24 Frames of Dreaming

Long before Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta changed her name to Lady Gaga, aspiring film stars were discarding their birth names in favour of more audience-friendly titles. Here are a few interesting ones from the Old Hollywood era:

Jean Arthur: Gladys Georgianna Greene
Cary Grant: Archibald Alexander Leach
Fred Astaire: Frederick Austerlitz
Doris Day: Doris von Kappelhoff
Greta Garbo: Greta Gustafsson
Marilyn Monroe: Norma Jeane Baker
Rock Hudson: Roy Scherer, Jr.
Joan Crawford: Lucille le Sueur
Audrey Hepburn: Audrey Kathleen Ruston
Judy Garland: Frances Gumm
Ginger Rogers: Virginia McMath

Undoubtedly there is a story behind each of these names, and most of them I don't know yet. I do know that Cary Grant chose his name when he signed his first contract with Paramount (no big surprise really, as Archie Leach was never going to go over well!). He took the first name Cary from a recent stage role he'd played, Cary Lockwood; the surname Grant came from running down an alphabetical list of names. Grant pokes fun at his birth names several times in his films, and even named one of his dogs Archibald in the 30s. Jean Arthur also has an interesting story: she is said to have chosen her name from two historical figures, Joan of Arc and King Arthur. Most of the time the studios required actors to change their names, and many of the names, you'll observe, are changed to disguise the actor's ethnic origins. Interesting.

Of course, Humphrey Bogart can only be a birth name. No one would take it by choice! (Sorry, still love you, Bogie).

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