PHOTOSName Game: 16 Hollywood's Golden Age Stars Who Used Monikers — From Cary Grant to Joan Crawford and More
Aug. 5 2024, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
Rita Moreno
Rosa Dolores Alverio Marcano was too much of a mouthful, so a casting agent told the multitalented performer a name change — to Rita Moreno — would be necessary to make it in Hollywood.
Mary Pickford
Would Gladys Louise Smith have become “America’s Sweetheart” during the silent film era and become a co-founder of United Artists Studios? Mary Pickford did!
Michael Caine
Maurice Joseph Micklewhite changed his name to Michael Scott — but when told to change it again by his agent, Michael Caine took inspiration from a billboard for “The Caine Mutiny!”
Marilyn Monroe
As Norma Jeane Mortenson, she was an aspiring actress — but as Marilyn Monroe she became the iconic blond bombshell and s-- symbol!
Cary Grant
When Paramount bigwigs decided Archibald Alec Leach was not a leading man moniker, Archie agreed — and Cary Grant starred in classics like North by Northwest and Charade.
Judy Garland
Somewhere over the rainbow, Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm — but she dropped that name at age 12 when she and her older sisters performed as the Garlands.
Merle Oberon
At the suggestion of director Alexander Korda, who cast her as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson teamed her second name with [Merle] Oberon.
Debbie Reynolds
Studio honchos thought the name Mary Frances Reynolds sounded a little too old-timey, so she changed it to Debbie Reynolds when she signed on with Warner Bros.
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Lauren Bacall
Born Betty Joan Perske, Lauren Bacall adopted a slightly altered version of her mom’s maiden name Bacal — and director Howard Hawks graced her with the first name Lauren.
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino but studio bosses wanted an “all-American” girl, so she went blonde and ditched her Spanish sounding moniker.
Fred Astaire
Fancy footwork led Frederick Austerlitz (Fred Astaire) and his older sister Adele to use the last name Astaire in vaudeville … good thing, Fred Austerlitz doesn’t rhyme with “danced on air!”
John Wayne
Well, Pilgrim, would audiences accept a tough-as-nails cowboy named Marion? Good thing Marion Robert Morrison had the gumption to change it to a movie star–worthy name: John Wayne.
Barbara Stanwyck
Advised to change names, Ruby Catherine Stevens found a 1906 theater program for the play “Barbara Frietchie” starring Jane Stanwyck — and voila! — Barbara Stanwyck was born!
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson's agent thought he needed a stronger name than Roy Harold Scherer Jr. and suggested a powerful moniker combining the Rock of Gibraltar with the Hudson River.
Joan Crawford
Lucille Fay LeSueur’s career would have gone down the toilet as studio execs noticed her surname sounded too much like “sewer” — and held a magazine competition to rename her to Joan Crawford!
Joan Fontaine
Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, Joan Fontaine's mom told her that sister Olivia de Havilland had dibs on the name since “two de Havillands on the marquee would be too many.”
