Did Cary Grant’s friends call him Archie? Did John Wayne look round when somebody shouted “Marion”? Does Woody Allen sign his checks “A. Konigsberg”?
I know that Cliff Richard, né Harry Webb, is called Cliff even by his nearest and dearest. Is that the norm for other stars with fake names?
I don’t know the answer, but I’ll be interested in finding out. I would imagine it depends on why they changed in the first place.
Stewart Granger’s real name was James Stewart, but that name was already being used.
Charlton Heston said, in his autobiography, that the only person who could call him Charlie was his wife. His born name was John Carter, and he stated he started using his stepfather’s name(Heston) in high school, as he didn’t want to explain his parents were divorced. Charlton was his mother’s maiden name.
I have a second cousin who uses two names. She is a TV news anchor, and goes by her maiden name, under which she became well known locally. At church and other places social she uses her husband’s name.
Lauren Bacall has always been Betty.
Mark Twain started responding to “Mark” when he was still in San Francisco, well before he struck it big. The last time he returned to his home town (sort of – he was really born in Florida, Missouri) of Hannibal, Missouri, most people apparently called him “Mark”, rather than by his real name, Sam L. Clemens.
That’s not that uncommon in broadcasting. Basically, it’s to prevent stalkers and fans from bothering you and your family.
Robin
I would think that Jews who were encouraged to adopt Anglicized stage names would prefer to go by their real name.
Dana Carvey used to do a bit about Gordon Summers AKA sting that was quite funny. You gotta figure at least his mom still calls him Gordon.
^^^I thought Sting’s real last name was “Sumner.”
Most people who worked with John Wayne simply called him “Duke” from what I’ve read. Even those who differed politically with him came to use this nickname.
I think Heston’s full real name was John Charles Carter, hence his wife Lydia calling him “Charlie.”
Sir Rhosis
I’ve only seen Woody Allen referred to as “Woody,” though probably his parents called him by his real name.
As is often the case, it all depends. Some people prefer their stage name; others use their birth name among close friends. It may depend on how much they like their stage name: Lauren Bacall never liked her stage name, so prefers Betty.
I think if people actually change their name by deed poll, they tend to be called that in casual life, whereas some do take it as a stage name only, using it when they’re performing or on camera, but in all other walks of life using their birth names.
I think Bono from U2 probably has Paul Hewson on his passport, while Michael Caine probably does not have Maurice Mickelwhite on his.
??
Woody Allen’s real name is Woodrow Allen Konigsberg. Why wouldn’t his parents call him “Woody”? It’s a legitimate short form of his name.
Really? According to Wiki he’s Allan Stewart Konigsberg, not Woodrow.
I recall Bono once saying the even The Edge’s mother called him ‘The Edge’.
What does his passport read, I wonder…
Ringo Starr’s friends call him Richie…though he says that when his wife is mad at him, she calls him Ringo!
Woody Allen was born Allen Konigsberg; I’ve never seen it listed any other way.
I know of some authors whose friends call them by other names. Samuel R. Delany, for instance, insists that everyone call him “Chip.” Orson Scott Card uses “Scott,” not “Orson.”
I don’t think Jerry Lewis ever uses “Joseph,” but Dean Martin did seem to be called “Dino” by his friends.
Also, the Marx Brothers used their stage names among friends once they adopted them, but their passports had their birth names: Julius, Adolph (later Arthur), and Leonard.
As far as I know, neither Bono nor The Edge have legally changed their names, so The Edge’s passport most likely says “David Evans”.
Bono’s also said that the only person who still called him “Paul” was his father, who passed away a few years ago.
Not that it pertains to what his pasport says, but, iirc, Caine insisted that he be knighted as “Sir Maurice Mickelwhite.”
Sir Rhosis (not knighted)
Slight quibble: really old friends who knew him from their vaudeville days called Groucho Julius. In the same way he called George Burns “Nathan,” his birth name. As far as I can tell, the brothers sometimes referred to each other by real names, sometimes by stage names. Everybody else used stage names.
That’s probably the norm. Really old friends called each other by old names, if only to remind themselves of who they once were. Once your stage name got accepted and everybody called you that every minute of every day, that’s the way you thought of yourself.
Not only is this unsupported by anything I’ve ever read on Woody - and I’ve read almost everything there is - but it’s not even the right joke shortening. On one of his stand-up albums, Woody makes a crack about standing up to a bully and saying, “Call me by my right name. Master Haywood Allen.”
Eric Lax, who’s spent more time with Woody than Soon-Yi, writes that Allan Stewart Konigsberg took the name Woody in the spring of 1952, at the age of 16, to use as a pseudonym for the jokes he was sending to New York newspaper columnists. And no, Woody is not an homage to anything, but a purely arbitrary choice, he says.
I believe him on that. The only “Woody” I can think of who was famous in 1952 was Woody Woodpecker and I don’t see much of that character in Woody Allen’s comedy.
Maybe somebody can correct me on this but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Michael Keaton uses his given name, Michael Douglas, for things not having to do with show business.
No, but Woody Herman was a well-known clarinetist back then.
What instrument does Mr. Allen play again?