Stage and Real Names

by Michael RichComment — Updated August 3, 2023
Cary Grant
Archibald Leach
Real Names George Burns
Nathan Birnbaum

Welcome to Stage and Real Names – Celebrity Birth Names

Alan Alda
Alphonso D’Abruzzo
Lauren Bacall
Betty Joan Perske
Doris Day
Doris von Kappelhoff
Rock Hudson
Roy Scherer Jr.
Troy Donahue
Merle Johnson, Jr.
Sandra Dee
Alexandra Zuck

Just not the same, is it? There’s a perfectly good reason why celebrities dump their real names. Sometimes a birth name lacks that showbiz pizazz needed for stardom.

Back in the Fifites and Sixties almost everyone got a new name – whether they needed it or not. Would we have loved The Duke any less if he remained Marion Morrison instead of being John Wayne?

Anyway, more lists. I tried to include some more modern folks, just so I didn’t look older than well, Nathan Birnbaum.

A
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.
Edie Adams –  Elizabeth Edith Enke
Nick Adams – Nicholas Adamshock
Eddie Albert –  Edward Albert Heimberger
Alan Alda – Alphonso D’Abruzzo
Jane Alexander –  Jane Quigley
Muhammad Ali – Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.
Fred Allen –  John Sullivan
Woody Allen – Allen Konigsberg
June Allyson – Ella Geisman
Don Ameche – Dominic Felix Amici
Julie Andrews – Julia Wells
Eve Arden –  Eunice Quedens
Beatrice Arthur – Bernice Frankel
Jean Arthur –  Gladys Greene
Fred Astaire – Frederick Austerlitz
Frankie Avalon – Francis Thomas Avalonne
B
Lauren Bacall – Betty Joan Perske
Kaye Ballard – Catherine Balotta
Anne Bancroft – Anne Italiano
Brigitte Bardot – Camille Javal
Rona Barrett – Rona Burstein
Gene Barry –  Eugene Klass
John Barrymore – John Blythe
Orson Bean – Dallas Burrows
Tony Bennett – Anthony Dominick Benedetto
Jack Benny – Benjamin Kubelsky
Milton Berle – Milton Berlinger
Irving Berlin – Israel Baline
Joey Bishop –  Joseph Gottlieb
Amanda Blake – Beverly Louise Neill
Robert Blake – Michael Gubitosi
Victor Borge – Borge Rosenbaum
Big Bopper – Jiles Perry Richardson
Ernest Borgnine – Ermes Effron Borgnino
David Bowie – David Robert Jones
Fanny Brice –  Fanny Borach
Charles Bronson – Charles Buchinski
Mel Brooks – Mel Kaminsky
Dr. Joyce Brothers – Joyce Diane Bauer
Yul Brynner – Taidje Kahn, Jr.
George Burns –  Nathan Birnbaum
Ellen Burstyn – Edna Gilhooley
Richard Burton – Richard Jenkins
Red Buttons – Aaron Chwatt
C
Michael Caine – Maurice Micklewhite
Rory Calhoun – Francis Timony Durgin
Truman Capote – Truman Streckfus Persons
Diahann Carroll –  Carol Diahann Johnson
Cyd Charisse – Tula Ellice Finklea
Chubby Checker – Ernest Evans
Cher – Cherilyn Sarkisian
Patsy Cline – Virginia Patterson Hensley
Lee J. Cobb – Leo Jacoby
Claudette Colbert –  Lily Chauchoin
Mike Connors – Krekor “Kirk” Ohanian
Robert Conrad – Conrad Robert Falk
Alice Cooper – Vincent Damon Furnier
David Copperfield – David Kotkin
Howard Cosell – Howard Cohen
Elvis Costello – Declan McManus
Lou Costello – Louis Francis Cristillo
Joan Crawford – Lucille Le Sueur
Michael Crawford – Michael Dumble-Smith
Bing Crosby – Harry Lillis Crosby
Tom Cruise – Thomas Mapother IV
Tony Curtis – Bernard Schwartz
D
Vic Damone – Vito Farinola
Rodney Dangerfield – Jacob Cohen
Bobby Darin – Walden Robert Cassotto
Doris Day –  Doris von Kappelhoff
Jimmy Dean – Seth Ward
Yvonne De Carlo – Peggy Middleton
Sandra Dee – Alexandra Zuck
John Denver –  Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
John Derek –  Derek Harris
Danny DeVito – Daniel Michaeli
Angie Dickinson – Angeline Brown
Bo Diddley – Elias Bates
Troy Donahue – Merle Johnson, Jr.
Diana Dors –  Diana Fluck
Kirk Douglas – Issur Danielovitch
Mike Douglas – Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr.
Bob Dylan – Robert Zimmerman
E
Barbara Eden – Barbara Huffman
Vince Edwards – Vicent Edward Zoino
Ron Ely – Ronald Pierce
Dale Evans – Frances Octavia Smith
Chad Everett –  Raymond Cramton
F
Fabian – Fabiano Forte
Douglas Fairbanks –  Douglas Ullman
Stepin Fetchit – Lincoln Perry
Sally Field – Sally Mahoney
W.C. Fields – William Claude Dukenfield
Peter Finch – William Mitchell
Rhonda Fleming – Marilyn Louis
Gerald R. Ford – Leslie Lynch King, Jr.
Joan Fontaine –  Joan de Havilland
Glenn Ford – Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford
John Ford –  Sean O’Fearna
John Forsythe –  John Freund
Jodie Foster – Alicia Christian Foster
Tony Franciosa – Anthony Papaleo
Connie Francis –  Concetta Franconero
G
Greta Garbo – Greta Gustafsson
John Garfield –  Julius Garfinkle
Judy Garland – Frances Gumm
James Garner – James Scott Bumgarner
Crystal Gayle – Brenda Gayle Webb
Whoopie Goldberg – Caryn Johnson
Eydie Gorme –  Edith Gormezano
Cary Grant – Archibald Leach
Peter Graves – Peter Aurness
Rocky Graziano – Rocco Barbella
Joel Grey –  Joe Katz
H
Buddy Hackett – Leonard Hacker
Jean Harlow –  Harlean Carpentier
Rex Harrison – Reginald Carey
Helen Hayes –  Helen Brown
Rita Hayworth – Margarita Cansino
Charlton Heston – Charles Carter
Steven Hill – Solomon Krakovsky
Hulk Hogan – Terry Jean Bollette
William Holden – William Franklin Beedle, Jr.
Billy Holiday – Eleanora Fagan
Judy Holliday –  Judith Tuvim
Buddy Holly – Charles Hardin Holley
Bob Hope – Leslie Townes Hope
Robert Horton – Meade Howard Horton, Jr.
Leslie Howard – Leslie Stainer
Harry Houdini – Ehrich Weiss
Rock Hudson – Roy Scherer Jr.
Engelbert Humperdinck –  Arnold Dorsey
Tab Hunter – Arthur Andrew Gelien
I
Burl Ives – Burle Icle Ivanhoe
J
David Janssen –  David Meyer
Elton John –  Reginald Dwight
Don Johnson –  Donald Wayne
Al Jolson – Asa Yoelson
Jennifer Jones –  Phyllis Isley
Louis Jourdan – Louis Gendre
K
Danny Kaye – David Kaminsky
Boris Karloff – William Henry Pratt
Diane Keaton – Diane Hall
Howard Keel –  Harold Leek
Carole King –  Carole Klein
Larry King – Larry Zeigler
Ted Knight – Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka
Ben Kingsley – Krishna Banji
L
Cheryl Ladd – Cheryl Stoppelmoor
Frankie Laine – Frankie LoVecchio
Veronica Lake – Constance Ockleman
Dorothy Lamour –  Mary Kaumeyer
Ann Landers – Esther “Eppie” Pauline Friedman Lederer
Mario Lanza – Alfredo Cocozza
Michael Landon – Eugene Orowitz
Stan Laurel – Arthur Jefferson
Steve Lawrence – Sidney Leibowitz
Gypsy Rose Lee –  Rose Louise Hovick
Janet Leigh –  Jeanette Morrison
Jerry Lewis –  Joseph Levitch
Huey Lewis – Hugh Cregg
Hal Linden –  Harold Lipshitz
Little Richard – Richard Penniman
Carole Lombard –  Jane Peters
Jack Lord – John Joseph Ryan
Sophia Loren – Sophia Scicoloni
Peter Lorre – Laszio Lowenstein
Bela Lugosi – Bela Ferenc Blasko
M
Moms Mabley – Loretta Mary Aitken
Shirley MacLaine – Shirley Beaty
Elle MacPherson – Eleanor Gow
Madonna – Madonna Louise Ciccone
Lee Majors – Harvey Lee Yeary II
Karl Malden – Mladen Sekulovich
Barry Manilow – Barry Alan Pincus
Jayne Mansfield – Vera Jane Palmer
Fredric March –  Frederick Bickel
Rocky Marciano – Rocco Francis Marchegiano
Dean Martin – Dino Crocetti
Chico Marx – Leonard Marx
Groucho Marx – Julius Marx
Gummo Marx – Milton Marx
Harpo Marx – Adolph Marx
Zeppo Marx – Herbert Marx
Walter Matthau – Walter Matuschanskayasky
Audrey Meadows – Audrey Cotter
Jayne Meadows – Jayne Cotter
Ethel Merman – Ethel Zimmerman
George Michael – Georgios Panayiotou
Ray Milland – Reginald Truscott-Jones
Ann Miller – Lucille Collier
Guy Mitchell – Albert George Cernick
Joni Mitchell –  Roberta Joan Anderson
Marilyn Monroe – Norma Jean Baker
Yves Montand – Ivo Levi
Demi Moore – Demetria Guynes
Garry Moore –  Thomas Garrison Morfit
Rita Moreno – Rosita Alverio
Harry Morgan – Harry Bratsburg
N
Peter Nero – Bernie Nierow
Chuck Norris – Carlos Ray Norris
O
Hugh O’Brian –  Hugh Krampke
Maureen O’Hara – Maureen Fitzsimons
P
Patti Page – Clara Ann Fowler
Jack Palance –  Walter Palanuik
Bert Parks – Bert Jacobson
Johnny Paycheck – Don Lytle
Minnie Pearl – Sarah Ophella Colley Cannon
Bernadette Peters – Bernadette Lazzaro
Lou Diamond Phillips – Lou Upchurch
Edith Piaf –  Edith Gassion
Slim Pickens – Louis Lindley
Mary Pickford – Gladys Smith
Stephanie Powers – Stefania Federkiewicz
R
Tony Randall – Leonard Rosenberg
Ahmad Rashad – Bobby Moore
Johnnie Ray – John Alvin
Martha Raye – Margaret Theresa Yvonne Reed
Donna Reed – Donna Belle Mullenger
Della Reese – Delloreese Patricia Early
Debbie Reynolds – Mary Frances Reynolds
Joan Rivers –  Joan Sandra Molinsky
Johnny Rivers – John Henry Ramistella
Harold Robbins – Frances Kane
Edward G. Robinson – Emmanuel Goldenberg
Ginger Rogers –  Virginia McMath
Roy Rogers – Leonard Slye
Mickey Rooney – Joe Yule Jr.
Meg Ryan – Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Bobby Rydell – Robert Ridarelli
S
Jane Seymour – Joyce Frankenberg
Del Shannon – Charles Westover
Omar Sharif – Michael Shalhouz
Charlie Sheen – Carlos Irwin Estevez
Gene Simmons – Chaim Witz
Buffalo Bob Smith – Robert Emil Schmidt
Ann Sothern – Harriet Lake
Robert Stack – Robert Modini
Jean Stapleton –  Jeanne Murray
Barbara Stanwyck – Ruby Stevens
Ringo Starr – Richard Starkey
Connie Stevens – Concetta Ingolia
Sting – Gordon Sumner
Gale Storm – Josephine Cottle
Donna Summer – La Donna Gaines
T
Robert Taylor – Spangler Arlington Brugh
Danny Thomas – Muzyad Yakhoob
Tina Turner – Annie Mae Bullock
Twiggy – Leslie Hornby
Conway Twitty –  Harold Lloyd Jenkins
V
Ritchie Valens – Richard Valenzuela
Rudolph Valentino – Rudolpho D’Antonguolla
Frankie Valli – Frank Castelluccio
Abigail Van Buren – Pauline Ester Friedman
Bobby Vee – Robert Thomas Velline
W
Andy Warhol – Andrew Warhola
Muddy Waters – McKinley Morganfield
David Wayne –  Wayne McMeekan
John Wayne – Marion Michael Morrison
Clifton Webb –  Webb Parmalee Hollenbeck
Raquel Welch – Raquel Tejada
Tuesday Weld – Susan Kerr Wells
Nathaniel West – Nathaniel Wallenstein Weinstein
Gene Wilder – Jerome Silberman
Shelley Winters – Shirley Schrift
Wolfman Jack – Robert Smith
Stevie Wonder – Steveland Morris Hardaway
Natalie Wood – Natasha Gurdin
Jane Wyman –  Sarah Jane Fulks
Tammy Wynette – Wynette Pugh
Y
Gig Young –  Byron Barr

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