Thursday, August 29, 2013

The importance of choosing the right name in stage careers and even politics

Ex-PM of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed, should know very well how a suitable name made all the difference in his political career.

Who would have guessed John Wayne was Michael Morrison?

Do the following names ring a bell? Natasha Gurdin or Danial Michaeli? (Natalie Wood and Danny DeVito respectively).

Who would have thought Camille Javal was Brigitte Bardot?

When as a kid I used to watch comedy films starring Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti) and Jerry Lewis (Joseph Levitch). I listened to Doris Day (Doris Van Kappelhoff) and Connie Francis (Concetta Franconero).

We might have come across Madonna's Louise Ciccone or Engelbert's Arnold Dorsey, but certainly not Tom Cruise's Thomas Mapother IV or Yul Brynner's Taidje Kahn.

I don't think anyone could guess 10 names of famous film stars or singers when shown only their original names, like Alexandra Zuck (Sandra Dee), Allen Konigsberg (Woody Allen), Anthony Benedetto (Tony Bennett), Cherilyn Sarkisian (Cher), Joyce Frankenburg (Jane Seymour), Issur Danielovitch (Kirk Douglas), Joan Perske (Lauren Bacall), Lucille Le Sueur (Joan Crawford), Maurice Micklewhite (Michael Caine) and Roy Scherer Jr. (Rock Hudson).

I think it is safe to say most of them became famous partly because they had used shorter and easier to remember, catchy names instead of their originals which are difficult to spell or remember.

Who would have thought Omar Sharif was not a Muslim? Certainly, not with a name like Michael Shalhouz!

Of course, closer to home, Mahathir Mohammed should know the huge difference between the right name and his original for political success in Malaysia.

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