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Helen Mirren's Real Name Is the Coolest Ever

Plus other celebrities who use stage names

Think about your name, then think about the ones announced at awards shows. Chances are, the latter are way more interesting. That’s because once you decide you want to be famous, you’re free to go by whatever you want to hear called from the stage (ideally by Channing Tatum). That’s exactly what these 16 famous folks did.

celeb names olivia
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Olivia Wilde: Olivia Jane Cockburn

Middle school must’ve been rough.

celeb names louis ck
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Louis C.k.: Louis Székely

Székely pronounced, ya know, "see-kay."

celeb names audrey
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Audrey Hepburn: Edda Kathleen Van Heemstra Hepburn-ruston

Because two names are better than six.


celeb names michael caine
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Michael Caine: Maurice Micklewhite

If you had any doubts that he’s British.

celeb names lana del rey
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Lana Del Rey: Elizabeth Woolridge Grant

Markedly angstier.

celeb names helen
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Helen Mirren: Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov

She’s a dame and has a name that sounds like a czarina. Some girls have all the luck. 

celeb names stevie wonder
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Stevie Wonder: Stevland Judkins

Not Steve. Not Steven. Stevland.

celeb names vin
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Vin Diesel: Mark Sinclair Vincent

celeb names natalie
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Natalie Portman: Natalie Hershlag

celeb names albert brooks
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Albert Brooks: Albert Einstein

Well, those would’ve been some big shoes to fill.

celeb names maggie
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Maggie Gyllenhaal: Margalit Gyllenhaal

Girlfriend didn’t know her real first name until she got married in 2009.

celeb names michael
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Michael Keaton: Michael Douglas

There’s room for only one Michael Douglas in this town. (Hollywood, apparently.)

celeb names chevy
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Chevy Chase: Cornelius Crane Chase

Both pretty weird.

celeb names garrison keillor
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Garrison Keillor: Gary Keillor

Gary wasn’t NPR enough for ya?

celeb names etta james
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Etta James: Jamesetta Hawkins

Some tricky letter play up in here.

celeb names faith
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Faith Hill: Audrey Faith Perry

A name like Faith Hill was just destined to become a country superstar. 


susan waits

Lousy baker, stellar shopping buddy

You can find Susan either blissfully buried in a pile of clothes or on a plane between L.A. and NYC.