12 Actors Who Ditched Their Real Names

Names are the one constant throughout our lives that remains steadfast – unless you’re a film star wannabe desperate to make it big. For us non-glitterati, we can cope with a name that’s more unflattering than most and deal with daily beatings until we’re well into our thirties. For the Hollywood elite a name can make a career, propel a film into the far reaches of a large vat of cash and break hearts. Do you think The Wizard of Oz would have been the success it was if Frances Ethel Gumm instead of Judy Garland had played Dorothy? No! The head of MGM would have demanded to know why someone’s Grandma was in the film. Judy wasn’t the only one. In fact, there’s hundreds. Have a gander at our select choice of 12 actors who ditched their real names for the fame and fortune which beckoned at the end of a sweeter sounding pseudonym. 12) Michael Keaton / Michael Douglas Most would probably agree that sharing a name with the actor who robbed the Welsh cradle of Catherine Zeta-Jones and who still manages to get paid acting work after pulling countless revolting O faces in cinema, is reason enough to change it. Despite the fact that everyone thinks Keaton changed his name in honour of his affection for Diane Keaton, this rumour is what they call in French brothels, a huge whopper. It was indeed because of his love of Buster Keaton. 11) Nicolas Cage / Nicholas Coppola Not a lot of folks find the letter H offensive. That is, unless you’re the American who decided for the entire country that pronouncing the H at the start of herbs is a massive waste of time. Obviously Cage agrees with this notion as he struck the H from his first name before embarking on his acting career. In addition, he foresaw the cries of nepotism due to his uncle being the great Francis Ford Coppola and changed his surname to Cage. After a comic book character. 10) Natalie Portman / Natalie Hershlag What’s interesting about Portman’s pseudonym is that it was introduced to protect her from a young age against unwanted attention from the media and/or every character portrayed by Dylan Baker. She took on her role in Leon at the tender age of 12, so her parents decided it best for her to adopt her Grandmother’s maiden name instead. Surely the fact that her real surname resembles two words of endless enjoyment for Brits; shag and slag would have weighted the decision? No, probably not. 9) Meg Ryan / Margaret Hyra It would be apt at this point to make a crack about Ryan’s real name sounding more like something fit for a librarian. Seeing as this writer IS a librarian that won’t be happening. There are plenty of other stereotypically dowdy professions that Ryan’s born name would suit. A rather unattractive butcher in a small Northern town, perhaps. Or a virginal taxidermist. Either way, nice work Ryan, I couldn’t imagine Margaret Hyra getting her bristols out for In The Cut. 8) Skeet Ulrich / Bryan Ray Trout As reminiscent of a young Johnny Depp Ulrich may be, there’s no denying that if he had kept his birth name, he’d probably now be in prison for mugging old ladies, stealing from the homeless and feeding undercooked labrador to kidnapped schoolchildren. Firstly, sharing the very-dated Y with Bryan Adams kills any semblance of class. Secondly, his entire middle name can be spelled from his first name which according to Mayan lore is the worst luck to be bestowed upon a human. * And thirdly, there’s nothing that screams convict more and movie star less than sharing a name with a big lipped fish that constantly gets itself caught onto an old man’s curly tailed grub. Ulrich, we salute you for having the balls to be the only candidate on the list whose chosen acting name is only moderately less awful than your actual name. *May or may not be true. 7) Demi Moore / Demetria Gene Guynes The ex-Mrs. Kutcher indeed changed her moniker before striding across the screen. Demetria Gene Guynes could possibly have been Billy Ray Trout’s partner in a Badlands-inspired crime spree across the country. However, the truth is far simpler. After marrying her first husband, musician Freddy Moore before ever setting her eyes on Willis or Kutcher, she opted to keep her married name after their divorce. She didn’t however keep the Gene. Perhaps because she didn’t want to do comedy with Richard Pryor. 6) Jamie Foxx / Eric Bishop Eric Bishop chose Jamie Foxx as he believed an androgynous name meant he would get preferential billing at comedy clubs which usually offer better spots to women. Well, whether or not that is true or a massive load of nonsense, it’s safe to say the name Jamie Foxx has a far more showbiz-y ring than Eric Bishop. A true sign of Hollywood’s finest is always the classy inclusion of superfluous letters in a name that belongs to a female porn star. 5) Portia de Rossi / Amanda Lee Rogers Ellen’s wife, Portia de Rossi shrugged off her birth name Amanda Lee Rogers as she realised that life isn’t worth living unless your name sounds partially ethnic. While certain actors have adopted stage names to appear more universal and less ethnic (Carlos Estevez became Charlie Sheen), de Rossi chose the opposite. At age 15, wanting to reinvent herself she chose the name Portia from Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice. Her selected name certainly makes a lofty impression, which is the opposite of her birth name which simply suggests that she enjoys a good seeing to. 4) Ellen Burstyn / Edna Rae Gilooly Burstyn definitely made the right decision in changing her name. Where her birth name rouses a vision of a toothless game show contestant – Ellen Burstyn pops with the possibility of an Oscar win, the chance to work with Martin Scorsese and the choice of mad roles in later life. And of course, if Edna Rae Gilooly had come up against the devil himself, chances are she’d start dribbling and run straight into a door frame. Nope, it took the awesome power of Ellen Burstyn to take on Satan in The Exorcist, and while she didn’t beat him, she didn’t dribble, that’s for damn sure. 3) Michael Caine / Maurice Micklewhite It is unlikely Bruce Wayne would turn for help to a chap who sounds like he’s emerged from the pages of a lost Dickens novel. Try uttering “My name is Maurice Micklewhite.” Nope, sounds about as threatening as a puppy being tickled by a kitten. As lovely a chap as he might be, Maurice Micklewhite doesn’t have the gall, the distinction or the star quality Michael Caine has. Caine originally used the stage name Michael Scott, but one night on the phone to his agent was told that another actor in London used that name. Peering out from the phone box, he noticed The Caine Mutiny was being shown at the Odeon across the road. And so Michael Caine was born. Thank goodness. 2) Sigourney Weaver / Susan Weaver The name Susan Weaver offers up images of the girl at school who used to eat PVA glue at the back of the classroom...but then turned out to be a total genius. Sigourney’s inspiration for putting distance between herself and her normal birth name was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and its character, Sigourney Howard. Weaver’s reasoning was that she was “too tall” to be referred to as Sue or Susie and wanted a name to match her towering stature. Sounds like a load of bunkum to be honest and that what she really wanted was a name that no one knew how to pronounce so as to be permanently the centre of conversation. 1) Bruce Willis / Walter Willis While not the biggest departure from his actual name, Bruce Willis chose wisely when he dropped Walter. Considering now that his real name bares a striking similarity to Walter White, the meth-flogging antagonist of Breaking Bad, and sounds more like a science teacher than an action star he’s done very well for himself. Imagining a world wherein Die Hard's John McClane is embodied by a chap called Walter is a world where ass isn’t kicked, rather, it's politely spoken to if it doesn’t mind terribly.