The Stars' Real Names

[Peter]

From MSN entertainment. What is Ben Affleck’s real name: Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt.

Mila Kunis adopted a shortened version of her given name when she relocated to the United States from the Ukraine with her family at age 7. The name the actress was born with? Milena Markovna Kunis!

Pink acquired her stage name because she blushed easily as a kid and as a nod to Steve Buscemi's character, Mr. Pink, in "Reservoir Dogs." Either way, it's a far cry from her boring birth name -- Alecia Beth Moore.

Nicolas Cage's lineage includes Hollywood royalty, so he changed his surname to distance himself from his über-famous director uncle and to avoid the appearance of nepotism. His famous family's surname? Coppola.

She's been in the public eye since the '60s, so we bet you'll be surprised to know that Jodie Foster's first name isn't the one she was born with. Her real name is Alicia Christian Foster.

She's become one of the top names in comedy, but "Tina" isn't Tina Fey's real name -- though "30 Rock" fans might be able to guess what is. No, her real name is considerably longer -- Elizabeth Stamatina Fey.

Although her childhood nickname was Baby, Judy Garland chose her new first name because she thought it sounded peppy. Her stage name is a far cry from her real name: Frances Ethel Gumm.

Take a guess at what Pat Benatar's real name is. Really, hit us with your best shot. She's actually Patricia Mae Andrzejewski.

Michael Caine may play Alfred the butler in "The Dark Knight Rises," but he's actually the one with a dual identity. He was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite.

You have to wonder: Would Jennifer Aniston have risen to fame if she had entered showbiz with her birth name, Jennifer Linn Anastassakis?

No, Demi Moore's name doesn't mean "half." It's a nickname. And she got her now-famous last name from her first husband, Freddy Moore. The actress was born Demetria Gene Guynes.

Is John his last name or just part of a double first name? That's a question only the man himself can answer. Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

As a writer and actress, Mindy Kaling has often incorporated her Indian heritage into her work. But when she entered show business, the star of "The Office" hacked a lot of letters off her name to make it easier for English-speakers to spell. She was born Vera Mindy Chokalingam.

He may be known to most of the world as "Kumar," but in real life, Kal Penn hasn't even been "Kal Penn" all that long. In fact, his stage name is just a variation on the first name his parents gave him! He was born Kalpen Suresh Modi.

As a teenager in her native Australia, Portia de Rossi dreamed up her current name in order to sound famous and stylish. And that's exactly what she became. It's a far cry from her given name: Amanda Rogers!

He's not the only actor in the family, but Tom Cruise is the only one to go by the surname Cruise, which he borrowed from his great-great-grandfather to sound a little flashier. He was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

She may forever be Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in our hearts, but there was a time before that when Jane Seymour wasn't even "Jane Seymour." In fact, she chose the stage name in honor of King Henry VIII's third wife. She was actually born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg.

Tiger Woods has one of the most recognizable names in sports, but his first name was given to him by a friend of his father. His real first and middle names are English and Thai, respectively. He was born Eldrick Tont Woods.

As the only girl in the family band, Marie Osmond made the right call when she decided to go by her prettier middle name instead of the drab-sounding first name her parents gave her -- Olive.

The late Natalie Wood will forever be remembered for the way she lit up the silver screen. But you have to wonder how Wood's life might have been different if she had kept the name her Russian immigrant parents gave her -- Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko.

Today the KISS frontman is Gene Simmons. Before that, he was Eugene Klein. And before that, he had an even less rock'n'roll-sounding name -- Chaim Weitz. 

[Don E.]

The only ones I know are from the band Rush. Geddy Lee's real name is "Gary Lee Weinrib". His friends called him Geddy because when his mother, a Holocaust survivor from Poland with a thick accent, said "Gary", it sounded like "Geddy". Alex Lifeson's real name is Alexandar Zivojinovich. "Lifeson" is a translation of his actual Serbian last name, which means "son of life".

 

[Jon Letendre]

2 hours ago, Don E. said:

The only ones I know are from the band Rush. Geddy Lee's real name is "Gary Lee Weinrib". His friends called him Geddy because when his mother, a Holocaust survivor from Poland with a thick accent, said "Gary", it sounded like "Geddy". Alex Lifeson's real name is Alexandar Zivojinovich. "Lifeson" is a translation of his actual Serbian last name, which means "son of life".

 

And Neil Peart goes by his real name, but everyone mispronounces it, saying "Pert" whereas the "ear" should sound like ear, used for hearing.

[turkeyfoot]

Im reading Bob Dylans (Zimmerman) Chronicles.

From the book: The first temporary name he used was Elston Gunn. He was going to go with Robert Allen. As far as he was concerned thats who he was, what his parents named him. It sounded like a Scottish king to him and he liked it. Then he saw a musician named David Allyn and suspected the the musician had changed the spelling of Allen to Allyn. He could see why. It looked more exotic, more inscrutable. Instead of Robert Allen he decided Allyn. Then later he saw poems by Dylan Thomas. He thought Allyn and Dylan sounded similar. He liked that the letter D sounded stronger. People always called him Robert or Bobby but there was already a Darin, Vee, Rydell and Neely. So the story goes.

He hated what his celebrity forced on him. He considered himself a singer song writer capitalist and resented the hell out of the culture putting him into a narrow frame for the social unrest. Fortunately for years no one recognized him. He would put out "bad" albums to dissuade his critics. He simply wanted a family life, ball games, white picket fence and the freedom to go where he wanted.

He explained.

"You're born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents. I mean, that happens. You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free."

He recounted how Noel Stookeys name became Paul for the group, Peter, Paul and Mary.

Personally, I was named for/after Geoffrey Chaucer. Every first day of school my teachers would torture the name, along with the called English teachers. Ge off ray or some such. Everyone would laugh while I enjoyed the attention. Now when someone mentions the spelling it seems what they understand is Geoffrey the Giraffe of Toys Are Us fame. How the mighty have fallen. )

My brother, named for Sam Rayburn (congressman from Texas) despised my sperm donor so much he chose Axton for/after Hugh Akston. Years later he had forgotten, his new found relationship with his now DAD had him claiming he chose it for professional reasons.

 

 

[Peter]

On 8/8/2016 at 1:42 PM, Peter said:

Would Jennifer Aniston have risen to fame if she had entered showbiz with her birth name, Jennifer Linn Anastassakis?

Click on Jennifer Aniston pic to see her naked. She was voted Playboy’s finest butt of all time. She is beautiful. Oh my.

Bang Showbiz. Jake Gyllenhaal fancied Jennifer Aniston so much it was "torture" doing love scenes with the actress. The pair starred together in 2002 film 'The Good Girl' and the 40-year-old star says it wasn't easy because of his real life crush on the 52-year-old 'Friends' actress. Speaking during an interview with 'The Howard Stern Show', Jake was asked by the host if it was "torture" to film love scenes with somebody he fancied in real life.

Jake said: "Oh yeah, it was torture, yes it was. But it was also not torture. I mean, come on, it was like a mix of both."

But he said that such is the "mechanical nature" of love scenes he thankfully managed to keep his true feelings towards Jennifer well-hidden. He added: "Weirdly, love scenes are awkward, because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching it? That doesn't turn me on. It's oddly mechanical. And also it's a dance, you're choreographing for a camera. You can get in it but it's like a fight scene, you have to choreograph those scenes."