Old Actors Names Movie Stars Throughout

He picked a stage name for the rather boring (and common) reason that there was already another actor named David McDonald in the union.

Old Actors Names Movie Stars Throughout

Movie stars throughout the past century have often adopted new names for a ton of reasons, from evading racial bias to pure whim.

Here are 30 celebrities who you may not know changed their name, and who you may never look at the same way again.

I get kind of numb to Rihanna, Rihanna, Rihanna, she told Rolling Stone, noting that her close friends and family still call her by her first name.

He considered becoming Michael Scott (thats what she said), but picked Caine because of Humphrey Bogarts film The Caine Mutiny.

In 2016, after a half-century of using the stage name and being unbelievably famous, Micklewhite finally legally changed his name to avoid hiccups at airports.

Her professional name is sleeker, but it still would have been lovely to see My Fair Lady starring Edda Hepburn-Ruston.

In 1931, Leach impressed the general manager of Paramount Pictures, B.P.

Schulberg, enough to score a contract with the caveat that he pick a name that sounded more American.

But when she signed with 20th Century Fox, an executive there changed her name to Marilyn because she reminded him of Broadway actress Marilyn Miller.

His mom was a singer, and his father was a comedian on the radio.

His brother, the late Bob Einstein, didnt have the same need to change his name.

Born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey, the former head writer of SNL and creator of 30 Rock has used the shortened form of her Greek middle name since early in her career, which kicked off in grand fashion with a banking commercial (and by fashion we mean: Check out that swell vest).

She also chose to go by her middle name, which her mother chose for her because she watched a lot of Mork Mindy while she was pregnant.

To protect her familys identity, she adopted her grandmothers maiden name as her stage name.

Vin Diesel became Vin Diesel when he was a nightclub bouncer in New York City, which is why his name makes him sound like a nightclub bouncer.

Hes the one who made us believe a bouncer could become an international movie star.

Her father, Vasily, and British mother, Kathleen, Anglicized the family name to Mirren in the 1950s.

In 2003, after four decades of stellar work (plus Caligula ), Mirren was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, making her name even more impressive.

He wasnt getting stage work under his birth name, Krishna Pandit Bhanji, but almost immediately got roles once he started going by Ben Kingsley.

Unlike other actors, Kingsley has completely absorbed the stage name as his own, even signing his paintings with it.

Born Nora Lum, the rapper-turned-actor chose her stage name at 15 and views it as a full alter ego that embodies that wild, teenage energy that she learned to tone down in college.

She carried the name over into her acting career for Oceans 8, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Farewell.

Old Movie Actors Names