I was reading how actors and actresses have to register their names with the Actor’s Guild to assure the name is not already in use. For example, I hear Michael J. Fox added the middle initial because there already was an actor named Michael Fox. Two questions:
a) If a child actor like Ronnie Howard later shortens his name to Ron Howard as an adult, does the new name need approval? Suppose there already was a Ron Howard listed before Ronnie could shorten his name? …what happens then? (Or, is this taken into account when approving a child actor’s name?)
b) Can someone confirm if Christopher Lloyd, the actor is/is not the producer by the same name? While it seems logical the actor advanced to working behind the scenes, articles I have Googled imply it is not the same person. But, if this is true, how did the Actor’s Guild allow this to happen?
Grant is dead. And it’s a rule about registration not how the actors publicize their names. See the case of Vanessa Williams v. Vanessa Williams. It was a case tried in the court of public opinion which returned a verdict of who gives a rat’s ass.
I’m not sure I have the right one, but the Michael Fox who pushed caused Michael J. Fox to use the J played bit parts starting in the 50s and up his death in 1996. His name was not well known but Michael J. Fox’s name was not known at all when he started out his acting career so he was in no position to annoy anybody by going against tradition on that.
For directors they no longer allow the name Alan Smithee when the director wants his name off the movie. I saw the first Dune on TV and Smithee was listed as the director since David Lynch did not want his name on the TV version
Maybe it was another famous actor’s name. I just remember seeing it in the credits of a recent movie and going "What?
I seem to recall seeing John Barrymore’s name in a recent movie, but whether or not it was followed by Jr. or the 3rd I don’t remember.
One unusual case is Harrison Ford. You’d think that would be an uncommon enough name that it would be exclusive. But there was a fairly prominent actor named Harrison Ford who starred in a number of silent movies. He retired from movies in 1932 (he didn’t make the move to talkies) and died in 1957.
When the current Harrison Ford started making movies in the sixties, he used the name Harrison J. Ford due to this rule. But he soon dropped it and nobody complained.
I don’t believe actors are required to join SAG. The rules are that no two members have the same stage name. So if they were, say, Cary Grant, and they decided to join SAG, they’ll have to change their stage name. You’ll often see in IMDB where some actors earlier roles they are credited as a different name. For example, Michael J. Fox has earlier roles credited as “Mike Fox” and “Michael Fox”.
You actually have to have at least three working days in a paid position to join SAG-AFTRA, so you have to be a “professional” actor before you can join. “Union” productions (which major network and studio productions usually are) require all actors to join SAG-AFTRA within 30 days of becoming eligible, but that rule is only enforceable in some states, notably New York and California. Georgia, which now has a thriving film and TV industry, is a “right-to-work” state, and that rule is unenforceable there. An actor who avoids projects in “union shop” states (which is easier now that productions are more widespread than they were 20-30 years ago) could go an entire career without joining, but there are still enough productions in California and New York that it would be hard to make a living at it.
I would imagine that the whole point is to distinguish between your actors who may have the same names, and that after there’s some difference in time it’s not really pertinent.
The contemporary Harrison Ford would have been 15 when the silent film Harrison Ford died, so I imagine there was some length of time when there would have been a need for a distinction between the two in case there was some overlap, but in say… 1976, it was very clear that it wasn’t the same person.
And it looks like only performers are part of SAG, not producers or directors. So having director Steve McQueen and actor Steve McQueen is perfectly cromulent, even if it does sound a bit weird.
But when a guy named Michael Douglas shows up in Hollywood, and finds out that Kirk Douglas’ son is an actor named Michael as well, he has to change his name somehow, so he changes his last name to “Keaton” (True story!).
There actually appears to be an info page on SAG-AFTRA’s website which is directly on point, but it also appears that you actually have to be a member of SAG-AFTRA to access it…
Here’s my understanding, though, for what it’s worth. What actors register with SAG-AFTRA is their stage name, which does not necessarily have any relationship to their actual name. If they work on a union-approved production, they have to use their registered name in the credits. So, if Ronald William Howard was originally registered as “Ronnie Howard”, he would have to use that exact name for his appearances as an actor in union-approved productions. If he wanted to appear as “Ron Howard”, he’d have to register that stage name with SAG-AFTRA. But he could appear in credits as a director, producer, or for that matter key grip, under any name he wanted (subject to the union rules for those professions). And if he appeared in a non-union production, he could also use any name he wanted (although he’d probably face sanctions from SAG-AFTRA for doing so if he were also maintaining an active membership with them).
The older Ford may have been popular in his day but his day had long passed by the time the younger Ford was starting his career. He hadn’t made a movie since 1932, which was ten years before the current Ford was born. And this was back in the pre-home video era when people didn’t have much access to old movies. Ford himself has said he never knew there had been another actor named Harrison Ford (and somebody else having your name is something you would notice) until he saw the older Ford’s name on a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
I don’t think it would have been a surprise to Keaton. Michael Douglas was starring in The Streets of San Francisco, a popular TV series, when Keaton arrived in Hollywood. And both men must have known about Mike Douglas, who was the host of a popular talk show at the time.
Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t a surprise, but he’s an example of someone actually named “Michael Douglas” in real life, who had to change his name because there’s another actor out there with his name.
I have long been confused about how it came about that there is Peyton List (the bully from Cobra Kai) and there is also Peyton List (the Romulan villain in Star Trek Picard).
I Am Not A Labor Lawyer, so I don’t know. Everything I’ve read indicates that on “union” productions, SAG-AFTRA-eligible actors have to be members, but I don’t know the technical details.