > > Plus, wouldn’t there be some news or social media posts about a name change? Isn’t that sort of a big thing? A quick google search shows that the only person on the internet who cares is apparently you. So no: not a big thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-the-actress-tamara-feldman-change-her-name-or-something/805328/12 "2018-01-15T21:58:45Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …no it isn’t a “mess”. Why do you think its a mess? She’s using a different name now. How do you think it should have been handled? > > A quick google search shows that the only person on the internet who cares is apparently you. So no: not a big thing at all. I think it is odd somebody would edit the IMDb page like that when there is no online source for a name change, and Wikipedia page is still titled “Tamara Feldman”. How can we know that is a correct information, and how would the editor know when there are no sources? It seems weird.