Oh, and about Hebrew names: I was raised Jewish (Reform), but the only time I was ever called by my Hebrew name was in Hebrew classes and at my Bar Mitzvah. I have heard Hebrew names used in a wedding or funeral ceremony, probably also at a bris. I don’t know exactly when the name was given, but there’s no mention of it on my birth certificate.
For what it’s worth the sons of Ringo Starr and David Bowie go by the names Starkey and Jones respectively.
OK, Platoon, but it still doesn’t seem like such a long list for someone as famous as he is.
Weren’t the Hot Shot movies more of the so bad they’re almost good variety?
That’s true for other guilds as well. One of the producers of Futurama, David Cohen, is credited as David X Cohen. The X doesn’t stand for anything, but he needed to change his name somehow as there was already a David Cohen.
“Change your name. There’s already a David Cohen.”
“Well…I guess I could call myself David A. Cohen.”
“No, I prefer David X. Cohen. Sounds cooler, because of the x!”
No, they were more of the spoof variety, along the lines of Airplane! and Top Secret. I really like Hot Shots Part Deux.
War. It’s Fantastic!
Hercules in New York is/was/will forever be one of the worse movies ever made, But it made arnys rep. He showed up ontime, every day, ready to work and it made him a star.
It’s strange that the entry on Frances Gumm/Judy Garland is illustrated with a photo of Judy Davis playing Judy Garland, instead of an actual picture of Judy Garland.
And had his father not changed his name, Michael Douglas would have been Michael Demsky.
Albert Brooks’ real name is Albert Einstein. His brother is Bob (“Super Dave Osbourne”) Einstein.
I adopted a Hebrew name as an adult, when I converted to Judaism. The secular courts weren’t involved. My passport, driver’s license, etc, don’t include my Hebrew name. Mr. Neville got a Hebrew name when he was born (or at his bris- I don’t actually know). His Hebrew name does not appear on his passport or driver’s license, either. Our Hebrew names are on our ketubah, but they’re not on our marriage license from the state.
Some Jewish parents make their kid’s legal name the same as his/her Hebrew name (I think my brother-in-law and sister-in-law did this for their new baby). I think that’s becoming more popular. For those who don’t do that, it’s common for the Hebrew name and English name to start with the same letter or sound.
When she entered showbiz, it was for The Professional - she was only 11 when she entered show biz. I read that her parents deliberately gave her a stage name to help protect her identity.
An interesting case was Gale Storm born Josephine Cottle. The studio actually named the actor and then held a contest for the woman would “become” Gale Storm. Miss Cottle won the contest and the name.
In the older days it was important to have a name that was easy to pronounce and was easy to spell. Now you can spell Arnold Schwarzenegger any way and it’s almost a cert to come up in a Google (or other) search. But before Internet if you were looking up things the correct spelling was more important.
As for Emilio Estevez keeping his name, he stated that while he never wanted to change his name to Sheen (as his brother did), it wouldn’t have been a good move, since there would then have been two actors of roughly the same age with similar names.
Sort of like people asking “Which Baldwin is that?”