Nicknames and maiden names are sometimes used in a person`s professional name. Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach) had his name chosen by Paramount Pictures. He had used the name “Cary Lockwood”, but the studio decided not to do so and considered him too similar to another actor working at the time. Cary and the studio eventually chose “Cary Grant” (Grant thought the letters “C” and “G” were happy: they had already brought success to Clark Gable and Gary Cooper before). Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, changed her name following a magazine investigation organized by her studio MGM. Notable examples include Nathan Lane, whose maiden name (Joseph Lane) was already in use; Stewart Granger, born James Stewart; and Michael Keaton, born Michael Douglas. Diane Keaton, whose maiden name is Diane Hall, adopted her mother`s maiden name as her stage name after learning that there was already a registered actress named Diane Hall in the Actors` Equity Association. Ugly Betty actress Vanessa Williams officially uses “Vanessa L. Williams” due to Sagian guidelines, although the other actress with the same first and last name (Vanessa E. Williams) is arguably less notable. Similarly, David Walliams changed a letter in his last name because there was another “David Williams.” Terry O`Quinn of Lost changed his last name from Quinn to O`Quinn because another registered actor already had the name Terrance Quinn. David X.
Cohen, longtime writer of The Simpsons and producer of Futurama, changed his initial from the middle of S to X because there was already a David S. Cohen registered with the Writer`s Guild of America. Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith, but found that all variations of this name had already been used by other actors. In an interview with the New York Times, she said: “If you get a little gassy, you have to let it go. So people said, “You`re like a whoopee pillow.” And that`s where the name comes from. Since her first name came from a silly nickname, she didn`t want to change her last name so she could be taken more seriously. “My mother didn`t call me Whoopi, but Goldberg is my name, it`s part of my family, part of my heritage. Just like being black,” she told The JC. Mindy revealed that she had never been called by her first name Vera. When her mother was pregnant, her parents decided to move from Nigeria to the United States and wanted to give her a “sweet American name.” They liked Mindy from Robin Williams` show Mork & Mindy, so they went for it. Her last name change happened when Mindy started doing stand-up.
Apparently, the MCs couldn`t pronounce Chokalingam, so she changed it to Kaling. The actress` stage name is an ode to Oscar Wilde. The actress changed her last name after playing Gwendolen in the high school performance of Oscar Wilde`s The Importance of Being Earnest. Actors are particularly sensitive to identification with their profession. But a little air to breathe can be integrated into his life if his friends and family call him by a name that is not more public to him. She is as mysterious about her name as she is about her age. Grace Jones may have been born as Grace Mendoza, but it`s unclear why it was changed. Criminal harassment can be a problem for actors of all ages and, unfortunately, young actors can be particularly vulnerable. Public records and normal publication of school activities, team lists, etc. can alert potential bullies exactly where to find their targets.
If a young actor uses a different name for his personal life than fans would be looking for, he can be much safer if he lives his life off set. The use of stage names for ethnic purposes can vary greatly depending on the media market that the personality represents. For example, in Buffalo, New York, a city with a large Polish-American population, Polish-American media personalities usually work freely with their birth name. The singer-songwriter told Newsweek that she wanted to change her last name to be more suited to the stage and considered adopting the title “Alicia Wild” — but her mother said no. “She said, `Looks like you`re a stripper,`” Keys said, so the singer considered a more musical notoriety. It`s like the keys of the piano. And it can open so many doors,” she explained. Andy Warhol dropped an “a” of his original name Warhola, while fashion designer Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent dropped the first of his two surnames.
Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi adopted the stage name Rudolph Valentino in part because American casting directors found his original surname difficult to pronounce. Singer George Michael (son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur from north London) was born as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. An actor may also have chosen his stage name from his agent – as was the case with Barbara Eden, born Barbara Jean Huffman[8][[[Barbara Eden#{{{section}}}|controversial]]] – or, at the height of Hollywood studios, a film studio. Joan Rivers (born Joan Alexandra Molinsky) went further and named herself after a former agent, Tony Rivers, after he told her to change her name. In the non-English-speaking world, an example is the Taiwanese female mandopop group S.H.E (consisting of Selina Jen, Hebe Tian and Ella Chen), whose English names were chosen by their managers after personality tests. In the world of music, especially in the world of heavy metal, punk rock, industrial and hip hop, musicians will rename themselves with names more threatening or visible than their birth names. Each member of the punk band Ramones adopted the pseudonym “Ramone” as part of their collective stage personality. The members of the New Zealand art rock band Split Enz have all adopted their middle name as their stage name to keep their private image separate from their public figures.
In some cases, the person may adopt a stage name to avoid confusion with other family members with similar names. Actor Mark Harmon (Thomas Mark Harmon) uses his middle name professionally to avoid confusion with his father`s Heisman Trophy winner and former presenter Tom Harmon (Thomas Dudley Harmon). Myra Amos started playing under her middle name Ellen, but changed it to Tori when a friend`s boyfriend said it really suited her. Another consideration when choosing a stage name is ease of use.