And then there was the unfortunate Steven Bauer, (Manny Ribera in Scarface) who changed his name from Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson just about when Hispanic actors were finally getting good roles under their real names, like Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Lopez.
Today, CNN referred to Chaim as the man’s “Jewish name.” I’m not sure what the heck that means. Can anybody clarify?
Also, I read years ago that Emilio Estevez and his brother agreed when they went into acting that one of them would use their father’s stage name and one would use his actual surname…something about not wanting to have too many “Sheens” or “Estevezes” and also the quandry about which name to use, so they split the difference. I used to wonder if some subtle anti-Hispanic stereotyping had any role in Emilio Estevez’s lack of success; now I’m thinking Martin might want to change his name back to Estevez to avoid backlash due to his drug-addled offspring.
Always sad to watch someone implode like CS is doing.
I think it makes sense. I could easily see Chaim being something like a portmanteau of Charles Michael. Am I correct that the Hebrew or Jewish name usually is given later, at the bris, something similar to a Catholic name only being given at baptism?
Similar, there’s a naming ceremony that can happen when the child is a few days old, but it’s not needed. I’m not sure it that’s consistent across all branches of Judaism.
On the topic of actors having stage names to keep their work lives seperate from their “real” lives, one of my favorite examples:
Jimmy Stewart --> Brigadier General James Stewart, United States Air Force Reserves. He enlisted during World War II, became an instructor pilot (he was a flying enthusiast before the war in addition to his acting), and then managed to pull duty flying bombing missions with the 8th Air Force in England. He insisted that many of the missions he flew not be counted towards his 25 missions to return home. Retired in 1968, including serving in Vietnam as an observer on B-52 missions.
He insisted on his two careers not directly affecting each other (ie: He didn’t want his status as a relatively high-ranking officer to pull him any strings in Hollywood, and he didn’t want his status as a famous actor to pull him any strings in the Air Force).
Also, Audrey Ruston --> Audrey Hepburn-Ruston (her father prefixed his maternal grandfather’s name onto their surname) --> Edda van Heemstra (she and her mother were living in the Netherlands when the Germans invaded, a less British name seemed wise. She also helped the Dutch Resistance during this time.) --> Audrey Hepburn.
Which is weird because he seems to have been in more recognizable movies than Charlie Sheen, too. I was looking at Charlie Sheen’s IMDb page and other than Wall Street, there aren’t really any big hits. True there were a couple of years on Spin City and then Two and a Half Men but it just seems like his fame was disproportionate to what he actually did.
He was a fairly popular singer in the 60ies.
If anything, there are probably far FEWER people in show biz taking stage names than there used to be. That’s ESPECIALLY true of people with ethnic names.
Years back, I remember seeing a columnist note that, in the Golden Age of Hollywood, John Malkovich would probably have become John Miller, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio would have become Mary Elizabeth Masterson.
Shia LaBouef, Jesse Eisenberg, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger… I have to guess they’d all have changed their names a generation ago. Today, an ethnic name just isn’t much of a drawback.
You are kind of missing the point here. The 60’s singer copied the name of an earlier and more significant [Engelbert Humperdinck](Engelbert - Wikipedia Humperdinck).
I’m sure HK knows about the 60’s singer. His question refers to Dorsey stealing the name.
Doesn’t really answer the OP’s question, but I thought I’d share this interesting list of 78 celebrities who changed their names that was published on BuzzFeed two days ago. Call it fodder for the discussion. I can certainly see why Chevy Chase made the switch.
Since we’re speaking of people changing their names, are most of these legal name changes, as in had to sign some sort of legal documents, or just stage names, and is there a real difference? For example, a few years back, Carmen Electra had some legal issues, but I saw on TV that the judge referred to her as “Ms. Patrick” (for Tara Leigh Patrick), so I assume that Carmen Electra is not her legal name, but just a “stage name”.
Some are legal name changes but I think most are not. I remember Chubby Checker said “the IRS calls me Ernest Evans” so his name is just a stage name.
Katy Perry did not use her last name of Hudson because she did not want to get confused with the actress Kate Hudson.
I figured she was just trying to distance herself from the first album she released. Dunno if it was good or not, but it didn’t exactly mesh with where she was going with her second album.
EDIT: Ahh, Wiki says the Kate Hudson thing too. Works either way.
I heard that Platoon did pretty well.
Best wishes,
hh
I’m a big fan of the Hot Shots films myself.
Are their names also changed on their IDs, like passport ?
It’s sounding like it’s a mix. Some are legal name changes, many are just “Stage Names”, the name they get advertised as and which gets registered with the Actor’s Guild.
Yeah, it’s going to be quite mixed on “legal” vs. simply “stage name”, and at what point in their career a performer might decide to simply make their stage name a legal name. Robert Allen Zimmerman legally became Robert Dylan in 1962, pretty much as soon as he was gaining any public recognition. Declan Patrick MacManus changed his name legally to Elvis Costello, then changed it back again later.
I wouldn’t say that Marilyn Monroe acted “in the early days of moving pictures.”
Anyway . . . I don’t know whether this is true, but I’ve heard it more than once: Marilyn Monroe could walk down the street as “Norma Jean,” and nobody would notice her. Then, without a wardrobe or makeup change, she would “become” Marilyn, and everyone would recogniz her. She also would look at herself in a mirror and say, disparagingly, “Who do you think you are, Marilyn Monroe?”
It’s interesting that so many people considered her a “dumb blonde,” when she was actually neither.