Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur. Lucille LeSueur is The Holy Grail of awesome actresses names, I think. The reason why she changed it was because the people in charge of publicity at MGM Studios (for whom she was working for) thought her name sounded too fake. They also thought it sounded a bit like “LeSewer” which was probably not a good thing to be associated with her career. But I think it was due to mispronunciation.

I suspect I’m alone in this, but I actually prefer Billie to Eleanora.

I can’t imagine why most of those celebs changed their names. I vastly prefer most of their original names to the changes. Everyone has different taste though, obviously!

Anne Rice– HOWARD Allen Frances O’Brien

I wonder which name her parents called her. I have to say I like Anne better than the rest, especially Howard on a girl! Howard was my grandfather’s name.

Barbara Stanwyck– RUBY:
I adtually don’t like either name but I’d choose Ruby over Barbara. I guess Ruby sounded too old fashioned at the time.

Beverly Sills –
I think I like Beverly and Belle about equally. Don’t care for Bubbles!

Billie Holiday – ELEANORA
I’d rather be Eleanora any day.

Cobie Smolders — JACOBA

I don’t know who this is -Jacoba sounds better to me.

Diane Sawyer – LILA
I like Lila much better.

Dido – FLORIAN Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong (the name on her birth certificate, but she was called Dido from childhood)
Dido? Don’t like it. Florian is more interesting but I thought it was only a boy’s name.

Dyan Cannon – SAMILE Diane Friesen
Samile? Not sure how to say it and not sure which name I like better.

Jenna Fischer – REGINA

I like Jenna more.

Jodie Foster – ALICIA Christian

Way prefer Alicia to Jodie. Doesn’t seem to be a name that needed changing.

Joy Behar – JOSEPHINA Victoria Occhiuto
Josephine is more interesting and I love Victoria.

Julie Andrews – JULIA
Julia sounds more modern now, but Julie was the favored name back then and there’s nothing really wrong with it. It’s the French vrsion of the name.

Lana Turner – JULIA (known as Judy)
I’d rather be Julia.

Maria Callas – SOPHIA Cecelia (but called Mary)
Well, I like all of those names but would have kept Sophia.

Marie Osmond – OLIVE
I like Marie a lot better.

Minnie Driver – AMELIA Fiona

Amelia over Minnie any day.

Mitzi Gaynor – FRANCESCA Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber
Hmm. I would have kept Francesca but I guess Mitzi has its charms.

Nicki — ONIKA
Onika is more interesting.

Ruth Westheimer — KAROLA (Dr. Ruth was born in Germany)
I like Karola better than Ruth. Carola never really caught on in the US.

Tammy Wynette – VIRGINIA Wynette Pugh (she was called Wynette or Nettie when young; Tammy was inspired by the film Tammy and the Bachelor)

Virginia is much nicer to me than Tammy.

Tasha Tudor – STARLING (Named for her father, soon rechristened Natasha after the heroine of War and Peace, then shortened to Tasha)
Don’t think I’d like to be called Starling.

Toni Morrison – CHLOE Ardelia
Chloe over Toni, yes.

Traci Lords — NORA Louise –supposedly modeled on the Katherine Hepburn character, Tracy Lord, in The Philadelphia Story
Yes, Nora is more in keeping with today’s taste in names.

boys

Al Jolson — ASA Yoelson
Asa is much better.

Alan Alda — ALPHONSE D’Abruzzo
Hmm. I think I like Alan better.

Ben Kingsley – KRISHNA Banji
Krishna is more interesting.

Bruce Willis – WALTER Bruce
Not a fan of either!

Casey Affleck – CALEB Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt
Casey or Caleb is fine with me.

Charlie Sheen – CARLOS Irwin Estevez (brother Emilio stuck with his birth name)
I think I like Charlie better than Carlos, but I like Emilio more than either.

Chevy Chase – CORNELIUS Crane Chase (Cornelius was the name of his adoptive grandfather; nickname Chevy started by his grandmother after the old English poem, The Ballad of Chevy Chase.)
I think I prefer Chevy since Cornelius is just nms (but I like Neil as a nn for it).

Danny Thomas – AMOS Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz (he was of Lebanese descent)
Amos is just not for me, but Danny is kind of boring.

Elton John – REGINALD Kenneth
I’d rather be Elton than Reginald.

Elvis Costello — DECLAN Patrick MacManus (his musician father had performed under the name Day Costello, so the surname was a tribute to him)
okay – Declan is great!

Gene Simmons – CHAIM Weitz (He was born and lived in Israel till the age of 8; first changed his name to Eugene/Gene Klein)
Oh, I didn’t know about this one. That’s a big change. Not fond of either name.

Glenn Ford – GWYLLYN
I can see why he thought it would have pronunciation problems. But it is definitely more interesting.

Ice Cube – OSHEA Jackson
I always wonder if friends and family call them by their stage names.

Luke Perry — COY Luther Perry III
Well, I like Luther, but I like Luke more.

Martin Sheen — RAMÓN Antonio Gerardo Estévez (he has expressed regrets at changing his name.)
I like Martin a bit more than Ramon but I think he should have kept his real name.

Peter Lorre – LASZLO
Oh yes, Laszlo is more interesting.

Steve McQueen – TERRENCE
I think I prefer Steve (or Stephen, rather).

Steven Bauer – ESTEBAN Ernesto Echevarría Samson (he was born in Cuba, his stage surname was his maternal great-grandmother’s.)
I like both.

If you were going into show biz, would you keep or change your name?

I’d probably keep my first name but I’d use a different last name that is easier to pronounce and spell.