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The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names - Celebrities - Nairaland

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The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names by izuch(m): 8:38pm On Jul 17, 2015
It's hard to overestimate the importance of having a solid, memorable name on a show business or literary career, so if you're born with a dud moniker, it might not hurt to change it. Do you ever wonder how famous writers and performers came up with their pseudonyms, though? Here's a look at how some notables got their stage names.

1. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg took her stage name from the whoopee cushion. The actress, who was born Caryn Johnson, said that she was working in a theater in San Diego with small dressing rooms when she had a bit of a problem with gas. Goldberg would occasionally break wind during costume changes in the cramped space, and castmates would accuse her of being "like a whoopee cushion."


According to Goldberg, she considered going by the name "Whoopi Cushion" when she advanced her comedy career, but her mother suggested that nobody would take her seriously with such a silly name. Her mom thought it would be smarter to pair "Whoopi" with a more serious name and proposed that her daughter use "Goldberg."

2. Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks is a funny man, but he probably wouldn't have made it too far in show business with his birth name: Albert Einstein.

Brooks originally tried to go by his first and middle names, Albert Lawrence, but decided that "sounded like a Vegas singer." The name Brooks was already in his family, so he ran with that. His brother Bob Einstein actually kept the family surname when he entered show biz, but even he's better known by an alias: Super Dave Osborne.

3. M.C. Hammer

M.C. Hammer got his nickname from his childhood job with the Oakland Athletics. Eccentric longtime A's owner Charlie O. Finley loved Stanley Kirk Burrell, the talented kid who danced in the team's parking lot and eventually became a batboy and an errand boy for the club, and the benevolent owner called him "Little Hammer" because he thought Burrell looked like "Hammerin'" Hank Aaron. When the Little Hammer picked up the mic, he became M.C. Hammer.

4. Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan was working at a construction site in Australia when he got his famous nickname. One of his fellow workers couldn't pronounce Chan's first name, Kong-sang, so he referred to Chan as "little Jack." The name soon morphed into "Jackie," and eventually it stuck.

5. Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss, but he took on the stage name Harry Houdini as a tribute to famed French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. The "Harry" name was simply an American version of his childhood nickname "Ehrie."

6. John Le Carre
John Le Carre was working as a diplomat when he began writing novels, but the British Foreign Office didn't allow its employees to publish under their real names. The writer, who was born David John Moore Cornwell, says that he took his pseudonym from a store called "Le Carre" he claims he saw in London.

7. Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody was one of Hollywood's most beloved Native American actors throughout the 20th century; you might remember him as the "Crying Indian" in the famous "Keep America Beautiful" ads. One thing most audiences didn't know, though, was that Cody was actually the son of Sicilian immigrants, not Native American. For most of his life, though, he maintained that he was actually part Cree and part Cherokee and even married a Native American woman. This arrangement surely made it easier to land Native American roles than his real name, Espera Oscar de Corti, would have.

8. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was born Calvin Broadus, but his parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" because he looked like the famous cartoon beagle. Nothing is quite as gangsta as hanging out with Woodstock and Charlie Brown.

9. Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper got his name from a ouija board. The shock rocker, who was born Vincent Furnier, was supposedly playing with a ouija board in the late 1960s when a 16th-century witch doctor named Alice Cooper contacte

Re: The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names by RichDad1(m): 8:44pm On Jul 17, 2015
still reading
Re: The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names by Nobody: 9:05pm On Jul 17, 2015
DULLARD.INHO


Dullard Buhari was so foolish dat his people likened him to a sick psyche patient. His illiteracy shook the world. He was the first man to soak dogs and baboons in blood in 2011. He was so dull and daft dat his name "President Buhari" became a household name. Although some call him Mouth Action or Baba Go slow, but he chose President Buhari for himself. Currently he has no certificate!

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Re: The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names by seyilee(m): 1:21am On Jul 18, 2015
Editor1:
DULLARD.INHO


Dullard Buhari was so foolish dat his people likened him to a sick psyche patient. His illiteracy shook the world. He was the first man to soak dogs and baboons in blood in 2011. He was so dull and daft dat his name "President Buhari" became a household name. Although some call him Mouth Action or Baba Go slow, but he chose President Buhari for himself. Currently he has no certificate!
Go Hang Urself bro
Re: The Stories Behind 15 Celebrity Stage Names by Mrshroud: 1:27am On Jul 18, 2015
Nice one.


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