Name dropping
Celebrities’ “real” names revealed
Jeanne Fronda, Staff
A lot of celebrities disagree with William Shakespeare. Maybe stars are so full of themselves they figure if any one is going to challenge Shakespeare’s notion that a name doesn’t change who you really are, then it might as well be celebrities themselves. Of course, the reference is to a line from the play Romeo and Juliet that reads, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Perhaps changing your name didn’t create a big hoopla back in Shakespeare’s time, what with the lack of Internet, radio and TV to broadcast that kind of information around the world. But today, when Hollywood-types think they need a name change, then it usually means extra publicity for them and whatever new project they’re trying to hock.
It was rapper Sean Combs who landed some extra time in the spotlight in late summer when he changed his title from P. Diddy to Diddy. (Combs had already changed his name from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy back in 1999.) Jeez, who do you think you are, Sean? Prince? (Or is it the Artist Formerly Known as Prince?)
In any case, here are the “real” names of some celebs that decided they would smell a little sweeter after they had a moniker makeover.
1) Alice Cooper. Vincent doesn’t really sound like the name of a snake-loving shock rocker, so it’s no wonder Cooper changed his name. Born Vincent Damon Furnier on Feb. 14, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan, the musician fronted the rock band Alice Cooper in the ’60s. Furnier legally changed his name in 1974 with hopes that it would help his solo career. Legend has it that the pseudonym came about after a Ouija board séance that revealed Furnier was the reincarnation of a 17th-century witch.
2) Bob Dylan. The iconic folk musician and poet was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941. In the late ’50s, he toured under the name Elston Gunn, and soon after he began getting involved in folk music, he became known as Dillon or Bob Dylan. (Although the origin of his stage name has never been fully revealed, some people believe one explanation is that it arose as a reference to the poet Dylan Thomas.)
3) Elvis Costello. Born Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus, the bespectacled Costello adopted a new name in the ’70s as suggested by his stage manager at the time, Jake Riviera. Combining his mother’s maiden name with the name of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, Declan MacManus became Elvis Costello for the remainder of his career. (The guy already looks like Buddy Holly, so go figure he’d want to associate himself with yet another music icon.)
4) David Bowie. Before the androgynous-looking Bowie became well-known for songs like “Space Oddity” and “Ziggy Stardust,” the musician was known as David Robert Jones. In the ’60s, he decided to change his name to Bowie so people wouldn’t confuse him with Monkees singer Davy Jones. His stage surname refers to James “Jim” Bowie, who was a soldier killed in 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo. (Bowie knives also derived their names from James Bowie because these long knives — usually about six inches long — were the type the soldier usually carried.)
5) Stevie Wonder. Mr. “I Just Called to Say Love You” had a couple name changes over the years. Born Steveland Judkins on May 13, 1950, the singer-pianist would later change his last name to his mother’s maiden name, Morris. Considered a prodigy because he learned to play a variety of instruments at a young age, he was signed to Motown Records at the age of 11. He was originally called Little Stevie Wonder when he started out on Motown, but later on decided to drop “Little.”
6) John Wayne. Who would’ve thought an actor known for playing macho characters in Westerns was actually named Marion? Born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907, he would later change his middle name to Mitchell. As a child he was known as Duke in reference to his pet terrier named Little Duke. It was the director of the first film in which Wayne appeared who gave him the moniker John Wayne; the stage name is a reference to “Mad Anthony” Wayne, who was an American Revolutionary War general known for his lively personality.
